Are you a woman with a new business, business idea or side-hustle hobby who is looking for support in setting up and accessing funding?

SETsquared Bristol are proud to have partnered with NatWest’s Back Her Business initiative, supported by Crowdfunder, to launch a free programme that aims to inspire more than 200 local female entrepreneurs. Eighteen of these women will be selected to go on to receive specialist mentoring and attend a series of workshops as well as launching their own crowdfunding campaigns through the Back Her Business initiative.

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.

Cheryl Gourlay, NatWest National Women in Business Manager, said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with SETsquared Bristol, an organisation who through its own innovation and leadership has achieved huge success at encouraging growth in the number of female and BAME entrepreneurs in the region.

“Just one in three entrepreneurs in the UK is female and this is a figure that NatWest is hugely committed to challenging. Our Back Her Business campaign forms part of our wider commitment to help create an additional 65,000 new female led businesses by 2025, through inspiring and supporting 400,000 females to consider enterprise as a career option. SETsquared’s programme will play a part in helping us reach this important goal.”

Monika Radclyffe, Centre Director at SETsquared Bristol said:

“This partnership demonstrates the continuing importance of inspiring and encouraging women to start their own businesses, which aligns with SETsquared Bristol’s ethos.”

The Back Her Business launch event is on Tuesday 26 November from 6-8pm at Engine Shed, Bristol. Alongside information sharing, it will feature a panel discussion of inspirational women businesses founders who have either experience of crowdfunding or have accessed alternative sources of funding. The panellists are Sarah Bolt, CEO and Co-founder of Forth Life & Forth Edge, Chlow Meineck, Designer of Music Memory Box and Char Lawrence, Founder & CEO of Mogul Minded Group and the Chair is Monika Radclyffe, Centre Director at SETsquared Bristol.

If you would like to find out more, sign up to the launch event here

More information on Back Her Business

Back Her Business is open to UK residents with new UK projects.

Selection of 18 businesses and business founders will take place in February 2020.

The pre-incubation programme runs from March 2020 – August 2020 and includes full day workshops delivered by SETsquared Bristol Entrepreneur in Residence and external experts, access to Advisors in Residence and mentor support.

Crowdfunding campaigns will run from August 2020 to October 2020, culminating in a crowdfunding launch night at Engine Shed in October 2020.

NatWest are offering grants to certain successful projects (each project may receive NatWest top-up funding up to 50% of the overall fundraising target up to a maximum of £5,000).

Find out more: natwestbackherbusiness.co.uk