Social enterprise Elevator is to launch a season of new events and activities for budding entrepreneurs and ambitious start-ups to find potential business partners and push their idea to the next level.
The Elevator Founder Fusion season will run throughout October, November and December at Elevator’s Centre for Entrepreneurship at The Hub in Bridge of Don.
Participants will have the chance to drop into the Studio Collaboration Café and take advantage of a wide-ranging programme of more than 50 different events, with the opportunity to then progress on to Elevator’s existing Accelerator programme, apply to Grey Matters or gain support and assistance through other Elevator initiatives.
Free coffee and wifi, music, hot desks, break-out space and meeting booths will be available to encourage networking and learning in a coffee shop style environment.
Jules Lancastle, accelerator manager, said this was a new approach for Elevator.
“The Founder Fusion season will support new and existing business partnerships, but will especially give solo founders – or individuals who think they could become a founder - the chance to meet new prospective business partners, gain ideas and insight and share knowledge,” she said. “We have learned from our previous Accelerator programmes how important teams are when building a business with rapid scale prospects.
“It has been designed to be informal, so participants can just drop in and hang out with fellow founders, or take advantage of the free workshops and events we have planned by booking through our website.
“The Elevator Founder Fusion season will give emerging and existing participants numerous opportunities to engage with potential partners. Co-founder teams are often more investable and are typically more successful more quickly because they have the breadth of experience to support rapid growth.”
Jules added: “Ultimately we hope this experience will pave the way for some participants to join our Accelerator programme in the near future, either as individuals or as a team, and to create successful businesses.”
The programme ranges from workshops, meetings and networking to events, seminars by previous Accelerator Founders who are now running their own businesses and personal insight sessions.
The sessions have been split into themes but with the overarching aim of facilitating networking.
Meeting Mondays will encourage Founders to follow up on opportunities in a collaborative environment.
Tech Tuesdays will feature briefings on the latest technology such as the Internet of Things, virtual reality, cloud computing and Blockchain, looking at new markets and the application of these innovations in specific industries and sectors.
Workshop Wednesdays will focus on workshops for early stage businesses, while Thirst for Knowledge Thursdays will draw on the knowledge and expertise of Elevator’s professional partners.
Founder Focus Fridays will include insights from previous Founders on the lessons they have learned in business, as well as personal development sessions.
Elevator’s established Accelerator Programme is designed to discover aspiring business leaders, pioneer entrepreneurship and drive ambition to create successful global brands.
Over the course of 12 weeks, participants are immersed in different entrepreneurial themes; from business models and goal setting, identifying new markets and opportunities to intellectual property, scale, growth and exit strategy.
Professor Gary McEwan, chief executive of Elevator, added: “We recognise the importance of nurturing founder teams and have opted to introduce a new model this autumn and hope it will be very popular with explorers, pioneers and innovators – the kind of people who are brave enough to go beyond their comfort zone and have the tenacity to build on an idea or a thought.
“This new series of events will help to develop these people and build them into a team. We have great support from thought leaders and established entrepreneurs who are always willing to impart their knowledge and experience through a series of inspiring talks, workshops and practical help and we hope the new Founders will take away some life and business-changing lessons before signing up for the next Accelerator cohort.
“Sometimes teams come together by accident. What we are creating with the Founder Fusion season is the environment and the opportunity to create vibrant co-founder teams with complementary skill sets to drive the successful launch and growth of a scalable business.”
In addition, Elevator is launching a new co-founder Catalyst programme for selected individuals who have an immediate desire to collaborate with co-founders based on specific skills, insights and resources they will bring to an industry or sector.
The three-week co-founder Catalyst develops personal insights, assists idea generation and supports team formation before helping co-founders map out a start-up pathway.
To register to join Elevator’s growing Founders network or to request an interview for the Co-founder Catalyst, visit www.elevatoruk.com or contact Simon Fraser by email at Simon@elevatoruk.com or call 07876 443436.