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Hey everyone — Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had an incredible start to 2023. For the very first post of the year, I’d like to bring your attention to three incredible businesses that were awarded The Kika Osunde Entrepreneur Fund in December at my first inaugural event The Kika Experience.
Here’s how it all began:
Last year, I launched The Kika Experience with great success. A big thank you to everyone who turned up and enjoyed listening to the high-profile panel, networking with like-minded entrepreneurs, and learning about all the skills required for success.
Alongside the experience, I wanted to use my platform to create financial opportunities for small businesses across the country. I created The Kika Osunde Entrepreneur Fund as a way to give entrepreneurs the funding they need to help their business bloom and flourish.
13 years ago, I was in a similar position of needing a cash injection for my business. My mum gave me £800 and now I stand here as a serial entrepreneur. I was adamant about giving small businesses the same opportunity my mum gave me, especially when there’s a major cost of living crisis in the UK that has been tough on so many enterprises.
First of all, we were inundated with amazing applicants from across the country and overseas. There were so many well-thought-out business plans and it was a joy to learn about your ventures and visions for the future. However, there could only be three winners.
Each entrant was vetted by an independent business expert. If you had a website, we’d even go through your mission statements. And let me tell you, this decision was not taken lightly. Our eventual winners had to present us with an expenditure plan before we disbursed their money.
Now for the fun part! On 30th December 2022, we drove almost 13 hours across the country to visit each winner and present them with their cheques — the long journey was absolutely worth it. It was wonderful to talk to these lovely ladies one by one and learn about their future plans. They’re all talented girls with a promising, financially sound vision for the future. I can’t wait for them to turn their enterprises into million-pound success stories.
These were our winners:
@twinbytare from Liverpool was the first recipient of The Kika Osunde Fund. I gave her ethereal fashion brand an equity free cash injection of £5000.
Next up, I visited @amazoniaessentials in Nottinghamshire, the owner of a hair solutions brand using ingredients from the Amazon rainforest. She received an equity free cash injection of £2,000.
@aestheticsbymarika from Enfield was our third and final winner. To help her boost her aesthetics brand offering a variety of beauty treatments, I handed her an equity free cash injection of £3,000.
And those were the incredible winners of the fund. It was a pleasure to distribute the money to such outstanding entrepreneurs and I can’t wait to see their incredible businesses grow – well done ladies!
Until Next Time,
Lots of Love, Kika.
