From Startups.co.uk…
Five creative industries graduates from the North East have been awarded funding to help them launch their own businesses through a programme designed to develop the country’s burgeoning creative economy.
Through its Insight Out programme, which aims to harness talented graduates of creative curricula, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) has granted £5,000 in start-up funding to Louise Hepworth, Hannah Campion, Emma Dyson, Graeme Patrick and Joanne Riddle to help get their business ideas off the ground.
Insight Out, which launched in 2002, is open to all graduates who have completed a higher education course in a creative industries subject, such as art or design, and want to set up a new creative business.
“Our mission is to increase the UK capacity for innovation by investing in all stages of the innovation process,� said Mark Fenwick, director of the Creative Pioneer Programme at NESTA.
“The creative industries are a key driver of the UK economy – they now account for 8% of GDP and this is growing.
“It is vital that we support the next generation of innovative entrepreneurs, who can contribute to this burgeoning industry and the strength of the UK’s future wealth creation.�
Hepworth has said she will use the funds to produce bespoke photographic artworks for corporate environments, while Campion is a contemporary artist who hopes to start a business selling her work.
Dyson’s business, Strawberry Chalk, produces and publishes interactive children’s books using information and communication technology.
Patrick has launched Ego Studios, a creative design house that deals in self-branded products and character design based on their very own personas, while Riddle has started Fuzzy Bridge, a surface design firm.
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