Following a UK wide search for this year’s most exciting Black heritage entrepreneurs, the winners of KPMG’s Black Entrepreneurs' Awards were announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday 12th October.
Over 150 entrepreneurs from purpose-driven, profitable and diverse businesses across sectors including virtual reality, gen AI, fintech, retail, sustainability, education and supply chain management applied to this year’s awards. 12 candidates were shortlisted and invited to pitch in front of a live audience and a judging panel that included Precious Oyelade, former Google for Start-ups Program Lead; Audrey Handem, investor at Speedinvest; Charlie Conchie, investment editor at City AM, and Philip Davidson, former KPMG global chief operating officer. Pitches were marked for quality, disruption, market potential, traction and innovation.
And the winners are:
Most promising large business – Dami Hastrup, MOONHUB
MOONHUB bridges the gap between corporate learning and learning on the job, via Virtual Reality interactive training scenarios. On winning the award, CEO and Founder, Dami Hastrup said: “This is incredible. I'm really honoured to win this award, especially as the competition in this category was immense. I started about seven years ago and to get this award from KPMG is brilliant.
“My aim with the prize fund is to bring in somebody who's underrepresented in our local area and give them access and opportunity to work alongside the team. I'm really excited to pass on what we've been given by KPMG to the local community.”
Most promising small business – Jonathan Bean, Materials Nexus
Materials Nexus is discovering new sustainable materials using generative AI. Co-founder and CEO, Jonathan Bean commented on the award win: “This is such an amazing experience; I could not be happier. This prize will help us provide more internships aimed at encouraging Black heritage people into STEM, particularly machine learning physics and materials science. This support will be amazing and will help us achieve our ambition of solving some of the hardest problems in the world today.”
Most promising not-for-profit-business - George Imafidon MBE, Motivez (Motivezcic C.I.C)
Motivez is an ambitious, youth-led organisation, founded in 2015 and led by three young Black professionals from Southwark and Lambeth. Their mission is to empower young people aged 14 - 25 from underrepresented minorities to access personalised educational and long-term employment opportunities in STEM. CEO of Motivez, George Imafidon MBE said: “It's a blessing to have won. There were so many amazing people in our category doing phenomenal work in the social impact space. To be able to represent STEM and show what is possible for an organisation like Motivez has been extraordinary.
“We would like to use this win to help us expand beyond our current focus in five London boroughs, to offer support across the 32 boroughs and then beyond, so that we can make even more impact in the STEM space and support more young people.”
The winners will each receive £25,000 to invest in their business or as a donation to the charity or community project of their choice. All the finalists will be given exclusive entry to a bespoke 12-month acceleration programme, designed to support Black heritage entrepreneurs and their businesses to grow.
