£10,000 Award Fund for Female Entrepreneurs

Four local entrepreneurs were this week recognised for their vision and entrepreneurial spirit at Women in Business’s Power of 4 Pitch Awards hosted at the Merchant Hotel.

Friday 23 June 2017

£10,000 Award Fund for Female Entrepreneurs

The awards marked the culmination of a hugely successful programme, which was created to support female entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland. The awards offered an opportunity not only to showcase the programme’s success as a business start-up programme, but also to showcase the participants’ businesses.

Power of 4 was created to engage women of all ages and backgrounds. Participants receive exclusive peer and 1-2-1 expert mentoring, both practical and specialist support to take their ideas from concept to launch.

The winners who between them received £10,000 to invest in their business, pitched their business to three leaders, who analysed and reviewed the feasibility and success of their concept. With stiff competition across each category, the winners announced were;

Celine McDonald, Its Soo Me Ltd - Not Yet Trading
Angela Wilson, Silver Apples - Trading Less Than One Year
Niamh Taylor, Digital Twenty Four Limited - Trading 12 Months or More
Claire McMullan; Health Gainz was awarded a special prize for innovation

Roseann Kelly, Chief Executive of Women in Business, commented, “We are delighted that over 70 women to date have benefited from the Po4 programme, and with a success rate of 70% of participants making their business idea a reality, it is more important than ever that we offer women-specific enterprise support programme.

“The level of entries to the Po4 Pitch Awards were outstanding and the judges were faced with a difficult task. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our winners and thank our judges for their participation, especially Angela Moore of Macha Capital Partners, who donated the awards fund.

“As an organisation we are clear in our commitment to supporting and inspiring women - the networking and support created by the Po4 programme will ignite a significant, ongoing legacy and the friendships and alliances the women make will be invaluable.”

The judging panel for the Po4 programme included Angela Moore, Macha Capital Partners; Imelda McMillan, O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors and Chair of Women in Business, and Sorcha Wolesy, Operations Director at the Merchant Hotel.

Women in Business is the largest and fastest growing network for business women in Northern Ireland aiming to equip women with the skills they need to grow their businesses and careers.

Friday 23 June 2017