It takes a village to raise a start-up.

That's why we're bringing together a community of entrepreneurs, business professionals and expert advisors to help you take the jump and start or grow your business.

The truth is that 2018 is the best time there has ever been to start your own business. You can start up faster than ever, more cheaply than ever with more support around you than ever before.

So we will spend the day focussing on how you can take advantage of this opportunity. We will be looking at everything from how to validate your idea, how to fund your business, how to attract customers and what steps you need to take before you hit launch.

Tickets cost just £10 including VAT or £8 to Vine Community members.

✔️ Registration and Networking: 12:30am - 13:30am

Start the day right. Grab a coffee and introduce yourself to other aspiring founders, entrepreneurs and business professionals. Say hello to the Founderfest team and write on our start-up wall!

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✔️ Welcome to Founderfest 2018: Foundervine & KPMG: 13:30am - 13:45pm

Izzy Obeng, Director of Foundervine opens the day and offers advice on how to make the most out of the festival. Followed by an introduction from our venue sponsor, KPMG Student Recruitment, who will be providing an insight into student and graduate careers at KPMG.

⭐Speaker: Izzy Obeng, Director of Foundervine

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✔️ Turning your Passion into Action: 13:45pm - 14:45pm

Are you finding it difficult to move from the dreaming phase into the doing phase? This session will kick start your social enterprise development and help you get things moving immediately. You'll learn how to become more productive and more focused than ever before. The question is, are you ready for it?

⭐Speaker: Bayo Adelaja, Founder of Do It Now Now

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✔️Life’s a pitch: How to pitch your business idea with style: 14:15pm - 14:45pm

Whether you are telling friends or pitching to get VC/angel investors, you must keep in mind two things about your business pitch: keep your story simple and sweet. Speaker and serial entrepreneur, Junior Ogunyemi, will share his advice on how to perfect your business with style.

⭐Speaker: Junior Ogunyemi, Jr Entrepreneur and Entrepower Academy

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✔️The key ingredients to building a successful mobile app: 15:00pm - 15:35pm

You’ve got an idea which you can’t stop thinking about, have sketched it down on paper and maybe even created a wireframe prototype. However you are now asking yourself ‘now, what?’. This is the beginning of the process. In this session, KPMG’s

David Fisayo will guide you through the key steps to building a successful mobile app!

⭐Speaker: David Fisayo, Manager at Customer and Digital at KPMG

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✔️Debt, equity or crowdfunding: Which method of raising funds is right for me?: 14:15pm - 14:50pm

Fundraising is a problem many entrepreneurs struggle with when starting out. Getting the right advice about fundraising is critical to the success of your company. Join our funding professionals and entrepreneurs for an insightful conversation on the best way to fund your new venture.

⭐Speakers:

Emmanuel Aremu, Growth Director at Community Growth Ventures

Rodney Appia, Early stage investor at Foresight Group

Lara Gill, Business Relationship Director at Santander UK

Sylvester Lewis, Co-Founder at Suppa App

Izzy Obeng (Host), Director at Foundervine

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✔️How to build your brand online (without breaking the bank): 16:55pm - 17:30pm

Building your brand on social media can be difficult. With so many users regularly publishing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other socials, how do you make sure your own messages are heard? Join our panel of social media experts as we discuss how to position your brand for success online.

⭐Speaker:

Dami Olonisakin, Editor & Founder of Simply Oloni

Anthony Odogwu, CEO & Founder at Future Space Technologies

Stephanie Ozuo, Marketing Manager at Foundervine

Mitchell Fasanya, CTO at Fanbytes

Naomi Oluleye, Freelance Brand Marketing Consultant

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✔️Keynote: 'How I built this', Ronke Lawal : 17:45pm -18:20pm

After founding her own PR agency, Ariatu Public Relations, nearly 14 years ago, Ronke Lawal has gone on to work with and for established businesses and brands all over the country. The award-winning PR consultant has become a respected name in the UK PR industry and will be sharing her journey and advice on growing your business in 2018.

⭐Speaker: Ronke Lawal, Founder at Ariatu PR

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✔️Diversity in the start-up community: Challenges and opportunities: 18:25pm - 19:05pm

Diversity in the start-up community is not a pipeline problem. Join our panel of entrepreneurs, start-up community builders and advisors for the final session of Founderfest 2018 as they discuss what it means to build an inclusive start-up community for under-represented founders.

⭐Panel:

Danielle McDonald (Host), Founder at Brands of Colour

Elizabeth Uviebinené, Marketing Manager at HSBC UK and Co-Author of Slay In Your Lane

Dirk Bischof, CEO at Hatch Enterprise

Michael Larbi, Student and media entrepreneur at Rice at Home Podcast

Mark Martin, Founder at Urban Teacher and UKBlackTech