Digital Catapult’s Black Founders Programme returns for the third year in partnership with Sony Music UK and Sony Music Publishing UK, and in collaboration with Channel 4.
The Black Founders Programme is a 14-week accelerator targeted at up to 15 high-growth potential pre-seed or seed stage companies creating innovative products and services in the creative industries.
The participating companies’ leadership team will work with Digital Catapult, industry experts, Sony Music and Channel 4 to assess and fast track their business in order to become “investment-ready” whilst expanding their network of peers, investors and customers. Across the 14-week programme, companies will participate in roughly 20+ hours of support, including:
- Health scans with your company to determine current technological, commercial, investment and strategic needs
- Masterclasses & workshops to develop and improve business planning, commercial strategy, pricing and positioning, operational processes and investment readiness
- Networking events and tailored introductions to industry leaders, relevant investors and potential customers
The programme is delivered in partnership with Sony Music UK and Sony Music Publishing UK, and in collaboration with Channel 4. Multiple interaction opportunities will be available to support business growth and facilitate connections where possible.
The majority of the programme will be delivered remotely via online calls and sessions. We expect to organise a small number of in-person events at Digital Catapult, Sony Music UK or Channel 4 offices over the 14-week period, including a programme kick-off, networking and final event. Digital Catapult will provide as much notice as possible.
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The programme is aimed at the business’ senior leadership team (e.g. founders, CEO) but support can be made available to the successful applicants more generally upon request.
The programme is inviting applications from UK based pre-seed and seed stage companies creating innovative products and services in the creative industries.
- Applicants must have at least one founder that self-identifies as Black or multiracial with Black heritage.
- Applicants are looking to raise investment in the next 12 months.
- Applicants are currently working in the creative industries (for example, music, film, TV, arts, gaming, advertising).
Applications from university teams are welcomed if they meet the eligibility criteria and are willing to incorporate as a company if accepted on the programme.
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- Pre-Seed: Demonstrate that your business solves a customer problem. We expect that you kicked off your business with a small amount of funding. You are seeking funding that will help support your early product development. It’ll build the foundation of your business by funding an early team, operations, and the creation of a minimum viable product (MVP).
- Seed: focuses more on developing and proving that your customers want your product. Companies at this stage should have proven the key value of their product. We expect that you have received some early stage funding from either individual investors or an early stage venture capital fund. The purpose of seed funding is to help founders develop product-market fit, drive sales, and identify key growth strategies and enable opportunities to grow.
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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
You must be using these within a creative industry, which includes:
- Advertising and marketing
- Animation
- Architecture
- Arts and culture
- Crafts
- Design
- Fashion
- Film, TV and video
- Games
- Publishing
- Music and radio
- Visual art and photography
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The Black Founders Programme aims to fast track the growth of cohort companies from a business and investment perspective and provide the support needed to become investment ready. The selected companies will benefit from interaction with Sony Music UK, Sony Music Publishing UK and Channel 4 across the programme.
- Business & Investment Health Scans
- Business & Investment support designed from the Health Scans
- Masterclasses, mentoring & coaching from industry experts
- Peer support
- Potential for funding opportunities
- Access to potential partners, investors and customers
- Access to state-of-the-art facilities & deep tech expertise
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Q&A drop-in sessions: 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 September and 2, 3 October. Click here to book a Q&A drop-in time.
Find out more about the Black Founders Programme at the Digital Catapult website.