World Labs - MSDUK Accelerator - Elevating Ambitious Ethnic Minority Founders

The Award

We provide ambitious minority founders with the support, expertise, and networks to accelerate their startup.

The Offer

When you join the accelerator, you are becoming part of the MSDUK family and gaining lifelong support as an ethnic minority business. Unlike other programmes that may be internally competitive, our programme is collaborative and you'll be entering a dynamic ecosystem that will grow with you on this journey. Our members include:

• Peer Support with founders in your cohort
• Ethnic minority businesses in the MSDUK network from early-stage to scale up
• Experts, fellow founders, and mentors in the UK and globally
• Connections to Corporates within the MSDUK network of 75+ companies
• Investment leaders and financial experts

The Ask

Weekly dedication of  4-8 hours on the programme and sprints across a 4 month period.

Sector

Minority owned or at least one founder.

Funding Stage

Open to companies across all funding stages

Requirements

• MSDUK champions inclusion of ethnic minority businesses and founders into the mainstream. All applicants should have at least one founder of an ethnic minority origin, with a majority (51% or more) stake and/or ownership within the business
• You must be a UK citizen or resident on Start-up/Innovator visa

The competition is open to Start-ups and SMEs who are at an MVP stage as a minimum requirement

We are looking for an incredible team with an innovative solution that can have the potential for impact.

The team:

• A UK-based and registered company that is majority-owned by ethnic minorities.
• A talented team with diverse skillsets and a passion to make their business succeed
• The solution:
• An innovative startup within the scope of the impact verticals
• A prototype that has or ready to be delivered
• A clear hypothesis of how to test their business, and then refine, produce, sell, and distribute their final product or solution
• The impact:
• Early traction like customer surveys, research etc. established
• Ability to become corporate-pilot ready six months post-acceleration
• Ambition to create an impact

Cities

All over the UK

Countries

UK only