Startup 54
University of Hertfordshire
Startup 54
University of Hertfordshire
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Digital Resilience for our Communities
The high street is a challenging environment, so we are building a 9-month programme for community businesses to help you scale up, expand your network, and discover new opportunities.
We are looking for community-focused businesses that are looking for an opportunity to expand in their industry. If this sounds like you then click the link below to sign up for our workshops.
Community Events 2022
Becoming Your
Own Boss
Many of us aspire to become our own boss, but few know what skills are necessary to this. This workshop will enable you to thoroughly explore all aspects of self-employment, whilst assisting you to make that decision whether self-employment is for you and help get prepared for it.
Investing Like a Pro
in 5 Steps
The Investment readiness program helps early-stage founders view their business from an investor’s viewpoint to increase their chances of securing investment. Securing funds from angel investors and venture capitalists is a sales process and we aim to ensure businesses are well equipped to present their proposals.
Music Business Ownership Accelerator
Black ownership in music is an issue we are committed to solving. We’ve built an intensive free virtual 3-month accelerator helping Black business owners in music increase visibility, scale up their business, and access investment.
Applications have been launched, click the link below to find out how you can be one of the 20 businesses that will go through this programme.
Why this programme, Why now?
The pandemic drove entrepreneurial spirit, with over 835,000 businesses registered in the UK, with a 42% increase vs 2019 (source: Small Business UK). Though according to the British Business Bank, Black entrepreneurs are still being held back with limited access to financial support, education and opportunities.
In particular, the music industry was one of the hardest hit segments - employment plunged by 35% and the industry’s economic contribution fell by 46% (source: Music Business Week). Despite some improvements in recent years, racism remains rife with 86% of people saying they have faced barriers to their career due to race (source: Black Lives in Music Report). The Wray Forward programme aims to support our entrepreneurial community by improving access and facilitating growth.
Wray Forward is a free programme built to change and support the foundations of our community.
Wray Forward is a pioneering, first-of-its-kind project to support the growth of both community businesses as well as the enterprises behind the artists we know and love.