McKinsey Innovate is a social enterprise competition for UK students. It aims to promote creative and entrepreneurial spirit by supporting student teams in launching successful social enterprise in their communities. It is sponsored by McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy firm who provide support and guidance to the client organisations in all sectors and industries.
Who can take part?
The competition is open to all UK undergraduate and postgraduate university students regardless of the subject they study. We are looking for groups of 2-8 creative and enthusiastic individuals with a great idea and a desire to create change. You can enter with a social enterprise that is at any stage of development: from a brand new idea, to a business that is already running and you are trying to grow. In 2011, the vast majority of entries (and our winner) were very early stage ideas.
Why should I get involved?
This is a unique opportunity to create real difference to your community. All teams will receive feedback to help develop their enterprises; our semi-finalists will be offered the opportunity to attend a workshop with some of the UK’s social enterprise leaders, and the winning team will receive seed funding and ongoing support from McKinsey consultants to transform their idea into a real social enterprise.
Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs launch the annual Minigrants competition today, the Arora Awards for Enterprise.
Apply for anything between £100- £1000 to kick-start your business!
Stage 1- Applyhere
The best applications will be invited to Stage 2- Interview (all interviews will take place on 27 Feb)
An Awards ceremony will be held on 19th March in the evening, which you must attend in order to find out whether your application was succesfful.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION 25TH FEB
Open to Royal Holloway Students Only
Email me at president@royalhollowayentrepreneurs.com if you have any questions or would like some help with your application
The Emerge Venture Lab kick-starts the UK’s best social ventures run by students and recent graduates, together with a powerful network of mentors and professional organisations. Past partners have included the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Student Hubs, Barclays Capital, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte and the Young Presidents’ Organization.
The Lab provides its teams with critical support in generating, testing and implementing business models; evaluating impact; building successful teams; structuring organisations; and raising finance.
Expert-led residential bootcamps in London and Oxford, delivering a best practice curriculum in social entrepreneurship
Regular meetings with an advisory panelof expert mentors who will oversee your progress and advise your team on venture development strategy
Access to an extensive networkof business leaders, institutional partners, seed investors and peer entrepreneurs
Three months of guaranteed participationin the programme plus up to 15 months of additional support for the top-performing teams
What we look for
We look for the UK’s brightest students and recent graduates (up to 2 years out of university) who are dedicated to solving a social or environmental challenge. If you have an idea for a venture that could both produce profit and create significant social impact, as well as a strong team and an unwavering commitment to turning this idea into reality, then head over to our website andapply!
The Lab is supported by:
Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship || Student Hubs || Barclays Capital || Boston Consulting Group || Deloitte || Hogan Lovells || Young Presidents Organization || UnLtd || HEFCE || Chelwood Capital
“Apple: World’s Largest Startup” – a special presentation by Adam Lashinsky, senior editor at large, Fortune magazine.
6-9pm, Monday 30th January, Innovation Warehouse, 1 East Poultry Avenue, EC1A 9PT
Adam has been following Apple for over 15 years and, through interviews with the company’s staff over the years, has uncovered many of the secrets that have made Apple the success it is today – and he’ll be passing that knowledge on during his talk. This event is absolutely ideal for students interested in product design, innovation, business modelling and learning effective leadership tactics.
Students have a discounted rate available here: http://insideapple.eventbrite.com/
BeMyApp Mobile App Hackathon
6pm Friday 24th Feb – 8pm Sunday 26th Feb. Venue TBC, London
Participating in a hackathon is the absolutely perfect way for students to get a real taste of what it is like to build a product prototype that is sell-able in the global marketplace. Students from all backgrounds can participate in the event as a developer, designer, marketer, business developer or app idea generator. Many people who have participated in hackathons have described the experience as life-changing and we have two participant stories for students who might not know about the benefits of joining an event like this: http://techmeetups.com/2012/01/20/bemyapp-participant-story-1/ http://techmeetups.com/2012/01/20/bemyapp-participant-story-2/
In February, Capital Enterprise will be running or involved in a series of free events and special offers designed to inform entrepreneurs on the best and latest ways to finance a high growth business and subsequently provide those with the support and contacts to raise the money they need .
