Representatives from three of Scotland’s leading startup businesses attended their first mentor session following Virgin StartUp’s inaugural search for Scotland’s startup Business of the Year – but it didn’t quite go as planned.
Celia Hodgson from Hey Girls, Loral and Eishel Quinn from Sustainably and Pooja Jain from CogniHealth were left in disbelief when Sir Richard Branson burst through the doors and joined the mentor session, surprising everyone around the table.
Having fought off competition from over a hundred entrants earlier this year, the three finalists were delighted to be joined by Jackie Waring, the founder & CEO of Investing Women to gain money can’t buy insights and advice from the leading business owner herself, before also being treated to Richard’s unexpected appearance.
The session included advice on how to grow your business, make connections across sector, provided three unique businesses insight into different sectors and of course a surprise visit by one of the original Entrepreneurs Sir Richard Branson.
Hey Girls, who was the overall winner of the competition in March, is an early stage business tackling period poverty via a ‘Buy One Give One’ model and was named the winner of Virgin StartUp 10: Scotland’s competition. CEO and Founder, Celia, is already proving to be an excellent ambassador for Virgin StartUp and she is a great example of someone Changing Business for Good.
Sustainably is a new way of living and giving and enables you to donate to causes you care about every time you shop. Sustainably is a fin-tech startup that rounds-up your everyday transactions and gives your spare change to your chosen good causes. It currently supports over 10 charities including Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, MacMillan Cancer Support, Downs Syndrome Scotland and Project Scotland.
CogniHealth is a digital companion for people with dementia and caregivers that promises innovative ways of approaching dementia care. The app functions as an interactive tool for caregivers and is designed to improve the caregiving experience by assisting with everyday tasks, and addressing the caregiver’s emotional and physical stress.
All three entrepreneurs were also participants in the Investing Women AccelerateHER competition.
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