Grown in Hackney
Hackney startups: fast-track your business with six months of free, tailored business support.
HELPING HACKNEY BUSINESSES ON THEIR GROWTH JOURNEY
The Grown in Hackney programme was a programme which supported local businesses.
Businesses had to meet the following criteria: (1) Be an early stage start-up in Hackney, (2) Either business must be registered in Hackney and/or its impact is significantly felt within the Borough, and (3) Not a current member of the Plexal startup community.
Businesses in the programme were in the expert hands of Plexal’s innovation team. We work with some of the biggest government departments, enterprises and most exciting startups in the UK, helping them to achieve their innovation and growth goals.
Programme Benefits
Tailored programme
One-to-one support from an experienced mentor
Connect with industry experts
Expand your network
Sales and growth
Six-month workspace membership at Plexal Shoreditch
Access to our regular member events at Plexal Stratford
THIS PROGRAMME WAS FOR…
- Hackney residents, businesse based in Hackney or those with close connections to the Borough
- Businesses operating for 12+ months
- Any sector or industry. Everyone was welcome to apply
EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST
Interested in learning more about the Grown in Hackney programme?
HOW WE’VE HELPED OTHER STARTUPS
BADU is a community interest company that works with young people, their families and schools to tackle challenges like inequality, food poverty, gang culture and mental health. It’s looking for funding and wanted support to get a new project off the ground.
The Plexal team have worked directly with BADU to support their funding ambitions and our CEO sits on BADU’s board. We also worked closely with BADU during the pandemic, providing a space for young people to study and sponsorship of BADU’s holiday hamper campaign for families in east London.
Meet our cohorts
For our first cohort, we supported these five businesses over the six month programme, helping them on their startup journey:
- Ali Kakande – Carib Eats
- Mimi Mollica – PhotoMeet
- Ruth Rhoden – Digitally Cool Coders
- Joseph Sharpe – Zhero
- Proscovia Sendijja – Proritas Healthcare
In 2024, we supported a further five businesses over the six month span of the second iteration of the Grown in Hackney programme:
- Matt Hoad-Robson – Tend-VR
- Rhy Blackett-Codrington – Betaminds CIC
- Mark Cox – Orli Health
- Gaye “Gaia” Soykok – Tokens of Appreciation
- Eoin Heffernan – Integrate Support Services
Supported by