1. Leading for Business Growth:
2nd February
2pm-5pm
@ UCL
Do you have a business model and management team that can achieve the type and amount of finance to fund high growth. Not sure then you should consider signing up to this workshop led by specialist from the world renown Warwick Business School http://capitalenterprise.org/event-details/?eid=123
2. Angel Fun:
13th Feb
4pm-7pm
@ The British Library Conference Centre
The British Business Angel Association in partnership with Capital Enterprise will be running through why now more than ever is a good time to look at Angel Finance to fund growth-http://www.bl.uk/bipc/workevents/angelfun.html
We will look at the how the Government’s new Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) initiative will work in real life When launched in April this year SEIS will offer angel investors up to 50% tax breaks for a total of £100k invested in start-ups and each start-up that meets the criteria can receive up £150k equity investment under this scheme. There will be also an opportunity to question Angels on what they look for, how best to approach them and how they value an early stage business. On the latter point I do recommend you look at a recent blog by Seed Camp or the following slide-deck
3. Next Generation of Finance – Launch Event
17th Feb
10:30-12:30
@UCL
Capital Enterprise, Angel Capital, Crowd Cube, People Fund it, CDFA and North London Community Finance have all come together to launch a series of events that will give you the insider know-how and fast track routes to finding non- traditional bank finance to fund your entrepreneurial venture. Not to be missed so to get your free ticket here http://ngfle.eventbrite.co.uk/
4. Business Bootcamp Lounge
21stFebruary
6-9pm
@O2 Workshop Tottenham Court Road.
The next Business Bootcamp Alumni Lounge will feature short presentations and a Q&A sessions with a number of London entrepreneurs who have recently raised investment funding from Angels and VC’s. If you have not been before and enjoyed the drinks, nibbles and good company then please check up out here. http://www.meetup.com/BB-Lounge/events/49243982/
5. The Beginners guide to the “Lean Start-up”. (or How to bootstrap a high growth business).
23rd February
10am- 12-30pm
@ O2 Workshop Tottenham Court Road
The Lean start-up method is now the preferred method used by Silicon Valley start-ups and high growth USA entrepreneurs. If you want to know what it is, why it could give you a way to reduce the risk and cost of starting an ambitious business and how you can use tools such as the Canvas Business Model to get going, then enrol now for this free introductory workshop.
6. Pitching for Management:
27th Feb
5-7pm
@ Nabarro’s Holborn WC1.
Capital Enterprise has joined forces with Angel News to co-sponsor a pitching for management event for those potential high growth companies that need to find the right management with the right customer contacts to enable them to scale their business. To find out more please check out http://pitchingformanagementlondon17-eorg.eventbrite.com.
7. Special Offer- Free 1-2-1 Business Planning support
Capital Enterprise has secured a deal with its member CEME, to provide registered businesses in London who are looking to raise money, with a business consultant in order to help them complete their financial forecasts and finesse their business plans and pitches. If you are interested then please e-mail john@capitalenterprise.org
Bootcamps- Capital Enterprise’s sector specific bootcamps that will give entrepreneurs serious about starting or growing a high growth business an opportunity to get the insider knowledge, contacts and resources they need to get ahead. The Bootcamp extras are free seminars where you can meet funders and fellow entrepreneurs looking for money to start-up or scale their “brilliant” new business.
Guide to Raising Finance- A list of links on available sources of finance for a growth focused business.
Free advice and support- Check out the members section of Capital Enterprise to find your local or specialist business support agency.
BootLaw – free events where you can get your legal questions answered (and be entertained, too!)
Microsoft BizSpark – startup community offering free Microsoft software. Or if you are one of the millions now using open source software to run their business why not check outUbuntu
Launch48 – meet potential co-founders and try to start a business in a weekend
Board of Invention- Check out 20111 10 best business models- The software is cool also.
Bootcamp Alumni Offer- Dream stake- the touch down space/club for creative entrepreneurs- is offering 20% discount for the first 6 months membership.
Quirky- Ok it is not free but it is a innovative way to get an idea to be developed into a product and
Minibar – see entrepreneurs pitch their startups while you drink free beer
Start-up Britain- a good place to navigate yourself around new services and activities on offer for new entrepreneur and a great one-stop shop
Fiverr – get small tasks done for $5 (try this out for fun at the very least!)
Lean Startup – methodology to help figure out whether you’re starting the right business- There is a new bootcamp organized by Sal Virani that uses the lean method to help people bootstrap am ambitious new business.
Mixergy – learn from interviews with successful entrepreneurs
Shell Livewire- Under 30 and fancy a £1000 to start your business- if you do then shell livewire gives out 6 such grants to new businesses each month. The pitch is very simple so well worth a look.
Hacker News London – meet techie startup people in the flesh. Drink beer with them
Business Link – find official government information about business regulations
WordPress – build all sorts of websites quickly and cheaply (definitely not just for blogs) and also check out Wix.com if you want your site to be built in flash.
