Female founder finalists selected for live business competition with Virgin StartUp & Fiverr

This November, four aspiring female entrepreneurs who have just started their own business will compete for £22,000 in business support to help take their start-up to the next level.

Anna Moynihan, Lydia Carrick, Sarah Welsh and Thelma Onyeka have been selected from more than 700 women who entered the Female Founders competition run by freelance marketplace, Fiverr, and not-for-profit incubator, Virgin StartUp.

The four founders have been paired up with a business mentor and given £1,750 in Fiverr credits to develop their business ideas over the coming weeks, with a live final taking place at the Samsung KX space on 21 November 2023. At the final, the four businesswomen will present their business plans to a judging panel of successful female entrepreneurs.

The mentors include Anna Brightman, Co-Founder of the coffee-grounds based make-up brand – UpCircle, Vivien Wong, Co-Founder of Little Moons ice-cream, Sophie Muller, Founder of Pretty Little Marketer and Olivia Hanlon, Founder of Girls in Marketing, a learning provider for community marketers.

The winner will receive a free place on one of Virgin StartUp’s scale-up programmes, 16 additional hours of business mentorship through Virgin StartUp and £15,000 to spend with Fiverr.

Sutin Yang, Head of Scale-Ups at Virgin StartUp comments: “Women founders are still finding it more difficult to get funding for their businesses. That’s why we are excited to hold this competition with Fiverr to empower women who want to take their start-up to the next level. Having an experienced business mentor can make a huge difference when you’re starting out on your business journey and open doors and networks. We’re excited to hear about how the finalists get on with their mentors and what they learn through this process. We are also looking forward to helping the winner by funding a place on one of our accelerators that has a focus on growth and getting investment ready.”

Gali Arnon, Fiverr CMO, said: “Our research shows that 86% of new business founders don’t outsource business tasks and twice as many women than men are unsure how to go about doing this. Outsourcing tasks can be the first step to scaling-up your business and giving you, the founder, more time to grow your start-up. That’s why we’re empowering these female founders with Fiverr credits to spend on freelance support to build their business and one lucky winner will be awarded an additional £15,000 in credits.”

More about the finalist businesses:

TaskHer: Founded by Anna Moynihan. TaskHer is online booking platform made by women, for women, to connect homeowners to a highly-skilled, community of professional tradeswomen.
Apputee: Founded by Lydia Carrick. Apputee is an app designed to guide new amputees through their hospital stay and subsequent recovery, connecting them to a support network of experts and other amputees. More than one million amputations occur globally, and amputees often feel alone and scared.
HANX Limited: Founded by Sarah Welsh. HANX is a sexual health and wellness brand designed with women in mind.

Akama: Founded by Thelma Onyeka. Akama is a charity fund that allows individuals to help fund ‘scholarships’, thereby improving access to academic opportunity to those that deserve it, rather than just those that can afford to pay for it.