Philip Faure, the Grindstone Programme Director based in Jersey, expressed the importance of the programme, stating, “Together with our sponsors and partners, we aim to catalyse a community of highly innovative post-revenue scale-ups to support the sustainable economic growth of Jersey’s digital industry and contribute to Digital Jersey’s goal of becoming an internationally regarded digital centre.”
Selection criteria:
The programme aims to bring international expansion as a key tenet to the scale-ups, and, therefore seeks to identify ten of the most innovative, scalable technology scale-ups registered in South Africa, Jersey, or the United Kingdom, to build a varied cohort as part of our growth engineering approach. Preference will be given to scale-ups who are post- revenue, good market traction, highly innovative, with the ability to scale exponentially, and has international expansion as part of its strategic roadmap.
Initial applications will be shortlisted to the top 25, who will be invited to Grindstone’s ‘Find, Make, Grow, Realise’ workshop. Following the workshop, the top 10 scale-ups will be selected to embark on the 6-month programme from July to December.
Grindstone UK & Channel Islands programme flow:
The UK & Channel Islands programme was established to facilitate international business growth through combining scale-ups from different geographic areas to enable greater knowledge sharing, international workshops covering various topics such as strategy, funding and valuations, Go-to-Market readiness, legal and intellectual property in different markets, and how these play out across different geographies as the scale-ups aim to grow.
Each scale-up will undergo detailed assessments to understand and analyse its current business life stage, with mentoring and coaching provided to address its key business gaps. Moreover, the scale-ups participating in the programme will gain access to market opportunities and funding options to accelerate their success.
The Grindstone UK & Channel Islands programme includes a residency week in September 2023, during which the scale-ups will visit Jersey to experience Digital Jersey’s robust tech ecosystem, network with other entrepreneurs, and witness the beauty of the island first- hand. Head of Business Development at Digital Jersey, Chris Knight said: “As part of our vision of innovation and digital transformation, we’re proud to host Grindstone’s well- established accelerator in Jersey. Scale-ups applying to the programme can anticipate a game-changing opportunity to collaborate with fellow innovators and tech leaders. The programme not only offers a fantastic opportunity for local innovators, but also has the potential to significantly bolster Jersey’s reputation as a digital jurisdiction on the international stage.”
Catherine Young, Managing Partner of Grindstone and Grindstone Ventures, expressed her excitement about the launch of the UK & Channel Islands accelerator in Jersey: ” Jersey, as the most connected island on earth, provides a natural home for disruptive solutions. We look forward to witnessing how these scale-ups leverage technological innovation to solve real-world challenges and contribute to the future well-being of society. The fact that we combine three geographic territories into one provides the scale-ups great opportunity for expansion and growth internationally.”
