An industry-first online platform designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs in the North of England access scaling skills and navigate the start-up ecosystem has today been launched during UK Tech Week.
Coined as a ‘library for founders in the North’, the Founder Hub has been developed by venture capital firm, Praetura Ventures and venture building studio, EHE Venture Studio.
It is inspired by the need for better advice for founders and the gap in resources available to those building a high growth company.
The free-to-use platform provides guidance and recommendations from more than 60 industry professionals around specific scale-up topics, such as marketing, funding, and talent.
The platform is author-led and the initial library features around 100+ articles and videos from industry experts, including leaders from Modern Milkman, Baltic Ventures, AccessPay, Street Group, Lancashire County Council and FinTech North.
It also features long-form interviews with later-stage founders, coupled with guidance from angel networks, venture capital investors, expert advisers, futurists, and start-up specialist suppliers.
“We want to give Northern founders the best start, but we saw lots of advice coming from the wrong places,” said Ben Davies, marketing director at Praetura Ventures.
“We quickly realised that there was no central place founders could turn to for advice and existing content was not tailored to the specific challenges in the region. It can often be poorly curated, out of date, or simply not backed by actual experience.”
“When you first start out, everyone will have an opinion on your business. Founders need to understand where that advice is coming from and how much weight they should give it.”
Aleksa Vukotic, group CTO at EHE Venture Studio added: “We wanted to build a platform that’s relevant, accessible, and curated to suit a Northern founder’s needs.
“The Founder Hub will help offer real-world advice from those who’ve been there and done it.”