Aimed at early stage start ups within the Essex area, the Ambitious Essex Innovation Accelerator has been created to encourage and engage with new entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses looking to commercialise their innovations.
Helping to establish the project is clinician, entrepreneur and healthcare provider, Dr Poobashni Govender who, having founded her own start up some years ago, identifies with the challenges and barriers young entrepreneurs and, more specifically, young female entrepreneurs face, in trying to get the right kind of support for their innovations and, of course, their businesses.
Dr Govender states: “The programme is keen to help support, offer advice and deliver useful collaborations and networking opportunities to start ups within the local community across every sector, including life sciences.”
Aware that its neighbour, Cambridge, is at the heart of the life sciences’ ‘Golden Triangle’, the intention is not to compete but be able to offer similar opportunities to young start ups within the Essex boundaries. While Cambridge could be seen as over-saturated in terms of life sciences businesses in particular, Essex offers not only a prime location but some excellent opportunities.
For instance, with the Integrated Care Services and within the NHS itself, an approved supplier scheme is due to come into force in the not too distant future which will inevitably look favourably on companies who are locally based; an ideal opportunity for a start up to tap into.
While there is some business support locally, within Chelmsford for instance, through the Innovation Hub, the creation of the Ambitious Essex Innovation Accelerator will help deliver grassroots support to would-be businesses where it’s needed.
Dr Govender is perfectly placed to get the Accelerator initiative rolling with her training in healthcare, clinical background and having established a company from scratch. It was therefore a perfect fit when approached to put the programme together.
“I’m an entrepreneur, a qualified ob-gyn physician and have worked in the NHS for over seven years, and I have a passion for managing biomedical services and driving innovation and improvement to enhance the lives of individuals. My goal is to support healthcare reforms that impact strategy, priorities, and decision-making, and to provide socially and environmentally sustainable healthcare solutions that value innovation and creativity. And having, myself, set up a business, I embraced the opportunity of being able to get involved with the Ambitious Essex Innovation Accelerator,” comments Dr Govender.
Dr Govender adds: “Matching talent and abilities, the partnership with Medilink Midlands was another ideal fit. With Medilink’s track record, its proven ability to support projects such as this and the outstanding team they have, it was a given that we should work together.”
Anyone fitting the criteria, should contact [email protected] or visit the Ambitious Essex page for more information here.