What Great Things Will The Latest NEF+ Graduates Do Next?

25 early-stage entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas at the culmination of the NEF+ Spring 2023 Cohort graduation on Friday 31 March.

NEF+ is a training programme for exceptional early-career entrepreneurs delivered by the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE). The latest cohort graduated this week and they did an incredible job pitching their businesses to panels of judges and their peers. The event took place in the impressive surroundings of the Institute of Directors on London's Pall Mall.

NEF has an extraordinary track record

NEF has been among the UK's leading support and education programmes for entrepreneurs since it was first launched over ten years ago. Over 400 alumni have launched more than 260 live businesses, created over 5,300 jobs and started businesses with a combined value of more than ￡700,000,000 funded by over ￡240,000,000 of early-stage investment. It's an astonishing record!

The Spring 2023 NEF+ cohort holds incredible promise

Two cohorts run each year and the Spring 2023 cohort, the thirteenth to date, included some fantastic new entrepreneurs showcasing their businesses. You can see all of the graduating cohort and their pitch decks on our showcase platform.

Congratulations Alex Asher , Assel Kapparova , Emily Lynam , Guillaume Bieler , Heather Payne , James Kaguima , Kasim Khan , Keefy Yap , Elizabeth Beh , Nick Toomey , Rachel Drapper , Rachel Stuart , Sarah Touzani , Souky Dolinsek , Zahra Hadi , Roseanne Cole , Landa George , Ama O. , Bradley St John Jones , Abisola Bright and Anoli Mehta on their graduation!

Throughout the afternoon they presented their businesses in three streams to a panel of judges that included members of the CFE team and startup experts Nick Slater , Dave Chapman and Fiona Melville .

Six were selected to present in an evening run off to highlight the best presentations on the day and represent the cohort to friends, family and colleagues to celebrate the achievements of all of those who successfully completed the six-month programme.

Individual award winners

Three individuals were highlighted for their contributions to the programme and success in developing their businesses.

The Fellows' Award is selected by members of the cohort who identify one of their peers as the most helpful to the group. Nick Toomey picked up this award to a huge round of applause. Clearly a very popular choice!

The CEO's Prize is made by the CFE's CEO, Timothy Barnes with input from all the programme participants and delivery team. It recognises the entrepreneur who has made the most progress on the programme and was collected by Rachel Drapper , founder of Fairshare.

Finally, the Chairman's Prize, awarded on behalf of CFE's Chair of Trustees, Oliver Pawle, went to Anoli Mehta and her business, Circular Threads, for the best presentation and business put forward on the day.

A huge effort makes NEF possible

CFE is a charity so NEF and everything we do is only possible with the support of our generous individual and corporate donors including Founders Forum Group , 麦肯锡 , LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) , BGF , CVC , Rothschild & Co , 光辉国际 , ISTARI , Brown Advisory , Cavendish , Flutter Entertainment , PSG and Blackstone .

Thanks also to Programme Director, Richard Thomas , Maxx Turing the ever-present Programme Manager and Mike Bandar for masterminding the programme content and all of the wondering coaches and mentors who supported this incredible group of entrepreneurs.

We can't wait to see what they will do next!

Applications for the Autumn 2023 cohort are open now - closing date is 20 April so get in touch today if you want to be part of this incredible programme!