Foundervine is bringing its fourth edition of Startup 54 to Bristol in partnership with Just Eat, Elastic and Black Southwest Network.
The two-day event seeks to address the social and economic inequality that’s faced by women and young people from ethnic minority backgrounds when starting a business or social enterprise.
Themed, ‘Mind Matters’, Startup 54 will welcome 60 students and entrepreneurs for a weekend of imagining, building and launching new business ventures in serious time constraints, all with representation in mind.
You can get your ticket now for Startup 54: Mind Matters. The event will be taking place on 7-9 June at the Just Eat offices in Bristol.
Thinking about the mind
So, what can you expect from two days in the Just Eat office? Foundervine wants people to come together to develop innovative and transformative solutions to mental health challenges, ensuring diverse thinking is fully incorporated into the design process.
It’s no secret that more needs to be said in the conversation about mental health, but things are slowly changing. The number of University of Bristol students seeking mental health support has risen by 106% in the last five years, but a stubborn stigma around the topic still remains.
In a world where 1 in 4 people will likely experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives, we need more innovative solutions to transform and challenge the status quo.
The keynote speakers for Startup 54: Mind Matters are Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities & Public Health at Bristol City Council, and James Murray, a mental health campaigner and tech entrepreneur.
Founding Director of Foundervine, Izzy Obeng, hopes tech can step up to the mark. She says, “It’s important to have technology solutions that can end stigma and improve health and wellbeing outcomes amongst the most underrepresented in society.
At Startup 54, through our focus on diversity, we ensure that this diverse thinking is fully incorporated into the design process.”
Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
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