Acclaimed technology incubator SETsquared Bristol, led by the University of Bristol, is relaunching its Breakthrough Bursary for the fourth year, continuing its commitment to tech inclusivity. 

The bursary is for UK tech entrepreneurs from a minority ethnic background, providing access to tailored business support at heavily discounted rates. This includes coaching and mentoring, advice clinics, events, skills and training workshops and support to raise investment.

Awardees also benefit from SETsquared’s supportive community and three months free access to desk space in a shared office at Engine Shed.

The initiative is kindly funded by SETsquared Bristol alumni members and the University of Bristol.

Fourteen companies have been recipients of the bursary to date including South West-based startups FluoretiQ, Gritty Talent and LatchAid, and have raised a combined £2.7 million in investment. 

Inclusivity tracking tool Inclued was one of five bursary awardees in 2021. Inclued’s Founder and CEO, Joyann Boyce, who has since been named one of the South-West’s 42 Under 42 by Insider Media and TechSPARK’s Top 50 Rising Star, said:

“My experience of the Breakthrough Bursary has been nothing but positive. As an entrepreneur you often feel like you are out there on your own, but SETsquared Bristol provides a supportive community of founders at all stages. Access to the Entrepreneurs in Residence has been fundamental to mapping out our investment strategy.” 

Another of last year’s bursary recipients, Ali Kazmi Founder of the UK’s first dedicated, ethically compliant investment platform, Ethical Equity, said:

“Being part of SETsquared Bristol via the Breakthrough Bursary has been instrumental to our success. In particular, having access to market/founder insights and SETsquared’s extensive network.” 

 Marty Reid, SETsquared Bristol Director, said:

“Inclusive and sustainable growth is more vital than ever in our current climate. Our ambition is to work towards levelling the playing field for minoritised groups within the tech sector by improving access to support, investment and networks. We look forward to welcoming new awardees with exciting ideas to our community.”

Since SETsquared Bristol launched the Breakthrough Bursary in 2019, companies at the incubator with founders from a minority ethnic background have increased from 14% to 24%. This compares favourably to the UK average where less than 9% of senior tech leaders are from a minority ethnic background. 

Any UK-based entrepreneurs from a minority ethnic background can apply for the Breakthrough Bursary if they are developing a tech startup, or growing an existing company.

Find out more and apply by 7 November 2022.

Manchester Digital will be working in partnership with The Prince’s Trust to deliver an innovative digital skills project as part of the Sustainable Futures Fund.

They will be working with Wigan Council and employer partners such as Auto Trader, BJSS and Zuhlke to design and deliver an exciting new digital skills training programme that will provide mentoring and training in some of the future-focused, non-coding related job roles and skillsets that businesses report as growing in importance for them in the next 3-5 years within the industry.

Young people taking part will learn about a variety of roles such as Digital Project Management, User Experience Design and Research, and Digital Marketing for business, and will be able to put their learning into practice through a live project brief from employers whilst gaining vital work experience.

The strength of this programme lies within its integrated collaboration model, ensuring the young people are holistically supported through the programme and beyond.

The leader of Wigan Council, Councillor David Molyneux said: “Equipping our young people with the skill they need to grow as future leaders is a key priority for the council.

“This programme will provide vital expertise and advice to the next generation, helping them to grow in confidence and excel in their careers. It will also complement the opportunities we created in 2019 through the Apprenticeships for Young People scheme, which helped our young people get onto the career ladder in specific fields, including digital.

“The importance of this sector has risen in recent years but we have seen the value of digital capabilities even more-so throughout the pandemic. We look forward to working with Manchester Digital and The Princes Trust to watch more of our young people flourish and we can’t wait to see their creativity come to the fore.”

Employer partners said: “This project will really start to create pathways for a more diverse group of young people to access opportunities within our industry. We strongly believe that training programmes co-designed and delivered by expertise from within the industry have the most impact. We’re looking forward to helping to elevate awareness of and connection to diverse real role models for young people in Wigan to be inspired. “

Manchester Digital has announced its plans for the next 12 months of the ground-breaking Digital Her programme.

Since its inception, Digital Her has aimed to encourage more women into the digital and tech industry by offering support, guidance and opportunities. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the programme reached over 2000 young women in the past year.

To coincide with International Women in Engineering Day, Manchester Digital announced their supporters for the year ahead, including returning sponsor Auto Trader, new sponsors BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, Bruntwood SciTech and KPMG.

Their plans for the next 12 months include more interactive employer designed and delivered digital skills and career insights workshops, real role model engagement, as well as Women Talk events and meetups. They will also be introducing the Digital Her mentor programme (Mentor Her).

Read more about Digital Her.

The Founders of Niyo Enterprise are empowering black women through technology by kick starting the ‘Black Disruptor’ Accelerator. Sponsored by the West Midlands Combined Authority, Niyo Network has secured a contract to facilitate Accelerator Bootcamps that are uniquely designed for the benefit of Black female business founders and Black females changing to careers in tech within the West Midlands. The first of these bootcamp accelerators will be launching in May 2021.

Black women are still heavily under-represented in IT & Tech roles; in comparison, across other occupations, their level of representation is 2.5 times higher (according to BCS chartered Institute for IT). The Black Disruptor Accelerator programme has been designed to specifically target this issue head on by taking on women who would not be able to afford learning to help them develop skills in AR & VR by offering training and providing job readiness for the tech industry for free.

Find out more about the ‘Black Disruptor’ Accelerator.