Press Release 26 October 2017
The inspirational founder of TechPixies, Joy Foster, has beaten off stiff competition to be crowned Enterprise Nation’s Female Start-up of the Year 2017 at the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs held in Bristol last week.
The national competition has been created to showcase early stage female start-up entrepreneurs who are excelling in their industry and included a live three-minute pitch on stage followed by six minutes of questions from a panel of judges.
Commenting on the award, Joy Foster said: “Winning a national award could be a huge game changer for TechPixies. It has already provided us with fantastic exposure through the event itself and will help to raise our profile as we look to take TechPixies beyond Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley.”
The panel of judges included Mike Jackson, entrepreneur, investor and head of scale-ups at Shaw & Co who said: “Joy stood out through the quality and clarity of her pitch backed up by the passion she showed for the company mission and the hugely beneficial effect it was clearly having on the women being retrained for the new economy.”
Joy launched TechPixies in Oxfordshire to help mums and other women return to work by teaching them tech skills and has achieved 100% success from the first two cohorts. This year has also seen TechPixies announce its first London cohort.
Emma Jones, founder, Enterprise Nation, said: “We are always looking for ways to celebrate the progress and success of small business and the Female Start-Up of the Year competition is an example of that. It shines a spotlight on a founder who is building the foundations of a strong and scaleable business and offers them support to boost growth. I look forward to seeing how TechPixies prospers over the next 12 months of carrying the crown of best female start-up!”
The Enterprise Nation prize package includes £500 Facebook advertising credit, quarterly business mentoring for a year from KPMG, tickets to the 02, a spa package and signed cycling top by Laura Kenny, the most successful female British Olympian.
Joy added: “Winning this award has meant a lot to us as a team. We work hard and have tried to win other awards, but have so far only managed to come second so this award felt really good. It was amazing to be amongst so many women who have the ambition to run and build businesses and create employment for other women.”
TechPixies is currently looking for business partners who are willing to sponsor a £1,500 scholarship to provide someone who can’t afford fees with an opportunity to attend its flagship 12-week digital marketing course.
Full and partially funded scholarships are available for women with a low household income. For further information about TechPixies or to register on a course, visit techpixies.com.
Photo credits: Lydia Pimm
Ends
For further information, contact:
Kelly Lea, PR Consultant, KellyLea PR, M: 07988 195 262; E: [email protected]
TechPixies is a social enterprise aiming to help women return to work by teaching them tech and was founded by Joy Foster in 2015 following the award of a grant from the Government Equalities Office. In December 2016, Joy was recognised for her work on the TechPixies programme and was ‘Highly Commended’ at the Social Enterprise UK Awards in the Women’s Champion Category. In the same month, Joy secured a £15,000 ‘Grow it’ award from UnLtd, a London-based organisation that supports the work of social entrepreneurs across the country.
Partners include:
- Grant Thornton (free office space)
- 923jobs.com (CV and job application advice)
- Special Effect (free Dropbox space)
- FiDUS Power (£2,500 donation)
- Stack & Jones (free office space)
- Bloxham Mill Business Centre (complimentary meeting room space)
- Azoomee (free office space)