Up and coming entrepreneurs from across Edinburgh won prizes totalling £10,000 at the Entrepreneurial Spark Acceler8 awards last night.
The event, hosted by the world’s largest free business accelerator in conjunction with RBS and KPMG, celebrated entrepreneurs across the region who have achieved recent business success.
The Acceler8 event brought together Chiclets who are currently based at the Entrepreneurial Spark Hatchery in Edinburgh, with an entrepreneur enablement day focussing on leadership taking place during the day before the awards ceremony.
The entrepreneurs were given the chance to hear from business leaders Stephen Cole, Managing Director at Cole Advertising & Design and Susan Fouquier, Regional Director, Business Banking RBS throughout the evening.
Kitsch Drinks and Film Mobile were awarded £2,000 each for the #GoDo Award, which is given to the Chiclet best demonstrating the mindsets and behaviours of a successful entrepreneur.
Following on from a fantastic few months, entrepreneur Kieran Kelly from Arc-Net also walked away with £3,000 to help grow his business, after winning the Acceler8 award.
Kieran Kelly founder of Arc-Net said: “The Acceler8 event is a fantastic opportunity to get together with the other Chiclets based in Edinburgh and with such great prizes up for grabs it made the day even more interesting! I’ve learnt so much already from my time at Entrepreneurial Spark and with learning days such as this, I’ve got loads more ideas on how to improve my business.”
Jim Duffy, founder and Chief Executive of Entrepreneurial Spark said: “The Acceler8 Awards are a tremendous way of rewarding the hard work and determination we see from our Chiclets across the country. The day was a fantastic way to celebrate the #GoDo attitude we see on a daily basis and I’d like to pass on my congratulations to all of the winners in Edinburgh.“
Carl Haagensen, Entrepreneur Development Manger at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Arc-Net and all the Edinburgh award winners. It’s been fantastic to be a part of the Acceler8. The Chiclets have shown a tremendous amount of passion, creativity and commitment to their businesses. It can be daunting starting your own business but the Chiclets involved have fantastic support from all the partners involved and I wish them every success for the future.”
Phil Charles, Head of Enterprise at KPMG in Scotland, said: “The Entrepreneurial Spark hatcheries are at the coal face of economic growth, providing support and firepower for the start-ups that will shake up industries and become the major employers of tomorrow. The hatchery in Edinburgh is no different and truly exemplifies the city region’s creativity and ambition which were on show in force at the latest Acceler8 event.”
Taking place half way through the six month programme, the day long Acceler8 event which took place before the awards ceremony provided Chiclets with an opportunity to reflect on how their business has grown during their time with Entrepreneurial Spark, and plan for the coming months.
At the start of the six months, Chiclets were put through an entrepreneurial ‘bootcamp’ where they refined their pitching skills, developed their business ideas, and participated in several workshops and presentations to help guide them in building their business.
Entrepreneurs in the Edinburgh Hatchery are provided not only with expert advice and guidance on how to develop their business, but they also receive free office space, internet, a dedicated mentor and frequent workshops and event nights. Applications for the February intake are currently open across all locations for entrepreneurs with a #GoDo attitude and an emerging business idea.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