Woothemes – get a great-looking theme for your website
TechHub – work surrounded by fellow entrepreneurs at this startup-centric office space. Capital Enterprise gets offers of discounted space all the time so do e-mail us if you are looking.
Bootcamp Alumni offer- Get your business plan developed and partly written by experts from the Centre Engineering Management Excellence . Only available for tech businesses looking for funding- apply through Capital Enterprise
Innovation Warehouse- London’s version of Plug and Play where you can receive accommodation, support and investment. Bootcamp Alumni Offer- further 20% sign-up discount to those who join before the end of 2011.
Camden Collective- Subsidised incubator space in Camden for creative start-ups. An opportunity to be at the heart of London’s Creative sector. Just to show that London is not all about Tech, if your a fashion businesses then check out CFE, Jewelry business -Hatton Garden, a new Bio Tech company LBIC and a new High Tech ManufacturingCEME if you want incubator space specific to their sector.
OpenSoho – have drinks with startup and digital media folks
HUB Westminster- The new incubator / accelerator for the ethical business.
2 Display.com- The cheapest place on the web to get display stands. I was going to recommend the cheapest place to get good quality business cards and stationary but it changes so often you are best place searching for yourself but you might want to start with Moo.com
Indiegogo.com – A paste and wait investment site where creative with ideas paste up their projects to attract 100’s of small scale investors to fund their new ventures. Alternatives are Kick starter and Crowd Cube
Linkedin- Probably the best B2B contact list – join me and maybe I can get to 500+ and be officially a well networked person.
Twitter – it’s big already. Follow me if you’d like to hear about more resources like this- You might also want to check our Twitter page http://twitter.com/#!/capenterprise
Paul Graham’s Essays – pick up entrepreneurial wisdom from the guy behind Y-Combinator
Stack Overflow- Looking for a coder, want to talk to a programmer, want to go where programmers go then check out stack-overflow. There is also an version for start-ups looking to post questions and receive answers from the assembled crowd- check it out and if you put UK after your question I for one will be putting my suggested solution for you to consider.
PickyDomains – challenge people to find you a great domain name or slogan
Enternships – hire entrepreneurially-minded interns
HELO- Get a team of students from UCL and London Business School to carry out a research or development project for free. Great if you want a business plan developing, an idea beta-testing or your competitors checked out. Also check out UCL’s free mentor scheme for high growth companies- SMILE
Mentors- The BBA has set up a portal called Mentorsme for inexperienced entrepreneurs looking for a mentor willing to share their experience and insights. If you are in London then check Capital Enterprise who will try to find you a mentor from amongst our members.
Seedcamp – get money and coaching in return for a share in your business
UserTesting – find out whether anyone can use your website
PSD2HTML – convert that slick PSD your designer created into CSS and HTML
Technology Strategy Board- The TSB is offering to part fund the R&D cost of businesses with innovative new products and services. They run competitions that offer substantial grants to businesses who can offer technology solutions to a challenge facing UK industry as well as offering “Proof of Concept” grants to businesses with cutting edge ideas who need help with R&D.
VirtualBox – run a virtual Windows machine so you can test old and annoying versions of IE, even if you have a new and shiny Mac
Google Docs – share documents with your co-founders and edit them together
London Creative Labs- A great place to check out if you want to get involved in the Capital’s booming social enterprise networks. You should also check out Un ltd and our member Red Ochre if you want support to start a social enterprise
Bootcamp Alumni offer- Poq Studio is offering a Free App for any fashion retailer- well is not exactly free and its only available for Alumni but do check it out.
Marketinvoice.com- A relatively new venture set by our friend Anil Stocker that has a host of funders looking to forward fund your working capital needs.
Toastmasters – become more confident talking in front of an audience
Soft Loans for Business Growth- Mainly for businesses with trading history but well worth checking out organisations such as ELSBC, GLE and HBV to see if you could be eligible for these £2000-£50000 loans.
NESTA- the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts is an independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. It provides investment, guides and the attest insights to early stage businesses who are attempting to drive the UK into the 21st Century.
R&D Tax Credits- If you have not worked out that you could be eligible to get back 200% of the money you are spending on R&D then what are you waiting for?- Check out Terry Toms guide and book for a free consultation and book on www.for a free Bootcamp Extra event on www.capitalenterprise.org/whats-on
Looking for a grant?- Check out J4B- the best place to see if there is grant available in your sector or postcode. Alternative Capital Enterprise has access to the UK funders database. So if you want a bespoke funding search please arrange a 1-2-1 with Carly-cary@capitalenterprise.org
In their final post in a week of articles on e-commerce innovation, Business of Fashion are pleased to launch Elevator Pitch, a recurring feature on BoF that will showcase one exceptional fashion-technology start-up per month and provide valuable feedback from a panel of fashion, technology and investment experts, as well as the BoF community.
