Innovate UK
Next week (10 to 15 October 2017) the 7 female entrepreneurs will travel to Boston, Massachusetts on an international entrepreneurial mission, hosted by Innovate UK, Digital Catapult and the British Consulate General Boston.
The mission will help the women better understand and access international markets. It coincides with HUBweek 2017, the citys festival for the future where artists, innovators and creators come together to support collaboration for innovation.
Meet the founders
All of the companies selected are innovating in human and machine interaction, such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things and virtual and augmented reality.
The female founders are:
- Claire Spencer, CEO of Data Solver, which provides privacy-by-design management software that will help businesses comply with the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
- Kriti Sharma, CEO of Lumi, which is a virtual business assistant that uses AI to help users manage admin, finance, HR and IT tasks
- Louise Doherty, CEO of PlanSnap, a social planning app that allows users to create and invite people to opt into your plan, regardless of whether or not they are on the app
- Nicole Blyth, Founder of RelocateGuru, which is designed to help the nearly 1 billion people who relocate to a new town or country every year to find friends and get local tips, advice and recommendations
- Christine Boyle, CEO of Senergy, which has developed the worlds first nanocomposite solar thermal panels. These can be manufactured and installed at 50% lower cost than existing metallic solar collectors
- Samrien Hussain, Director of Tick Tock Unlock, an immersive entertainment company that designs, builds and operates escape game venues. Future plans include supplying virtual reality experiences to other venues and launching a free-roaming product
- Diane Douglas, CEO of Vigiles is developing augmented and merged reality gamified mobile apps to improve health and safety awareness. Its first product is a fire safety app for young people in student accommodation
The businesses were chosen by a panel of judges. This was made up of Priya Guha, Ecosystem General Manager of RocketSpace, Guy Pattison, CEO and Strategy Director at Long Run Works, Sabine Hauert, President and Co-founder of Robohub.org, Natasha Lytton, Head of Marketing and Communications at Seedcamp, and Marija Butkovic, Founder and CEO of Women of Wearables.
The programme
During the mission there will be opportunities for delegates to:
- better understand the challenges and opportunities in the US
- meet and pitch to potential customers, investors and partners
- gain insight into new markets for human-machine interaction
- hear from international thought leaders
- learn how to develop a market-entry strategy
- take part in practical workshops and get mentoring support to improve pitching
- network with other entrepreneurs in the same field
They will also get the chance to get involved in UK governments GREAT campaign, which is designed to showcase the best the nation has to offer, to encourage people to visit, do business, invest and study in the UK.
About infocus
Our infocus programme is designed to support and empower people who are currently under represented in business innovation by providing them with the resources, advice and self-belief to succeed.
This mission is the latest activity being run under the infocus women in innovation campaign. Through this campaign we aim to remove some of the barriers and get more women in the UK innovating.