Firestarters and Gather are coming together to bring you Ethical Investment, the first in our purpose-accelerator events series aimed at helping purpose-driven start-ups and scaleups to grow, develop, and provide more value to the region.

COVID-19 and the lockdown entrepreneurs

2020 began a new era for business. COVID-19 and the BLM movement highlighted structural inequalities throughout society and caused consumers to reevaluate the value being provided to them by their favourite brands. In this new environment, social impact, diversity, and inclusion have transformed from being an afterthought for business to now sitting at the top of the agenda. 

Many industries were forced to retreat, whilst others have found success by catering to the new normal. Almost all businesses have been forced to innovate and find new ways of working together and providing value to their stakeholders.

This ‘new normal’ created fertile ground for entrepreneurs and innovators, particularly in the Liverpool City Region (LCR,) which was ranked number 7 and highlighted as a ‘hotspot’ for lockdown start-ups after over 4,700 businesses were launched between March and December in 2020. Within these 4,700 businesses were a high number of values-led organisations established to solve specific problems relating to COVID19 and government-imposed lockdowns. 

‘Ethical investment’ is going to continue fueling this purpose-driven business revolution by lighting a match under the LCR’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and innovators. 

Who is the event for? 

This event is open to everyone but is specifically aimed at purpose-driven entrepreneurs, business leaders and LCR influencers who are navigating the world of ethical investment. Some of the benefits of attending will include: 

• A chance to hear from industry leaders on the challenges around ethical investment
• Get tips and guidance on best practices for raising investment ethically
• Explore the opportunities in investing ethically 
• A chance to network with fellow socially-driven innovators and thinkers
• Space to think about your investment challenges and how your company may respond to them
• Potential for future collaboration, depending on the outcomes from the session

What will the event do for the region?

• Support purpose-driven founders in raising funds 
• Provide valuable insights to our community of changemakers
• Help address inequality in opportunity in the region 
• Connect with purpose-driven start-ups and scale-ups
• Gain insights on the issues for our end of year report 
• Driving collaboration between  purpose-driven organisations

Who are our guests?

During the event, we will hear from a Keynote Speaker and an expert panel before heading into breakout rooms to discuss at a deeper level. Our guest speakers for the next event will be:

• Erika Rushton – Kindred | Keynote and breakout room host
• Clare Lewis – FORM | Panel guest and breakout room host
• Jonathan Clarke – LCRCA/Start Up Grind | Panel guest and breakout room host

How you can take part

Want to have your say in how the Liverpool City Region can build back equality of opportunity? Join us at Firestarters ‘Building Back Equal’ – Employment and Skills on Thursday 3rd February by booking your ticket to the event on Eventbrite.

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