Black Founders Programme 2.0

In collaboration with Sony Music UK and Sony Music Publishing UK

Applications close on Sunday 7 July 2024 

 

Get your startup investment ready

The Black Founders Programme is a 13-week accelerator targeted at pre-seed or seed stage, Black founded companies creating innovative products and services in the creative industry.

The aim of the programme is to fast track high-growth potential startups from a business and investment perspective, providing the support needed to increase their investment readiness level.

Sony Music UK and Sony Music Publishing UK are collaboration partners for this programme and will play an active role in supporting business growth & facilitating connections where possible.

 

Applications close at 23:59 on Sunday 7 July 2024.

https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/apply/open-calls/opportunity/black-founders-programme/

 

Why this programme is launching?

0.2% – Black startup founders receive dramatically lower venture capitalist investments than their peers, receiving 0.2% of overall funding.

38 – The share of funding received by Black founders also decreases during the various stages of investment compared to other ethnicities – from 1.9% at seed stage, to 0.5% at later stages. Moreover, between 2009 and 2019, only 38 businesses run by Black entrepreneurs received venture capital.

1% – As well as being invested in less frequently, when part of a founding team, Black entrepreneurs raise just 1% of the total amount invested at Seed stage.

The economic contribution of the UK creative industries saw a 6.8% increase in 2022 to reach £124.6 billion, more than 50% larger than its size in 2010, according to the UK government estimates. In 2023, the government and the Creative Industries Council published a sector vision plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and support an additional 1 million jobs. 

 

Programme Benefits

● Business and investment health scans 

● Masterclasses, mentoring and coaching from industry experts 

● Potential for funding opportunities

● Opportunities to engage with Sony Music Group

● Access to potential partners, investors and customers

● Access to state-of-the art facilities and deep tech expertise 

 

Who should apply

In order to be eligible for the programme, applicants must meet the following criteria:

● UK based pre-seed and seed stage companies in the creative deep tech sector

● Applicants looking to raise investment in the next 12 months

● Applicants must have at least one founder that self-identifies as Black or multiracial (Black heritage plus another ethnic group) 

● Are currently working within the creative space (for example music, arts, gaming and advertising)

 

To be considered, Digital Catapult supports companies using advanced digital technologies including: 

● Future networks and advanced digital infrastructure (internet of things including low powered wide area networks, NB-IoT, LIFI etc. and includes sensors, edge devices, wearables etc.)

● Immersive technologies – extended reality (virtual, augmented, mixed reality and haptics)

● Artificial intelligence and machine learning (natural language processing, machine vision, deep learning)

● Distributed ledger technologies (blockchain etc.)

● Quantum

 

No fees and a financial contribution to cover costs

Applying to and participating in the programme is free. To offset costs to a business by participating in the programme, each startup will receive an equal share of £30,000 pot as a financial contribution towards completing the programme. The pot is made possible through additional support from Sony Music UK and Sony Music Publishing UK.