FEMALE founders from across Aberdeen and the North East are being offered an opportunity to raise their company’s profile and benefit from a package aimed at driving business growth with the launch of the AccelerateHER Awards 2023.
This year’s awards programme has now opened for applications from women behind companies focused on being a ‘force for good’, with four new entry categories: Technology; Health; Environment; and Culture. A ‘Rising Star’ award for the female founder with the best early-stage business idea will also be presented.
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Winners will be selected for each category at the awards final event being held at the new Barclays campus in Glasgow on 16th March.
Now in their eighth year, the AccelerateHER Awards provide a springboard to growth for participants by opening doors to new opportunities and market-building connections through the organisation’s global network. The awards, supported by the Scottish Government, are open to women who are founders or co-founders of companies which are Scottish-based or actively trading in Scotland. Winners will benefit from a prize package that is potentially worth thousands of pounds and includes a six-month mentoring programme from Investing Women Angels, Scotland’s first all-female business angel group.
Many former awards participants have also secured places on AccelerateHER trade missions to Europe, North America and the Middle East, to showcase their business to industry contacts and global investors. Three of last year’s winners will attend next month’s mission to California, connecting with money-can’t-buy network-building opportunities and investors from a range of global industries. To date, more than 5,500 female founders have joined the AccelerateHER community.
Last year’s Scotland-based AccelerateHER Award winners were Ishani Malhotra, founder and CEO of cancer treatment pioneers Carcinotech; Lynne Darcey Quigley, founder and CEO of fintech innovators Know-it Global; Xiaoyan Ma, CEO of Danu Robotics, a company focused on addressing the global waste challenge; and Danae Shell, CEO of Valla, a DIY law platform which helps resolve employment issues.
To apply for the 2023 AccelerateHER Awards, entrants will complete a short application form, which includes a description of how their business is a force for good, and submit a brief video pitch outlining their business, its ambitions, growth plans and international potential. More details can be found at: www.accelerateher.co.uk/awards2023
Deadline for entries is Friday, 9th December 2022. Shortlisted companies will be announced in early January 2023.
Launching this year’s awards programme, AccelerateHER CEO Elizabeth Pirrie said: “Over the last seven years, the AccelerateHER Awards has helped inspire and support hundreds of female-led companies, including those based in the Aberdeen and the North East. It provides an ideal platform that enables aspirational women to connect with our global network of angel investors, commercial advisers and other successful business people. The financial impact has also been significant, with the companies involved in the AccelerateHER programme securing more than £45 million in external investment.
“I would encourage women behind growth-focused companies in Aberdeen and the North East that aim to be a force for good to come forward and apply.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP said: “The AccelerateHER Awards are a fantastic way of recognising and celebrating the achievements and contributions of women in Scotland’s entrepreneurial landscape.
“The Scottish Government is working to identify and support additional ways to unlock the full potential of Scotland’s entrepreneurs and at the same time address the existing entrepreneurial gender gap. Gender equality in business is essential for Scotland to achieve its vision of becoming the most entrepreneurial and innovative society in the world.”
