ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF
MAJORITY THINK GETTING FUNDING IS EASY
A sizable 39 per cent of Britain’s entrepreneurs expect conditions for accessing external sources of capital to be “normal” or “easy” in the next 12 months. This compares to 25 per cent who said this six months ago, according to research from May 2011 by Investec Specialist Private Bank. 60 per cent, however, still expect access to capital to be “very hard” or “quite hard”, but this is down from 75 per cent since last November.
PARCELGENIE REACH VODAFONE FINAL
Vodafone UK declared ParcelGenie a finalist in the Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2011 contest last week. ParcelGenie beat serious competition from other UK start-ups in two local judging rounds, and will now go head-to-head against six other country finalists to win a share of the €225,000 prize fund. ParcelGenie is the world’s first instant gift messaging service that makes sending real gifts to friends and family almost as simple as sending an email or a text message.
FESTIVAL LAUNCHES FOR ENTREPRENEURS
The date for this year’s MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival in Sheffield has just been announced. It will be held between 21-24 September with over 2,000 entrepreneurs from all over Britain taking part. Headlining the festival will be the secretary of state for business Vince Cable MP and his minister Mark Prisk MP. Cable said: “The festival is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to share ideas and help inspire the next generation of business owners.”