Startup Guernsey counts the benefits of entrepreneurship events

Monday 26 November 2018

Budding business women and men said they were left "inspired" by the events held in Guernsey to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Startup Guernsey hosted the week earlier this month, for the eighth time, with seven events and workshops taking place, as part of the world wide initiative which has helped more than 50 million people "unleash their ideas and share one global entrepreneurship ecosystem."

The week kicked off with a speed-networking session on 12 November hosted by theBestof Guernsey which was an opportunity for local businesses to connect. Public relations consultancy Orchard hosted a ‘meet the media’ session for local businesses and entrepreneurs to find out more about how they can engage effectively with the media. Chris Chilton, joint Managing Director at Orchard, moderated with Guernsey Press business editor Will Green, Sam Bellis from the Island FM news team, and Laura Clayton, editor at Bailiwick Express Guernsey, making up the panel. 

Pictured: Express Editor, Laura Clayton at the Meet the Media event. 

Another highlight of the week was the Angel Pitch Competition sponsored by Barclays Eagle Labs which gave local startups the opportunity to pitch for local angel investment. Five companies were selected to pitch, including Talking Cents, RISE Financial Services, The Free From Farm, EaseeDo and SynapCon. The winning pitches were EaseeDoo for the most investable business idea and Talking Cents for best pitch on the night. Prize money and sponsorship are kindly provided by Barclays Eagle Labs. 

A networking event sponsored by Guernsey Post also took place at Urban Kitchen where entrepreneurs had the opportunity to meet and network with each other as well as the Startup Guernsey team and representatives from Guernsey Post. 

Startup Guernsey said the flagship event was the Tourism Ideathon organised in conjunction with Visit Guernsey. The judges included Deputy Dawn Tindall, tourism lead from the Committee for Economic Development, and representatives from Startup Guernsey, Visit Guernsey and each of the sponsors. 

The Victor Hugo Interpretation Centre won the TPA sponsored Victor Hugo category and G-Emoji, a project that focuses on creating a unique set of Guernsey emojis won the Sarnia Hotels sponsored Modern Traditional category. The Victor Hugo bench won the Instagrammable Moments category sponsored by Vivid and Guernsey Revival, a Goodwood Revival style festival, won the Pure Innovation category sponsored by JT. EQube, a virtual reality team won the All Weather category sponsored by PwC. 

Feminine Business was the final event, hosted by Sasha Kazantseva-Miller from Island Mums and Michelle Johansen from Female Potential. The workshop explored how by breaking some of the stigmas associated with feminine energy, we can create a more holistic environment that promotes great success and well-being in today’s businesses. 

Jennifer Strachan, CEO of Startup Guernsey said: 

“Global Entrepreneurship Week is the highlight of Startup Guernsey’s year and this year proved again how many innovative and entrepreneurial people are in Guernsey working on fantastic projects. We have enjoyed meeting and connecting these people to investors, business mentors and members of the press which will help move their projects forward. We couldn’t have done this without our fantastic sponsors so are very grateful to the time and funding they provided to make the week such a success. “ 

Startup Guernsey offers independent, free advice to entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their businesses. To find out more, visit Startup Guernsey website startup.gg or email info@startup.gg to arrange a confidential appointment with a business advisor.

Pictured top: The Tourism Ideathon winners.