BoF has a track record for being the first to spot and support the most innovative start-ups making a mark in the fashion space.
BoF are currently witnessing a veritable surge of innovation and venture capital interest in the fashion-technology space. Amongst e-commerce start-ups alone, they have seen the emergence of new business models like curation, subscription retail, social merchandising, mass customisation, retail gaming and collaborative consumption.
What business models will be next to emerge? Who will be the next Net-a-Porter, Gilt Groupe or Pinterest? If you have a promising business idea in the fashion-technology space or are already working on a start-up and looking to raise your profile or attract funding, they are putting out a call for your Elevator Pitch: concise pitches that you might give to a potential investor, partner or key hire if you bumped into them in an elevator.
For entrepreneurs wishing to participate, please respond to the questions below for the opportunity to have your pitch featured here on BoF and receive valuable feedback from a panel of fashion, technology and investment experts.
THE QUESTIONS (maximum 500 words):
1. What is your business idea and what problem is it solving?
2. What market does it address and how big is this market?
3. Who is your competition and how are you different/better?
4. What is the revenue model?
5. Who are the team that will make your idea a reality?
6. How much funding are you seeking and why?
HOW IT WORKS:
1. They are accepting Elevator Pitches by email only and review the first 500 words you submit. Please send your submissions to elevatorpitch@businessoffashion.com. They cannot respond to every email and will only contact those pitches selected to be published.
2. Each month, the selected Elevator Pitch will be presented to members of our Expert Panel, who will provide their feedback on the business idea and its potential.
3. They will publish one Elevator Pitch per month, along with feedback from our Expert Panel, and invite the BoF community to join the discussion.
THE EXPERT PANEL:
Sonali De Rycker, Partner, Accel Partners, London
Sonali has been active in the European venture business for 12 years focusing on investments in the consumer internet and digital media sectors. Sonali is responsible for investments in KupiVIP, Lyst, StylistPick, Spotify, and Top10.
Kirsten Green, Founder, Forerunner Ventures, New York
Kirsten has been in the investment business since 1996, investing in both public and private companies and building a focus on the consumer sector. Representative investments include: Birchbox, Bonobos, Chloe & Isabel, Cleanwell, Serena & Lily, Skullcandy, StyleOwner, Warby Parker.
Ben Lerer, Founder, Thrillist, New York
Ben Lerer is a Manager of Lerer Ventures and the Co-Founder and CEO of Thrillist.com, a leading men’s multi-platform lifestyle publication with over 3 million daily subscriptions in 19 localized markets in the U.S. and the U.K.
Rachel Shechtman, Founder, Cube Ventures, New York
Rachel has been a marketing and merchandising consultant since 2003 working with clients including Gilt Groupe, TOMS, and the CFDA; and advising others such as Birchbox and Quirky. Recently she launched a new retail venture in Manhattan called STORY.
Imran Amed, Founder and Editor, The Business of Fashion, London
Imran is a fashion business advisor, writer, and digital entrepreneur, and is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Business of Fashion.
Springboard is a mentorship-led accelerator program for startups.
We provide seed capital, office space and – most importantly – that magical ingredient of “smart-community” with mentors and other entrepreneurs.
Springboard comes in the shape of an intensive 13 week programme originally based at the inspirational ideaSpace, part of Cambridge University’s state-of-the-art Hauser Forum and is now in London from early 2012.
Historically, over 50% of the starts up who enter these programmes have succeeded in raising capital in the next round of funding.
What we’ve learned is that at the heart of Springboard should be the exchange of experience, advice, know-how and counselling provided by over 100 great mentors including experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Alongside this we provide each founder with £5,000 (up to a maximum of three founders per startup). The founders move to Cambridge or London for the 13 week programme where they receive intense mentoring and business support.
Springboard culminates in an Investor Day where the teams get to present to venture capitalists and angel investors.
Rackspace are sponsoring Springboard during 2012 in both London and Cambridge with providing cloud hosting for applicants and winners, more details to follow shortly.
Applications for our Spring 2012 intake are open now.
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Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs launch the annual Minigrants competition today, the Arora Awards for Enterprise.
of Fashion are pleased to launch Elevator Pitch, a recurring feature on BoF that will showcase one exceptional fashion-technology start-up per month and provide valuable feedback from a panel of fashion, technology and investment experts, as well as the BoF community.
