INVESTING IN RADICAL SUPPORT FOR WOMEN FOUNDERS
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 2 March 2021
Two Nottingham entrepreneurs have received a cash boost for their company so they can support even more women to set up and grow their own business.
Sarah King and Claire Dunn co-founded ‘we are radikl’ two years ago, with the aim of becoming the go-to platform for women across the UK to launch and run their own businesses.
Now they have secured over £50,000 investment into their business, doubled the size of their core team and taken on four new board members.
The ‘we are radikl’ team secured investment via the government backed Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) which is designed to help finance start-ups within the first two years of trading.
With over 200 members, ‘we are radikl’ provides an active online community and growth accelerators for women founders; created on their four design principles of radikl know-how, connection, inspiration and kindness.
Claire said, this support is needed now more than ever.
“Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on women in the world of work. One of the impacts of this however is that we’ve seen an increase from one in eight, to one in four women starting their own businesses.
“Despite this, we know that women are underserved when it comes to getting the support they need so our aim is to offer meaningful help and advice to allow their businesses to become successful, not only for them but also for the people around them.”
This cash boost means they can take their growth plans even further by recruiting more staff and expanding their unique package of e-learning support to become the go-to platform for women-founded businesses.
Sarah added:
“Investment for us is about more than just capital. It’s about the team of people you wrap around yourself at a Board level. We’re really excited to now be working with a team who have extensive experience in growing and scaling businesses across the Tech, FS, FMCG and Legal sectors.
“Our Board is made up of people dedicated to the idea of creating meaningful change for women entrepreneurs in the UK. This is about disrupting who gets invested in, who gets invited to invest and what that investment values. We’re modelling the change we want to see in the world and that is so exciting.”
Sarah Walker-Smith is the CEO of Shakespeare Martineau and she joins ‘we are radikl’ as non-executive chair. She is the only female, non-lawyer CEO in the legal top 55 and was named as the UK’s most influential legal CEO on social media.
She said:
“I have for many years been passionate about creating a level playing field in business for the benefit of all. Now more than ever we need to utilise all talent. No barriers. No outdated paradigms or excuses.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and will need to innovate and thrive in the coming decade to get us back to better and rocket fuel the economic recovery. Creating the right conditions to level up opportunities for women founders and entrepreneurs is vital, and Sarah and Claire from ‘we are radikl’ have the right formula to create this change.”
With only one percent of venture funding going to businesses founded by all-female teams, this investment into 'we are radikl' will allow them to open up their community to even more women and highlight the need for more investment into women-founded companies in the future.
“Quite simply it’s time for change,” said King.
“The level of inequality that exists within the world of entrepreneurship for women, for people of colour, for people with disabilities and in the LGBTQ community is unacceptable.
“Whether you’re thinking about taking the next to start or grow your business or to step into the world of investment - back yourself. Build meaningful connections within a community of people who will fuel your confidence and in doing so inspire the actions and decisions you make. Change is happening and the impact is going to be positive for everyone!”
If you’re interested in finding out more about joining or investing in ‘we are radikl’ and the businesses they support visit we are radikl
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