YSYS Community Response to Future Fund: The Updates and Survey
Following YSYS Community Response to Future Fund, we’ve had positive conversations with various stakeholders involved in the process and who are committed to supporting diverse founders. It’s been great to see the ecosystem, create opportunities, and champion diverse founders together.
Below are the updates:
Orrick Webinar and Call
We attended Future Fund: Briefing and Discussion webinar hosted by Orrick, the law firm behind Future Fund deal. On the webinar, they discussed: (1) the details of the Future Fund and how this opportunity could provide critical working capital for business or portfolio companies (2) whether the Future Fund can be a panacea for all circumstances and, (3) the impact that the Future Fund will have on equity financings for the UK tech ecosystem. The main takeaway from the webinar was that the Future Fund criteria is still being finalised, which means there is scope for changes.
YSYS and Create Jobs also had a call with Matthew G Rose, Counsel at Orrick who made it clear their doors are open for support — we are continuing conversations with them regarding the next steps.
Innovate UK Call
YSYS, CGV, Impact X, and Flair Football had a call with The Head of D&I at Innovate UK. We put forward suggestions on how they could make future grant competitions more accessible, this included (1) capturing diversity metrics (2) ensure diversity is an assessment criteria and (3) creating accessible guidelines on how to submit a successful grant application.
These suggestions were taken on, and will be advocated for internally by the Innovate UK D&I team for the next grant competition, (which has no match funding requirements) to be announced in a few weeks.
Capital Enterprise and Coadec Webinar
We attended Capital Enterprise and Coadec Webinar; the lobbying organisation behind SOS and Future Fund, who disclosed they had originally advocated for 100K matched funding, however, the Treasury was in favor of a 500k match, so they had to meet in the middle at 250k. They also said Future Fund will not be for everyone, and therefore, some founders may have to look elsewhere.
Black Investors Roundtable
We were invited to a Black Startup Ecosystem Roundtable with Angel Investing School, Q Squared, CGV, Impact X, Atomico, 10x10, Samos, Cornerstone, Foundervine, and Goodsoil to discuss how we can support black founders as a collective. Key takeaways centered around, supporting black founders: (1) develop confidence and (2) demystify the investment journey. As a collective we will be curating resources and content to help with the above, more to be announced.
Community Partners Survey
YSYS in collaboration with BGV, CGV, Kwanda, 10x 10 has created a survey to ensure the next steps we take in further supporting diverse founders, during COVID1–19 is one led by the community.
We will also be collaborating with Extend Ventures, a research organisation, dedicated to capturing diverse data to ensure we get the widest possible reach. Our ecosystem is growing. Together we are stronger.
Below is the survey, if you identify as a diverse founder, please complete the survey, which takes 5–7mins and together we can create a startup ecosystem which is diverse, inclusive, and accessible #SupportDiverseFounders Survey
COVID-19 Startup Survey for Diverse Founders: HERE
