Welcome back! This week, we're highlighting our thoughts on the New HMRC Investment Figures, sharing three awards you should enter, event updates, and spotlighting one small business that's caught our eye. As always, we hope this adds a little value to your venture. Enjoy!👇
New figures released by HMRC reveal a 15% year-on-year fall in EIS funding for 2022/23, with total investments dropping to £2 billion from the previous year's record of £2.3 billion. While a decline in funding is always a point of concern, the context of consumer confidence and fluctuating interest rates over the past 12-18 months suggests that the situation is not as dire as it might appear at first glance.
At Fearless Adventures, we are optimistic about the future despite these figures. We see potential for growth as the market evolves to become more consumer-friendly.
In this challenging period, we are proud to highlight a significant achievement: the successful closure of an oversubscribed SEIS and EIS round for one of our standout female-founder portfolio businesses, Foudys. Foudys is the pioneering retail platform exclusively dedicated to women's football apparel, demonstrating resilience and innovation in a fluctuating market.
Looking ahead, we believe there is further cause for optimism. The Bank of England's indications of impending interest rate cuts suggest a more favourable investment climate on the horizon. This shift could provide a robust foundation for future growth and investment opportunities.
While it's true that the current figures are less than ideal and could disproportionately impact female entrepreneurs, we’ve seen some fantastic initiatives launched to actively address the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs, such as @Female Founder Rise and @Buy Women Built.
As awareness grows and more people become conscious of these issues, we hope to see a positive shift, reducing the impact on female-led ventures.
Stay tuned for more updates and insights as we navigate these changes and continue to champion innovation and growth in the entrepreneurial community.
To learn more about these updates click here.
As we have numerous requests from founders eager to attend our event, and with the half-term upon us, we've decided to reschedule so that as many of you as possible can join us for an amazing afternoon of networking and insight. So, we have decided to postpone The Fearless Summer Social, which is now happening on Thursday, 20th June!
Everything else remains the same: same place, same time, and the same amazing experience. Get ready for an inspiring lineup of speakers, a variety of delicious canapés, welcome drinks, and so much more!
📅 Date: Thursday, 20th June
🕘 Time: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm
📍 Location: Sunset by Australasia, 1 The Avenue, Manchester M3 3AP
The changes have been made to accommodate as many amazing Founders and Freelancers as possible for a bigger and better afternoon of networking and informative speakers. We hope you can still make it! https://bit.ly/44XNRSb
As a founder, we know that bringing your vision to life, whilst incredibly rewarding, can be a challenging journey. The importance of community, social support, access to tailored resources and connection opportunities cannot be understated. At Fearless Adventures we pride ourselves on being more than just capital providers. This is why we are soon introducing The Fearless Community: a hub tailored-made for founders and freelancers dedicated to fostering connection, sharing insights, and providing support.
The purpose of this community is to provide a space for you to:
Introducing our spotlight of the week, For The Creators - a leading Maternity clothing subscription business on a mission to modernise the maternity space and transform early Motherhood, for good.
For The Creators is a fashion & wellness destination, for all stages of Modern Motherhood. In 2020, during lockdown, Founder @Lyndsay Mason became a mother for the first time. She quickly became both frustrated and shocked by the lack of feeding-friendly, sustainable clothing that suited her personal style."I wanted to make fashionable maternity and feeding-friendly clothing both accessible and more sustainable. So, I decided to launch my very first rental capsule collection." built by mothers, for mothers, with a clear mission to not only support mothers but empower them too!
Find out more about For The Creators here.