Women's Entrepreneurship

Support for women entrepreneurs

It’s 2020 and women are still underrepresented in science, technology and business. Though women work at the forefront of scientific research, when it comes to translating their ideas into businesses, it’s been proven that they face many barriers – both cultural and financial, solely based on their gender.

This doesn’t just hold women back – it holds innovation back too. A world without these barriers would have more women in leadership positions, running startups and raising funding. And we’d have a huge injection of talent focused on developing new ideas to solve problems and improve society.

At the Imperial Enterprise Lab, our support for women entrepreneurs is already making this vision a reality. In six short years, WE Innovate has supported hundreds of women entrepreneurs in their goals to become leaders in this space. But we’re not stopping here. We’ve introduced an entire suite of Women’s Entrepreneurship (WE) events and programmes to support Imperial women no matter what stage they’re at. We have inspirational talks, discussion panels, workshops and so much more to help women whether they’ve had that first idea or are ready to turn their dream into reality.

WE Inspire 

The annual WE Inspire conference celebrates women entrepreneurs and leaders from Imperial and beyond. Hear their inspirational stories and join live networking sessions.

Everyone from the Imperial community’s welcome – students, graduates and alums. If you’re thinking about applying to be part of the 2021 cohort then this is the perfect way to get a first-hand account of what the programme’s like and meet like-minded women from the Imperial community.
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WE Activity Series

If you’re thinking about applying for the WE Innovate Programme, we highly recommend you come to these sessions. We’ll have panel discussions on topics like health and climate change, as well as hands-on ideation and future forecast workshops.

Got a startup idea you’re interested in pursuing? You can also book one of our Idea Surgeries while you’re at it, and get some advice on what to do next and how to apply for WE Innovate.

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WE Innovate 

We think great things can only happen when everyone has a seat at the table. So 6 years ago, we created WE Innovate. A 9-month pre-accelerator programme, with one main goal – to increase the number of women in leadership positions, running startups and raising funding.

WE Innovate runs from January to October and has everything you need to turn your business idea into a fully-fledged startup. You’ll take masterclasses, get 1-1 business coaching, grow your industry networks and if you go all the way, take part in our final showcase where there’s a £30K cash prize up for grabs!

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