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The power of BetterShared 

Africa is the fastest-growing continent in the world and exceptional creative talent does not get the visibility it deserves. Therefore, BetterShared’s mission is to bring this talent into the public consumer space by shipping art prints by African artists and their diaspora worldwide. We are not only encouraging nationwide and global visibility but also, we are supporting the careers of African and diaspora artists. Whilst making everyday spaces inclusive through diverse art. 

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Business Matters 

As a scale-up business and CEO, I found the MSDUK Accelerator a great time to review my existing business, reflect, and stress test any future ideas. The programme helped me understand the inner workings of large corporations from how to manage a long-term relationship to navigating their sales cycles.  

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If I could go back and do this programme again, I would like to revisit the module tasks. They were an incredible way to quickly implement our learnings and test our assumptions. The MSDUK Accelerator was incredible; we learnt so much. The support network was terrific throughout the process, and the insight from other businesses in the cohort was invaluable. 

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Being an EMB & Working With MSDUK

The most valuable lesson I learnt from the Accelerator programme was taking ownership. This relates to taking ownership of the fact that we are an EMB (Ethnic Minority Business) and leveraging that for the good of your business. When thinking about the business needs and what steps need to be taken to secure contracts, getting MSDUK certification has opened many doors which has led to the opportunity to work with global brands. 

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BetterShared continues to be very involved with MSDUK and following the programme, we provided African artwork as prizes to the winners of the 2022 MSDUK Annual Supplier Diversity Awards. The process of liaising with MSDUK, designing the custom boxes, and then presenting them to the winners was seamless. It is rewarding to know that the artwork of talented African artists is sitting on the shelves of corporate members and EMBs.  

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Winning CBRE Innovation Challenge 

In 2022, BetterShared won the Workplace Experience category for our Diverse Art Rental Service during CBRE Innovation Challenge. We were introduced to CBRE at MSDUK Business Opportunity Day. After hearing about our business, CBRE recommended applying to their Innovation Challenge. We were successful in becoming a finalist and after pitching at CBRE’s London headquarters we won the competition.  

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From the introduction made at an MSDUK event, we became a category winner, and we are now an official CBRE supplier. As part of the reward, we were assigned an executive sponsor who we continue to work closely with.  

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The MSDUK Community  

As a scale-up business, an essential part of our journey has been reviewing and reflecting, learning from our peers on the Accelerator Programme and adjusting some of our existing processes.  

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I continue to keep in contact with my fellow cohort participants and we meet up every couple of months to catch up. It’s nice knowing that we were all part of the same accelerator and when we meet, we’re able to talk about our shared experiences. It’s important to have a community where we can speak to founders who understand our struggles and successes but also, have the potential of working with each other. 

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Accelerator Programme Cohort 4  

MSDUK Accelerator’s mission is to develop the ethnic minority businesses of today, so they become the diverse suppliers and leaders of tomorrow. Our applications are now open for Cohort 4. We aim to educate, challenge and connect B2B early-stage ventures in order to help brilliant founders realise their full potential.  

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Since the programme’s inception in June 2021, the MSDUK Accelerator has successfully provided an extensive range of resources and support to 88 entrepreneurs from various ethnic minority backgrounds. Through our programme, we have provided interactive sessions, guest workshops, and masterclasses amounting to over 160 hours, alongside offering numerous hours of personalised mentoring and 1-2-1 support. 

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To apply for MSDUK Accelerator Programme (Cohort 4) 👉https://accelerator.msduk.org.uk/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=OrganicAC23