A group of eight business leaders have joined an incubator programme that aims to accelerate the growth of their companies.
Durham City Incubator (DCI) was launched in 2018 as part of a wider drive to grow the economy in Durham City. A joint programme between Durham University, New College Durham and Business Durham, it helps entrepreneurs in the county to launch start-ups with high growth potential.
So far, the six-month programme has supported 39 entrepreneurs, many of whom have gone on to launch successful businesses, achieve national recognition and secure investment funding.
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The incubator is now working with eight more exciting new businesses, covering sectors that include including health and well-being, clothing, recruitment, digital marketing and the environment.
Each business on the programme will also benefit from a £2,500 grant and six months of intensive support to ensure they are ready for the next stage of growth, with training and advice ranging from financing and marketing to legal issues, business strategy and much more.
Delivered primarily through boot camps, one-to-one support, mentoring sessions, workshops, seminars and networking events, the scheme also recently linked up with The Experience Bank Group to help entrepreneurs on this cohort to develop key leadership skills.
Sarah Slaven, interim managing director at Business Durham, said: “As we come through the Covid-19 pandemic, we need innovative businesses of all sizes to grow and sustain an economic recovery.
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“DCI is designed to nurture and support these businesses, and the entrepreneurs who run them, so they have the best chance of achieving their business goals in County Durham, while creating jobs and supporting the local economy. We’re looking forward to working with our partners to support our sixth cohort of entrepreneurs through this successful programme.”
Dr Tim Hammond, director of commercialisation and economic development at Durham University, said: “The Durham City Incubator provides a hugely valuable programme of support to our student and graduate entrepreneurs allowing them to scale their ideas and make a real impact upon our local economy.
“I am pleased that there are three graduate start-ups in this sixth cohort and very much looking forward to supporting all the businesses as they progress through this programme.”
The scheme is part of Durham Internships and Collaborative Enterprise (DICE), which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Fund Programme.