The LINK FEATURE
PREPARING BUSINESSES FOR FUTURE GROWTH In partnership with SUP46, the SCC launches a new mentorship programme aimed at allowing start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs to prepare for future growth by pairing them with experienced London-based venture capital and private equity investors. BY: ERIK HELLDÉN Growth Readiness is a brand new mentorship programme, hosted in partnership with SUP46. It allows start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs to prepare and develop their businesses for future growth by pairing them with experienced London-based venture capital and private equity investors. The Link spoke to Programme Director Katarina Sallerfors about what participants can expect from the programme. The Growth Readiness Programme offers a combination of workshops, presentations, matchmaking, mentorship and wider access to a powerful network of Swedish-British investment and tech professionals. It includes four evening meet-ups over the course of one year in London. Facilitated by Katarina, the meet-ups address topics of relevance in preparing the businesses for high growth, from how to get all ducks in a row and what investors will be looking for. “The meet-ups bring together all the participants in the programme to network, discuss key business topics and ways forward, and to help them develop practical skills, tools and knowledge to bring their business to the next level. In addition to the joint meet-ups, mentor and mentee develop closer relationships between the sessions,” says Katarina.
firms on reputation management and strategic communications, particularly around corporate positioning, financial transactions and crisis situations. She is a Director at Greenbrook Communications and before that she worked for The Carlyle Group, as an Associate Vice President in their EMEA External Affairs team. She hopes to draw from her extensive experience to create a programme that is thoughtprovoking and stimulating and contributes to fruitful conversations between mentors and mentees. “I hope that the programme offers an exciting opportunity to help build a supportive network between the next generation of Swedish businesses and the London-based investor community.” For more information about the programme and how to apply, please contact Business Service Manager Anna Crona, crona@scc.org.uk.
The sessions, which will also offer an opportunity to network and for mentors and mentees to better get to know each other, will focus on: Initial discovery: company pitches and Q&A Attributes of a successful business: practical tips and case study examples Achieving growth: roundtable discussion on overcoming hurdles, suitable funding solutions and how to work in partnership Attaining international growth: how to succeed and lessons learnt Throughout the course of the programme and between the four in-person meetings, mentors and mentees are expected to stay in touch and to work together on identified areas for improvement. Katarina has more than a decade of experience advising financial services and investment
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Katarina Sallerfors, Growth Readiness Programme Director.