Business leading lights to inspire start-up journey

Leading lights of the business world are set to inspire students from underrepresented backgrounds to make the first step of their start-up journey.

The University of Essex’s new Make Me An Entrepreneur series will see women and members of the BAME community urged to pursue their passions.

Unfolding across six weeks the Essex Startups team will give founders the chance to pitch for up to £3,000 and receive expert mentoring.

Each week a guest speaker, will share their own experiences and provide industry insights into the opportunities and challenges they have encountered.

Lauren Gräeve, Student Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Manager, said: “The Make Me an Entrepreneur series will be the first of its kind, focusing on underrepresented groups in the entrepreneurial sector.

“We are eagerly awaiting the start of all three programmes and are excited to see a new cohort of passionate entrepreneurs join the Essex Startups community.”

The Empower: Female Founders programme will help women discover values, strengths, creativity and resilience whilst equipping them with knowledge and know-how to start their very own businesses.

Each week they will learn about different elements of a start-up from real-life female founders.

The BE ME: Black and Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs will help break down barriers for ethnic minority business owners.

It is hoped the programme will tackle the inequalities that under-represented start-up founders face.

The BE ME programme is designed to bring together better access to business support and opportunities to pitch for funding.

Running alongside these two initiatives a third scheme that explores the challenging world of science and tech will also be taking place.

The Digerati: Science and Technology Founders dives into the fast-paced and ever-developing world of science and tech.

The first events for all three programmes start the week commencing the 14 November and end in January.

Places can be booked online.