ACE Entrepreneurs: Small Diverse Business Fund

Ace Entrepreneurs: Diverse Business Crowdfund

About the Crowdfund

The goal is to raise  £25,000, to fund up to ten small businesses, subject to their needs. Our focus is to improve opportunities for diverse owned business, so we are specifically giving support here to black owned businesses, with at least 50% of the businesses being female led.


There is a three stage application process where up to ten businesses will be chosen by our expert committee and advisory board. They will be closed based on their diverse community needs, niche product or service and business plan.

Why is ACE Crowdfunding

Currently only 0.67% of UK businesses are black-owned with female founding teams getting less than 1% of all UK funding, from formal investment opportunities. As  disruptors, we plan to change this.

Ace is also responding to requests directly from this community, to increase opportunities for funding for small business and to tackle the lack of investment in the diverse community.

Reasons to Donate?

1. ACE Entrepreneurs offer an opportunity to donate to the underfunded diverse
community and help create, expand and widen the number of diverse businesses to buy from.

2. Donations from businesses

- CSR opportunity for corporate businesses, who will be kept informed on how
donations are spent and the businesses they donated too.

- Small businesses can gain access to brand promotion opportunities on the ACE
Entrepreneurs platform. To do so, donors must apply via ia GoFundMe contact email.

3. For every £5,000 donated, the committee will offer 5 free (1 hour) 1-2-1 expert
sessions on marketing, business, finance and start up advice. The sessions must all be taken by July 16th 2021. To be considered, donors must apply via GoFundMe contact email.


THANK YOU in advance, please know that every pound donated will go towards helping small businesses grow and expand!

Nadine Campbell - Project Lead






https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadinecampbelluk/

Nadine is the founder of ACE Entrepreneurs and has 15 years experience, specialising in marketing, business development and e-commerce.

For the last 8 years, she has been running her own marketing consultancy, The Digital Helpdesk and managing on average over £5+ million budgets, per client.

Nadine's experience includes leading marketing acquisition and branding strategy, product launches and running global social media campaigns. Her clients include Ford, Unilever, Warburtons, Britvic, Virgin and Samsung.

Nadine also has previous crowdfunding experience, raising £75,000 worth of media donations for the British Heart Foundation.

ACE Entrepreneurs launched in April 2020 and is a free entrepreneurs membership company, which specialises in mentoring, training and connecting entrepreneurs with investment opportunities.

The Application Process

Businesses can apply to receive a portion of this fund here:

https://www.aceentrepreneurs.com/investment-application 

There are three rounds of application and review, as listed below:

1. Initial Application

Applicants : Provide basic business information

Applicants must submit a personal bio, their overall business details including the level of funding required and why. Applications are to be submitted online using our submission form.

The committee : 1st Round Selection

The committee members will review and select applications based on the level of funds requested, stage of business and the owners bio.

2. The review stage

Applicants: Provide further detail and attend an interview

a/ Provide a detailed report showcasing how and where the investment will be spent. The report should explain why the funding is crucial for the business, displaying how itwill make a significant difference.

b/ Mini business plan to show evidence of how the business will make profit, using our profit and loss template and competitive review.

c/ Complete a marketing plan to show how customers will be reached, encouraged to buy and post purchase communication.

d/ Applicants will also have the option to provide a short video displaying the product, the service or anything else to support the application.

The committee: 2nd Round Selection

The committee members will select up to 30 applications, who have provided sufficient evidence to show business viability and success. Selected businesses will be contacted for an 30 min interview to meet selected committee members and answer questions.

3. Final selection and investment allocation

The committee: Shortlist of up to 20 businesses that have shown greatest potential for success.

Donors: Vote on the businesses shortlisted by the committee

The donors have the opportunity to vote on the final group who will become part of winning ten. To do so, donors can opt in after donating.

Applicants: Vote on the businesses shortlisted by the committee
The entrepreneurs who have both applied and donated, will have the opportunity to vote, however not for themselves.

4. Winners

1. The committee will select up to ten winners - this ten, will include the three most popular businesses as chosen by the donors and applicants.

2. Winners must commit to a legal contract detailing the terms in which the funds can be spent. The contract will incorporate due diligence checks, carried out by the committee to ensure the funds are being used as outlined per the contract.

3. The funds will be awarded to businesses based on their individual needs as assessed by the committee, following detail provided during the application process.

4. The funds will be paid into associated business accounts as and when required,
restricted to a maximum period of one year. The funds release dates will be agreed immediately after winning.

What happens next

The committee

The committee will work with the winning businesses to help them invest in the areas outlined during their application. The process will begin with a one off planning session, followed by weekly expert mentoring sessions over a *six month period, to help them achieve business success and growth. *Exceptions will be made if more assistance is required.

The winning businesses

The winners will document and share their journey after investment, acting as
ambassadors of ACE Crowdfunding. Full progress updates will be shared every three months on the ACE website, via email and on social platforms.

The Committee and Advisory Board

The ACE committee are all experienced experts in their fields and are passionate about improving the wealth of the diverse community; through knowledge, business acumen and creating new funding opportunities.

The committee is listed below:

Kevin Edwards - Advisory Committee 



https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-m-edwards7/

Kevin is a Director at Deutsche Bank,  a Senior International Trader with 15+ years experience in the investment industry. He has worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Société Générale and most recently at Deutsche Bank managing funds up to €800m.

Kevin is keen to be able to transfer his wealth of experience in the investment industry, to help small businesses learn, grow and  expand their capabilities and position in their markets.



Xavier Ballester - Advisory Committee 



https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavier-ballester-0170752/ 

Xavier is the Director of Angel Investment Network's brokerage division. Extensive hands-on
experience helping start-ups looking for angel investors. Over the last 5 years, Xavier has been helping raise £50m+ for about 250 companies, across various sectors.


Rashida Abdulai - Advisory Committee 




https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashida-abdulai/ 

Rashida is the Founder & CEO at Strand Sahara, which provides Legal support for UK and Africa-focused businesses, award winning lawyer and keynote speaker. Proudly the first online legal platform dedicated to the success of Africa-focused SMEs in the UK and across sub-Saharan Africa.



Admin and processing fees

8% of the total donations will cover fees, expenses, admin and processing costs.

ACE Entrepreneurs Company Details

Registered In England & Wales. Company Number 12496214
Registered Office Address. 189 Stanmore Hill, Stanmore, London, HA7 3HA


THANK YOU in advance, please know that every pound donated will go towards helping small businesses grow and expand!