Ten young business owners have each been awarded a £5,000 business grant through the Simply Business Young Entrepreneur Fund.
Over 12,000 small business owners aged between 18 and 30 applied, with entries judged by industry expert judges including Professor Green and Harpreet Kaur.
Keep reading to get to know the 10 young entrepreneurs shaking up their industries.
Young Entrepreneur Fund winners
After much deliberation, our industry expert judges chose the following 10 business owners as their winners:
Rephobia
A therapist-led virtual reality platform designed to help people overcome phobias.
Devonshire Plastering
This one-man plastering operation plans to offer apprenticeships to young people lacking opportunities.
Off the Cut Studios
Based out of her parents’ spare room, Beth sells handmade rugs and wall art with plans to branch out into creating mini rug-making kits for home use.
Yak Shack
An autonomous kayak and paddleboard rental business which uses smart lock technology so customers scan and unlock their watersports equipment without the need of constant staff presence.
Majic Protein
These two entrepreneurs sell the UK’s first high-protein cookie dough tubs, transforming a family recipe into a snack with up to 50g of protein.
Chhabra
Unique, conscious flavour blends for drinks, stocked in retailers like Selfridges and Tesco. The founders also partner with a women’s enterprise in Kerala which provides fair wages and empowerment.
Edvance AI
Helping legacy sectors (such as finance, healthcare, asset management, publishing) adopt confident AI practices through upskilling workshops and consulting.
Physio Vet Norfolk
A self-funded veterinary physiotherapist business treating horses, dogs, and cats with rehabilitation and long-term condition management.
121 Barber Therapy
121 Barber Therapy redefines grooming as a holistic wellness experience, as well as driving social impact through its training academy – offering barbering training to young people from underrepresented backgrounds.
Cirkular
A style-led discovery platform to make sustainable fashion shopping easier by combining the best secondhand, resale, and rental fashion from across the internet into one seamless, personalised feed.
‘A truly affirming moment’
The winners, who’ll also receive six weeks of business support from Hatch Enterprise, have already expressed excitement about what they’ll use the grant for.
Beth Jackson, owner of Off the Cut Studios, plans to use the funds for the production of DIY rug tufting kits – an idea born from the many enquiries she gets from customers looking to learn the craft.
She says: “It’s surreal and I honestly still can’t believe it. The fact that someone has looked at my plans and wanted to back me is incredibly validating and really special. The funding means I can finally start building the creative community I’ve dreamed of for so long.”
Chaddy Masangi of 121 Barber Therapy echoes the feeling of validation: “Winning the Young Entrepreneur Fund is a truly affirming moment for us. This support goes beyond helping me as an entrepreneur, it directly impacts my amazing team and our ability to serve the community.
“This is a huge opportunity to expand our work and we are incredibly grateful to Simply Business for recognising the value of our mission amongst thousands of other applicants.”
‘Promising young businesses’
Julie Fisher, UK CEO of Simply Business and one of the judges, said: “The volume, quality and brilliance of the applicants to the fund blew us away. While we could only choose 10 winners, the standard of the 12,000 entries we received has been truly heartening. Huge congratulations goes to our worthy winners – we can’t wait to see how these promising young businesses take their growth plans to the next level.”
Simply Business have given away over £125,000 to small business owners since 2020. Want to be in with a chance of winning your own business grant? Get notified to be the first to know when new competitions are announced.
More business funding guides
- Small business funding and investment: how to grow your business
- ‘How I secured £25,000 for my business’: 7 business grants for women
- 5 Dragons’ Den pitches we’ll never forget
- What is bootstrapping in business? How to self-fund
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