A cohort of 18 women who are incubating their startups through SETsquared Bristol’s Enterprising Women programme, supported by NatWest, will showcase their new products and services at a blended pitching event on 27th October 2020.
The Enterprising Women Showcase will be publicly live-streamed and those watching can find out about the new women-led innovations immerging from this diverse group of Bristol-based startups, with sectors ranging from AI to hydroponic systems.
The inaugural Enterprising Women one-year programme was launched by SETsquared Bristol in early 2020 to help women-formed businesses, tech, tech-enabled and non-tech, to access SETsquared Bristol’s world-class business support and launch a crowdfunding campaign. This final event will showcase the entrepreneurs’ progressions through the programme, launch their products and services and allow virtual attendees to connect with the founders online following the event.
Annie Lywood, CEO of Bonnie Binary, said: “I’ve derived great value from the SETsquared Enterprising Women Pre-Incubation programme, the support provided has helped me to grow my sensory huggable business, Bonnie Binary. The workshops and mentor guidance put me in a strong position to launch my crowdfunding campaign, which is now live.”
Cheryl Gourlay, NatWest Women In Business Manager, said: “We’re so pleased with the way in which SETsquared have reached and inspired women of all ages across the Bristol and Avon region, helping create a new generation of inspirational women entrepreneurs. The South West is home to so many talented women who NatWest want to see succeed, which is why our grant support of this project was so important to us. We’re looking forward to seeing SETsquared and the women it is supporting achieve even greater success in 2021.”
Steve Edwards, Centre Director at SETsquared Bristol said: “We’re dedicated to ensuring that quality business support is inclusive and accessible. Running the Enterprising Women programme has allowed us to extend our services beyond our usual focus of tech incubation, and provide the best start for these talented women to turn their ideas into commercially viable business propositions.”
During the course of the programme, each founder received specialist mentoring and coaching, a series of workshops, access to SETsquared’s Advisors-in-Residence, as well as support to launch a crowdfunding campaign. SETsquared Bristol was awarded a £20,000 grant by NatWest to run the programme due to its success and expertise in growing businesses, its business support provision and its commitment to diversity.
You can register to watch the Enterprising Women Showcase live stream here.
If you’re interested in applying for the next Enterprising Women programme, sign up to receive SETsquared Bristol’s monthly newsletter for the next callout.
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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