Inclusion partnership will boost opportunities for London startups | Bayes Business School

City St George’s University of London launches alliance for budding entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities.

Londoners from disadvantaged backgrounds will find it easier to launch successful start-ups by tapping into support from a new network of organisations around the City of London.

The CityVentures Alliance brings together the expertise and experience of City St George’s University of London, the City of London Corporation, the Sutton Trust, Studio Graphene, Salonica Capital and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.

“We need more entrepreneurs if we are to tackle the growth challenges our country is facing and create the prosperity and jobs we need. So it’s essential we dismantle the barriers many face, because of their backgrounds. We’re therefore really excited to convene the CityVentures Alliance to both understand and address those barriers. The CityVentures Alliance brings together the expertise and experience of City St George’s with the City of London and its powerful networks to create a truly inclusive and dynamic startup ecosystem.”

Dr Sionade Robinson, Vice President Enterprise, Engagement and Employability

The 2020 Cornerstone Report found that 75% of UK founders come from advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds while barely any come from families living on welfare entitlements. Enabling a tenacious and determined student population, alongside the wider community in the City of London, to participate in enterprise development, will ensure that those tackling global problems, such as health inequality and climate change, are drawn, inclusively, from all backgrounds.

The CityVentures Alliance brings together a group of leading organisations with a bold ambition to change the startup ecosystem in the City of London and the UK, by improving social mobility in entrepreneurship.

The partnership will do this by taking a founder-centred approach and joining the dots across its collective networks, expertise, infrastructure, and talent to ensure that the startup ecosystem, and culture is open and inclusive, so that the next generation of entrepreneurs is truly diverse.

Following a successful launch event on the 12th June at Bayes Business School with the Lord Mayor of London in attendance, City St George’s University along with the City of London Corporation, the Sutton Trust, Studio Graphene, Salonica Capital and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists have formed the CityVentures Alliance.

A successful startup ecosystem allows the best ideas to flourish by removing the barriers facing entrepreneurs regardless of their background and providing the right support and resources needed for early-stage startups through to high-growth scale ups. City St George’s University of London has a strong track record of launching successful ventures, with over £17 million invested in student-led startups and social enterprises. The university also ranked number one in London for social mobility outcomes in higher education.

That’s why the CityVentures Alliance will also be supporting university-led research, alongside entrepreneurship education, funding and networks to not just deliver successful startup businesses in the City of London, but to also understand the systems and structures needed to sustain an inclusive and successful startup ecosystem for the long-term.

With our wealth of talented and ambitious entrepreneurs plus the resources and networks needed to create the businesses of the future, we can deliver the economic growth and the jobs the UK needs now. The CityVentures Alliance and the City of London are committed to playing a key role in delivering that success. Read more from the Alliance here.

If you are able to support the CityVentures Alliance and the next generation of entrepreneurs, or are a London-based entrepreneur who CityVentures could support please email sarah.worth@city.ac.uk