Five businesses from 2017-18 Creative Entrepreneurs and three Barbican Guildhall Young Creatives pitched to a panel of industry leaders

Creative Entrepreneurs, the Guildhall School’s 12-month business incubator for entrepreneurs in the performing arts sector, held its annual awards ceremony featuring some of the pioneering new projects incubated through the programme on Thursday 14 June.

The awards ceremony gives the Scheme’s entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to a distinguished panel of arts and cultural leaders.

This year’s event was hosted by theatre entrepreneur Maggie Semple OBE in the Milton Court Theatre, with a judging panel made up of industry experts Matthew Allen (London Senior Office Partner, Eversheds Sutherland), Stephen Bediako (Chair/Acting Head of Business and Development, The Social Innovation Partnership), Jenny Beer (Managing Director, Drum Works) and Claire Mera-Nelson (Director of Music, Arts Council England) .

Five businesses from this year’s Creative Entrepreneurs cohort pitched on the evening for monetary awards totalling £8000: Sarah Arden for HYPE Producers, Toria Banks for HERA, Joshua Beecham for Get Go Culture, Meera Fernandes for The Music Generation, and Elisabeth Swedlund for Wind-Up Penguin Theatre Company.

Huge congratulations go to all our entrepreneurs who pitched on the night, and to the winners: innovative theatre and live event producers HYPE Producers, who secured £4000 in funding, and bespoke theatre booking service Get Go Culture, who secured £2000 in funding.

New this year, Guildhall Creative Entreprenuers collaborated with Barbican Guidlhall Creative Learning to offer participants of their Young Creatives programme an opportunity to pitch for £2000 of funding. The judges saw pitches from Emma Clarke for Routine Misadventure, Naomi Grant for LAMBB and Malakai Sargeant for Bring me in, with LAMBB winning £2000 to invest in the development of their business that creates and curates content aimed at redefining the image of marginalised groups in the media.

To find out more about Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs, our creative businesses and other Scheme events and activities, visit the Creative Entrepreneurs website.

If you have a creative business idea of your own that you want to make a reality, applications are still open for the Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs incubator starting September 2018. Find out how you can apply on the Creative Entrepreneurs website. Application deadline is 25 June.

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