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Investment Pitcha Kucha: Open for Expressions of Interest

Investment Pitcha Kucha
The Lab E20, East Village
Thursday 7 April
18:00 – 20:00

UPDATE: Please note that expressions of interest are now closed for this event.

Are you an emergent fashion business looking to raise capital? Want to receive expert feedback on your business innovation? Express your interest to participate in Fashion District’s upcoming investment events.

Fashion District is hosting an Investment Pitcha Kucha at The Lab E20, East Village, on Thursday 7th April from 18:00 – 20:00, where selected businesses will present to a panel of investors and industry innovators, who will provide friendly, quick-fire feedback. The Pecha Kucha style format means that each business will have 3-4 minutes to pitch to an audience and the panel, with the equivalent time for feedback.

Expressions of interest are open to start-ups who are looking to raise capital of up to £25k, and whilst this is not available on the night, we hope the exposure and networks will help you on your way.

The panel are all interested in new sustainable solutions that tackle the critical issues of the fashion industry. Joining us will be:

  • Jonathan Chippindale – Chairman, London Fashion Fund / Chief Executive, Holition
  • Shanaya Curtis – Senior Equity Fundraising Manager, Crowdcube
  • Abi Mohamed – Libra Programme Lead, Tech Nation
  • Mandy Nyarko – Angel Investor and Venture Partner, Ada Ventures
  • Alexander Shapiro – Investment Manager, The Conduit Connect
  • Hannah Williamson – Investment Manager, Edge VC

Your business may be targeted towards any part of the fashion chain; retail tech, manufacturing tech, materials innovation or perhaps experiential / digital technologies. If your solution aims to innovate the fashion industry, to help it become more circular, more sustainable, more ethical, we would love to hear from you.

If you are interested in pitching at the Investment Pitcha Kucha, please complete the Expression of Interest form by midnight on Monday 21st March.

These events are open to early stage startups that are ready to raise investment funds. If you are unsure whether you are applicable, please contact us at hello@fashion-district.co.uk


Meet the Panel

Jonathan Chippindale, Chairman of London Fashion Fund + Chief Executive of Holition

Formed as a venture start-up a decade ago to explore and expand the role of technological innovation, Holition is a synthesis of mathematicians, scientists and technologists, artists and psychologists, retail specialists and cutting-edge leaders in innovative thinking.

Jonathan is External Industry Advisor at Central St Martins, a founding member of the London College of Fashion Digital Think Tank and advisor to the University of Cambridge Digital Compass Group.  He is Chairman of the London Fashion Fund, which is a sustainable fashion accelerator supported by the Mayor of London, as well as a Digital Advisor to the British Fashion Council and Innovation Advisor to Tate.

Jonathan is a Visiting Professor and holds an Honorary Doctorate from University of Arts London.

Shanaya Curtis, Senior Equity Fundraising Manager at Crowdcube

Shanaya’s role is primarily focused on sourcing and building relationships with Europe’s leading private companies, advising start-ups and scale-ups on sources of investment and their ability to crowdfund.

Abi Mohamed, Libra Programme Lead at Tech Nation

Abi leads on The Libra Programme – the newest growth programme for early-stage underrepresented founders scaling in the UK. In addition, she co-founded Community Growth Venture angel firm based in the UK and was previously a software engineer. 

Tech Nation is the leading growth platform for UK tech scaleups, fuelling the growth of game-changing founders, leaders, and scaling companies so they can positively transform societies and economies. Tech Nation provides them with the coaching, content, and community they need for their journey in designing the future. Tech Nation has years of experience facilitating and helping UK tech companies scale, both at home and abroad. Over 30 cohorts and 900 companies have successfully graduated from Tech Nation’s growth programmes, with alumni including Skyscanner, Darktrace, and Monzo, as well as 3 of the UK’s 7 new ‘decacorns’; Revolut, Wise, and Farfetch.

Mandy Nyarko, Angel Investor and Venture Partner at Ada Ventures

Mandy is the Co-Founder of innovation consultancy Startup Discovery School who have designed incubators, accelerators and open innovation programmes for public and private organisations in the U.K that are focused on building sustainability startups.

Mandy is also an angel investor and venture partner at Ada ventures, a 50M VC fund focusing on investing in overlooked founders. She is also an advisor on the SME action board to the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Alexander Shapiro, Investment Manager at The Conduit Connect

Prior to Conduit Connect, Alex worked for boutique consultancy firm PlusValue, advising clients in the public sector on strategies to encourage and nurture impact focussed businesses, and those in the private sector on how to create effective impact strategies. Amongst other projects he led a 12 partner EU funded research project into the power of the maker movement to drive innovation in the manufacturing sector in Europe, and worked with the Turkish Government, UN and Gates foundation to design an impact focused accelerator programme in Istanbul.

Prior to PlusValue, Alex spent 4 years at RBS, working in project finance, and convertible bond origination. Alex holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Nottingham, and an MSc in Development Economics from the London School of Economics.

Hannah Williamson, Investment Manager at Edge VC

As an Investment Manager, Hannah focuses on deal flow generation and execution, particularly focusing on retail tech and content businesses.

Prior to Edge, Hannah worked at the online retailer ASOS for 3 years, within the operational side of the business. Hannah holds a first-class honours degree in Fashion and Textile Management from Nottingham Trent University.