Deadline: 28-Feb-22
Applications for Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK) Accelerator Programme are now open, a 3-month cost and equity-free acceleration programme aimed to support ethnic minority owned businesses!
They are offering more than just business growth. They connect businesses with global brands as connections are just as critical as capital, and they provide the holistic support from expert entrepreneurs in networking, mental resilience, and leadership needed to succeed.
Benefits
- Exclusive mentor network of experts in B2B, entrepreneurship, technology, and design
- Community of diverse businesses, advisors, and investors who champion ethnic minority startups
- Entrepreneur support with insights in startup strategy, growth and development, investment, and product testing
- 3-months intensive acceleration support covering 5 unique sprints, with no equity or cost
- 1 year of follow-on support as a registered MSDUK member
What Type and Stage of Business is this Accelerator for?
They are looking for Business to Business (B2B) or Busines to Business to Consumer (B2B2C) ventures that believe the following will help them:
- Has a product or service that a corporate may need or want.
- Focus on validating your business assumptions.
- Fast track your knowledge on key components of entrepreneurship and building a business venture.
- Connect and engage with a cohort of fellow business ventures to support and help each other.
- Connect with the MSDUK corporate and Ethnic Minority Business Network.
- Have a growth and execution focused mindset to develop yourself as an entrepreneur as well as developing your business venture.
Why should you apply?
They can help your business in a number of ways, including:
- The accelerator is designed to educate, motivate and challenge you to succeed with your business venture.
- If your business has plateaued or hit a wall and not developing, it may be because your key business assumptions were wrong. The accelerator can help you review, test and validate your critical business assumptions.
- They can also help you if you are looking to take a new product/service to market and want to validate these unknown critical business assumptions.
- They believe in the power of network and can plug you into a ready-made network of peers, experts and mentors for your business.
Eligibility Criteria
- All applicants should have at least one founder of an ethnic minority origin, with a majority (51% or more) stake and/or ownership within the business. This founder should be working full time in the business.
- You must be a UK citizen or resident on Start-up visa
- The competition is open to business ventures with the potential to scale and make an impact.
- They welcome applications from early-stage ventures through to established ventures if you meet the key criteria listed and consider that the Accelerator could help your business. Their minimum criteria for selection is:
- A business that has an ethnic minority founder or co-founder/s who is a UK citizen or startup visa, with a majority (51% or more) stake and/or ownership within the business.
- A Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C) business venture.
- Has already developed a product or prototype that has users or customers.
- Has a business venture with the potential to scale and make an impact.
- A commitment to attend and engage with the programme for the full 3 months. They want the ethnic minority founders/co-founders to engage with the programme and not delegate this to an employee.
For more information, visit https://www.msduk.org.uk/accelerator/