Bradford Based Businesses Thrive with the Northern Max Accelerator

The Northern Max Accelerator programme saw its sixth cohort of ambitious tech-based businesses end on a high at the recent Live Pitch Final. The 10-week programme brings ambitious entrepreneurs together for mentoring, peer support, funding opportunities and training.

Although the programme has been engineered to build a strong alliance between the group, the 2023 cohort seemed to connect more than ever through their shared priorities on addressing societal challenges such as mental health & wellbeing, physical health, supporting the vulnerable and reducing pressure on the NHS.

Russell Copley, owner of Greenborough Management who delivered the programme on behalf of AD:VENTURE said “This year’s group came together and showed us just how good this programme can be. Not only do they demonstrate innovation and ambition, but they also support each other. They have arranged monthly socials and accountability sessions, and even have their own WhatsApp group.”

Of the 2023 Cohort, 57% of the businesses were under 1 year old, and there was a 41% / 59% split of male and female business owners. According to the 2022 Rose Review, more businesses were started by women in 2022 than any other year. The Northern Max Accelerator is able to help business owners overcome barriers with accessing finance and developing their team.

AD:VENTURE and 10×10

AD:VENTURE supports businesses under 3 years old in a number of ways, and is fully funded by partners, including Bradford Council and the European Development Fund. Whether a business needs to learn new skills through attending workshops, network with likeminded businesses, needs one to one support or access to grants and funding, the programme offers a wide range of services that can be accessed on demand by new business owners.

The 10×10 delivery model used for Northern Max, which was created by Greenborough Management, offers an incredible opportunity for new businesses with growth potential to benefit from intensive business development, training, and expert mentor support.

AD:VENTURE Programme Manager, Stuart Ross says “Northern Max has been a fantastic addition to the wider programme, offering an intensive and growth focussed period of support that can really help a new business to take a strong step towards their growth objectives”

This year applications were at the highest level, with 17 businesses accepted onto the cohort out of 50 applications. The businesses received over 30 hours of interactive workshops, 8 hours of mentoring support, access to business planning software and Governance 360, CPD accredited Director assessment and training, and enrolment through the NEBRC accredited Cyber Essentials programme.

The businesses also benefitted through their own connections and a number of collaborations came out of the programme, including Mindyourself App and Thrive in Mind who both spoke at the recent Climb23 investor conference in Leeds and Jobs for Women helped AM Hustle launch a new podcast series!

Clients on the programme said

“This is a crash course in how to scale up and launch at pace. The wraparound support and mentorship has been invaluable.”

“I found the Northern Max programme to be excellent. It was an extremely valuable experience and one I will continue to refer back to in the future. All the trainers were very knowledgeable about their subjects and approachable. I fantastic programme that I feel honoured to have been able to attend.”

The Live Pitch Final

The final live pitch event held at Bradfords Kala Sangam Centre was opened by Dr Manoj Joshi MBE DL, Chair of the Bradford Economic Partnership, who talked about his passion for entrepreneurship and the importance of growth and scale up support for the business community.

After 10 weeks of coaching, mentoring and a journey of business discovery, each member of the group has the opportunity to pitch to a panel of investors and a room of business experts. They have 3 minutes to deliver their pitch to 4 known investors. This year’s panel was comprised of:

• Jeremy Meadowcroft
• Colin Glass OBE
• Judith Parry CDir FIoD
• Mo Nazir

The penultimate pitcher, Alistair Wilson from Septest Limited had the whole audience – online and in the room listening intently to his pitch. Delivered with authenticity, fluidity and confidence, Alistair won the trophy for the best business pitch and received praise from the judges.

Panellist, and representative Jeremey Meadowcroft said “It was a really difficult decision to choose a winner with this group, they all did fantastic. However, Septest feels like an innovative, vital tool that will no doubt lead on to business success, and also save many lives. Well done Alistair.”

The final was attended by over 60 people, and a further 66 live streamed the event online.

The 2023 cohort

Succeed with Fulfilment Leigh Eyles
Coaching services focusing on building efficiencies into people’s lives so that they can do more.  The intention is to launch a meditation and learning platform in 2023.

Mind Yourself App Jan Smith
The MindYourself app aims to prevent mental health symptoms from escalating for employees working in challenging environments, where they might also interact with emotionally distressed consumers.

Gynae Fellow Moiad Alazzam
Gynae Fellow Limited is a comprehensive gynaecological educational training resource that uses multiple educational resources to teach and perform gynae surgery in the most efficient and effective way.

Jobs for Women Zoe Hadyn Jones
Jobs for Women is an inclusive recruitment platform connecting untapped, talented women in STEAM subjects with equitable companies committed to consistently improving diversity, equality, and inclusion (DE&I).

Phonics Flip Pippa Horrocks
Developed a flashcard pack that provides support with phonics skills, reading skills, letter formation skills and spelling skills. The plan is to develop an app that will provide extra areas of support such as the user being able to hear a phoneme sound and be taught how to make that sound which can help individuals with speech problems.

Omega Analytic Sherridan Ward
Omega Analytics Systems Ltd are an information technology consultancy service creating an app that supports vulnerable people who want to continue living in their own home.

KSTOM Glasses Uzair Syed
KSTOM makes custom glasses for better fit and comfort, The idea is to use recent advancements in AI technology to capture facial features and use that to custom print eye wear glasses using 3d printing technology.

AM Hustle Nahim Aktar
Online mental health service for youth across the U.K. The purpose of business is to help young people find their purpose by drawing up personal road maps to success.

Bookaby Ltd Steff Luczyn –
Online booking platform aimed at small business that run regular classes, sessions, or workshops, allowing them to accept bookings and online payments from their customers.

Thrive in Mind Rachel Varley
We translate clinical therapy and scientific developments into accessible and intelligent mental health interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of mental health difficulties in workplaces. Our vision is to build a digital platform that encompasses a range of workplace focused packages and resources.

Justly Digital Adil Ali
Digital Agency, focused on growth through digital transformation, digital marketing and web development.  Looking to create a clear direction of travel and a plan to hire more people

Kizamo Khalid Masood
A digital media business, focusing on animation and 3D modelling.  The project development is around VR for property developers, enabling their clients to view homes via VR.

Quantum Compass Frey Wilson
Cybersecurity training for work forces.  Protecting and preparing your organisation for the worst with a suite of interactive cybersecurity training workshops, given from a hackers-eye perspective for every level of your organisation.

Drapers England Jamila Juma-Ware
Spirit distillery, wholesale and retail.  We are at a pivotal stage in our growth. We are now gaining traction and interest from larger retailers, which if we can secure, would mean we would have a requirement for access to investment to be able to deliver the goods at scale.

Septest Limited Alistair Wilson, Matt Bryan
Septest has been formed to take an idea for a new diagnostic test through to a launched product.

We have a concept for a sepsis test that will significantly improve diagnosis rates, treatment effectiveness and survival rates.

Available Experts Matthew Hyett
Services that provides the connection between businesses and clients. The consultancy service acts as the provider manager for tradespeople and services, under the instruction (terms, budget, timescales, etc.) of the client/customer.

Are you a new business in West Yorkshire looking for help to grow and scale?

AD:VENTURE will start taking applications from businesses in July 2023.

To express interest in the new AD:VENTURE programme, simply click HERE to send us an email and we will add you to our list and send you the new registration link as soon as it is available.

The programme will offer one to one support from a dedicated AD:VENTURE Business Manager, workshops, events, networks, access to experts, grants and loans. All the support is fully funded and this means free to the businesses taking part