Top 5 female entrepreneurs awarded seed funding
Top 5 Female Entrepreneurs Awarded Seed Funding through Brand Strategy Programme Sponsored by J.P. Morgan
Just in time for International Women’s Day, Brand Amplifier, announced the top five female entrepreneurs to win seed funding for their ventures last night at the iconic ITV studios, in South Bank. Earlier this year, the educational initiative achieved charitable status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and secured significant funding from J.P. Morgan to double the programme’s intake and nurture the success of alumni via networking, instructive events and community marketing throughout the year.
Recognising Best Business Vision, the Top Winners are:
£2,500 – Van Girls is an all-female moving company that offers friendly, reliable service throughout London and beyond.
£1,500 – (Joint winners) Curious Handmade and Thinking Bob. Curious Handmade offers knitwear products, tutorials and ideas for anyone interested in taking up the craft. Thinking Bob is a social networking site for Londoners new and old to meet people and interact in fun, exciting ways.
£750 – Vicky’s Kitchen which specialises in making Caribbean condiments, especially pepper sauce.
£1,200 Social Media Package – Konfikids makes personalised, inspirational designs for children.
Brand Amplifier’s signature Art of Branding methodology has achieved an astonishing 85% startup survival rate for the 55 SMEs that have graduated the initiative since 2009. Brand Amplifier’s curriculum is designed to create transformational business results for the finalists selected from an open call for applications from London-based, female-run companies across all sectors.
The Spring 2014 edition has trained 22 founding females over four intensive weeks of workshops, honing their business vision, marketing skills and PR and social media savvy. The programme culminates with the final pitch day and award celebration of the participants’ progress under the expert tutelage of SkyNews broadcasters, BBC property experts and award-winning brand strategy consultancy CEOs.
Jeannette Pritchard, founder and Chair Trustee of Brand Amplifier, said: ‘I established Brand Amplifier in 2009 with a real desire to share my branding knowledge in hopes it could help female entrepreneurs succeed and also boost economic recovery despite a global financial recession.
‘Each edition incorporates the additional insights, business advice, mentorship and branding coaching of leading successful female entrepreneurs from a wide range of sectors. Every year, participants tell me it’s been a life-changing experience, whether helping overcome financial or work-balance issues or just giving ambitious, smart women the network and know-how that catapults their business to dramatic levels of growth, investment, and development.’
BA is an ideal programme for all types of businesses, with graduates from various industries including wellness, beauty, technology, and event services. Participants learn how to effectively amplify the reach and voice of their business, reaching their target audiences, securing financial investment and even achieving national and international media exposure. Recent alumni have been featured this year on Channel 4’s Four Rooms and BBC’s The One Show. 100% of BA alumni recommend the programme’s effectiveness in growing their brands and their confidence.
Mentorship and networking play a key part in the programme but the focus is on education, harnessing the know-how of inspiring women who have succeeded themselves, and who are generous with advice, opinions and constructive criticism that first-time entrepreneurs need in order to succeed.
Twitter: @BrandAmplifier
About Brand Amplifier
Founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Jeannette Pritchard in the wake of the great recession, Brand Amplifier was founded as a way for her to leverage her win as Best Businesswoman in Lambeth to support future generations of female entrepreneurs. Brand Amplifier today operates as an intake and a feeder programme alongside entrepreneurial organisations such as the Prince’s Trust, the School for Creative Startups, King’s College London and London Business School, and has become a pilot programme for Lambeth council’s employability efforts across the board.
