ICE's coaching & fundraising programme for founders from underrepresented groups
A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity is one of ICE’s values. ICE Propel is ICE’s coaching & fundraising programme for founders from underrepresented groups. Building on ICE’s overall mission to support founders at every step of their journey, ICE Propel coaches founders in their fundraising journey and gives them access to investors. One of the key barriers to creating a diverse and representative community of founders is access to capital, especially at earlier stages, and analysis suggests that founders from underrepresented groups can often be underfunded and over mentored.
We know that many founders raise their seed money from 'friends and family', creating fewer opportunities for specific groups within society. We believe that ICE - along with similar minded communities and people - can leverage the relationships and talents of those within the network to help create a more diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem through more accessible access to capital at the earliest stages of a founder's journey.
The 2023/24 programme is focussed on founders who identify as Black or mixed race.
"The ICE Propel programme has been a really valuable part of my Founder journey. The workshops and mentorship helped me analyse my business proposition, tighten up my deck, and get investor ready. Through ICE propel I’ve gained access to a vast network who I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to reach. I also got my first investor on board as a direct result of ICE Propel."
Dr Dupe Burgess, Founder at Bloomful - ICE Propel Cohort 2021
Our programme consists of four core elements for selected underrepresented founders:
- Connection to ICE Membership’s investor networks (angels and VCs)
- 1:1 personalised coaching programme with relevant ICE members addressing different parts of the fundraising cycle
- Dedicated ICE member mentor for each founder
- Connection to the ICE community and access to ICE online content (e.g. webinars and panels)
Access to investor networks
Following the coaching programme the Propel founders will be introduced to active angel investors and relevant VC funds. The programme cannot guarantee investment but we aim to put founders in a position of strength through our coaching programme and give them access to active investors, creating new networks.
The 1:1 coaching programme will focus on these topic
- Running the fundraising process
- Optimising your Business Plan
- Building your investor pack
- Crafting a killer pitch deck (refinement and storytelling)
- Pitch/presentation training
- Pitch doctor meeting with ICE VCs (preparing for investor questions)
- Legal clinic (Term sheet analysis etc.)
- Introduction to the VC mode
- Mindset and resilience practices
Our 2021 Cohort were delighted to have the following coaches and mentors from ICE during their programme:
Carlos Espinal
Managing Partner
Seedcamp
Andrew J Scott
Managing Partner
7percent Ventures
Harry Briggs
Managing Partner
Omers Ventures
Kenny Alegbe
Founder & CEO
HomeHero
Nikhil Shah
Creative Entrepreneur
Founder Mixcloud
Katy Turner
Partner
Connect Ventures
Gabbi Cahane
Partner
Stride.vc
Natasha Lytton
CMO
Seedcamp
Matt Lerner
Founder & CEO
SYSTM
Peter Nixey
Founder
Intentional.io
Jamie Moore
Partner
Orrick
Elliot Cowan
Partner
CMS
Misha Gopaul
Founder
FATMAP
Michael Geer
Founder
Humanity
Nick Katz
Founder
Raise
Nick Thain
Cheief Investment Officer
85 Degrees Renewable
Chris Grew
Partner
Orrick
John Thompson
Chairman
Zing.dev
Dedicated ICE mentor for each founder
Each founder will be allocated a mentor from our ICE community, who will be with them on every step of the programme, to guide and support.
Connection to the ICE community
The ICE propel founders will be given access to all the professional and personal development content created for ICE members and will be welcome to join our monthly Clubhouse community events.
"The propel team are awesome to work with and you really feel they are on your side. ICE directly assisted in my fundraise and gave me access to a network of high quality investors and founders"
Osas Omoigiade, Founder of Deep.Meta - ICE Propel Cohort 2021
Connection
Coaching
Investment
- For this cohort we are specifically looking for founders who identify as Black or mixed race
- Be able to attend key in person events in London
- Business pre-seed or seed stage (has raised less than £350k)
- Business is technology-focused or technology-enabled