It’s a throwback #SU54
A recap of #SU54: Mind Matters — Bristol 2019!
As we navigate through this pandemic, it’s important to remember and emphasise on the importance of our mental health. With our SU54 series, we look to make an impact on society by delivering programs to enable diverse founders and change-makers. Startup 54: Mind Matters was our 54-hour event designed to provide superior immersive education to those interested in starting a social venture.
In collaboration with our amazing partners, Just Eat, Elastic (Makers of Elasticsearch) and The Black South West Network (BSWN), Foundervine were able to deliver our first program outside of London in 2019! It was an amazing experience creating startups in a new ecosystem focusing on social ventures and innovative solutions to improve health and wellbeing outcomes in our society.
Bristol has talent 💫
Our hosts, Just Eat, made us feel so welcome in Bristol and provided us with an amazing venue in their Bristol office. With members of their team joining us as volunteers and mentors they ensured the weekend ran so smoothly and provided expertise and knowledge to the startups ranging from mentoring sessions with members of the engineering team to sessions being led by senior members of their team. We were also blessed to have Deputy Mayor of Bristol Cllr. Asher Craig who delivered an inspiring keynote to the cohort.
We were also joined by mental health campaigner and technology entrepreneur James Murray who delivered a talk focused on the importance of mental health awareness campaigns, especially in higher education. At the time of us running this program in 2019, the data we had available to us showed that the number of University of Bristol students seeking mental health support had risen by 106% in the last five years. A stubborn stigma exists concerning mental health that prevents people from openly talking about it, particularly in universities, and in a world where 1 in 4 people will likely experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives, we needed more innovative solutions to transform and challenge the status quo.
“It’s important to have technology solutions that can end stigma and improve health and wellbeing outcomes amongst the most underrepresented in society. At startup 54, through our focus on diversity, we ensure that this diverse thinking is fully incorporated into the design process”. — Izzy Obeng, Founding Director of Foundervine
As with all our events, community is a key theme throughout our programs. Our partners the Black South West Network (BSWN) helped us foster this spirit throughout the weekend and we are so thankful to VineCommunity member Joyann Boyce who helped coordinate and connect with us so many wonderful people in Bristol.
Joyann Boyce is a Social Media Consultant and Founder of The Social Detail. Through The Social Detail, she works with SME’s within the technology sector to maximise their impact through social media. The Social Detail has worked with a range of organisations such as Bristol City Council, Adobe XD (Open Design), SETsquared and Future Space. If you are based in Bristol, she’s definitely someone we recommend worth connecting with
It now seems like so long ago since we held an in-person #SU54 with our last event being held in Hertfordshire. Our mission hasn’t changed, we want to reach as many communities as we can and 2020 may have now turned us virtual, but we have adapted, and we will continue to deliver our programs virtually and ensure that diverse founders are given the tools they need to succeed!
You can read more about our virtual offerings here:
Foundervine are leaders in entrepreneurship education and guidance and have been building a community over the last three years through running events, immersive learning programs and entrepreneurial initiatives. Get in touch at hello@foundervine.com to find out how we can help you.
