How Imperial is boosting local enterprise at White City

Local White City resident Sasha Pinnock delivers her pitch at the Innovators Programme finale

Imperial’s White City Incubator is supporting local people to develop their business ideas and boosting opportunities for entrepreneurs in the area.

Aspiring local entrepreneurs are encouraged to innovate with the help of a range of dedicated support programmes delivered by the White City Incuabtor.

Since its launch in April 2017, the White City Innovators’ Programme, delivered in partnership with NatWest, has given local tech start-ups free access to state of the art office and laboratory space, mentorship and training − whilst working in close proximity to Imperial academics and industry experts.

Tailored to the needs of emerging entrepreneurial ventures, the Programme runs twice a year and is aimed at tech businesses from the local area, alongside Imperial students and alumni.

White City resident Sasha Pinnock founded SP Tracked Safety Jackets and enrolled on the Innovators’ programme in 2018 to develop business skills in areas such as marketing and raising finance.

Her business aims to create GPS trackable high-vis jackets which would allow parents and guardians of small children or carers of vulnerable adults to keep track of where their loved-ones are and monitor their safety.

Sasha said: “The Programme gave me an invaluable insight into marketing and made me think differently about how best to reach my target market. I was lucky enough to work with some really smart and honest mentors who helped me develop my product in a variety of innovative ways.”

Another local participant in the programme was Martin Murphy, whose business idea Indigoworks is developing a knowledge sharing app targeted at experienced professionals who travel by train. Users of the free app will make appointments with each other by specifying a chosen topic and have the opportunity to share knowledge, skills and ideas with one another.

Martin said: “As a local resident it is fantastic to see the work Imperial is doing with our community. There is a real buzz about the White City Campus and the opportunity to work alongside Imperial academics and researchers was a truly energising experience."

 “It was a privilege to take part in the Innovators’ Programme and I would entirely recommend it to any other budding entrepreneurs in the local area.” 

Another local resident, Darnell St John, took part in the first cohort of the programme and used the course to develop his idea for a football analytics business called Footylytics. Since graduating from the programme Darnell has gone on to work for Sutton United in South London and continues to support grass roots football in the local area.

Anca Mandruleanu, Entrepreneurial Programmes Manager at the White City Incubator, said: “A key part of our mission for the White City Campus is to stimulate enterprise locally and boost opportunities for budding innovators. At the Incubator we are proud to provide an array of programmes that give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to work alongside our world-leading researchers and play an important part in our innovation ecosystem.”

Start your own Enterprise

Last month the White City Incubator co-delivered a series of workshops with local social enterprise Petit Miracles to help budding entrepreneurs in the borough.

The Petit Miracles Hub in Shephard’s Bush has played a vital role supporting local entrepreneurs and small businesses while also providing work and learning opportunities for more than 200 people in the past 12 months.

Hosted at the White City Incubator, the free workshops in Marketing and Social Media for Business workshop and Face-to-Face Selling in a Digital World were designed to provide support, advice and training for local entrepreneurs with fledgling business ventures.

Vicky Major, Community Enterprise Manager at Petit Miracles, said: “Anca and the team at the White City Incubator were knowledgeable, efficient and all around fantastic at hosting the enterprise packed afternoon for our local entrepreneurs.  The trainer feedback from our participants was overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to partnering with the Incubator on even more events for our aspiring entrepreneurs in the very near future.”