Meet the businesses of the 2023 Startup Academy!
The Digital Greenhouse’s new business accelerator programme The Startup Academy is in full swing with its accepted businesses developing their ventures ahead of a pitch presentation evening.
During this 10-week journey, the seven Guernsey businesses accepted to the programme are developing their ventures with the aid of experts in the field to go from idea to market and scale. In the spirit of 'Nail it then Scale it', the businesses are presented with relevant expert teachings about today's market in order to make informed decisions about setting up and scaling their startup venture further. They are learning about mapping opportunities for innovation, making informed decisions and avoiding wasting resources in their pursuit of success, early unit economics and how they affect different business models, how to build and present a business case and more.
The Startup Academy will run until the end of June concluding with a pitch presentation evening. Further Information about the Academy can be found here.
Read more about the businesses on the programme below!
Startup Academy 2023's cohort
Matthias Plunser
Founder of Channel Islands Workation
Andre Duquemin
Founder of Three Brain TrainingWhat’s your business and the story behind it:
I am Andre Duquemin, founder of Three Brain Training. My business helps organisations develop healthy, high-performing people and teams.
I started this business after 20 years of working in the health and wellness sector. In recent years I have worked with leaders and teams in many organisations and have found a key intersection between well-being and peak performance.
My training and consulting work addresses these needs. How can leaders and their teams stay healthy and perform at their best? How can people avoid burnout in an increasingly competitive world? And how can we bring these tools to organisations that are in desperate need of confident, focused and compassionate leaders?
Why am I taking part:
I have joined the academy to help me build and scale a paid community of next-generation leaders who are looking for guidance and support in areas such as mental well-being, peak performance and leadership.
Tammy Lodge
Founder of Leaving ToxicityWhat’s your business and the story behind it:
I work with sensitive women who are ready to out-grow the pattern of over-giving and under-receiving; helping them to release and let go of whatever they have stayed in for too long. Whether it be a relationship, a job, a way of living, an insecurity or a habit that they are ready to be free of. The outcome is that it all gets replaced with a high-value life.
As a Body Power Matrix Healer, Coach and Certified Hypnotherapist, I am passionate, driven and motivated in helping women to gain their full independence, strength and power, and then using this to build a more prosperous and meaningful way of living, as a replacement for toxic habits, behaviours, experiences and people.
When I work with a client, we go right back to basics at a biogenetic, physiological and psychological level to help them regenerate from the inside out, spanning their lifetime from womb/birth, ancestral patterns, their DNA and any conditioning. This is what helps them to attain the permanent life-changing results that they’re seeking.
My motto is: Whatever your pattern is whatever you can’t seem to let go of - we can work it out.
I decided to create www.leavingtoxicity.com to help other women overcome the challenges that I had personally faced in my life, and overcame.
Why am I taking part:
I applied to participate in the Academy because I see the importance of building a business with a strong foundation. In addition, getting to work with the Red Team and other local start-ups offers great opportunities for growth, collaboration and mutual support, so thanks for choosing me to be a participant!
Joanna Corder
Founder of The Veterinary Content CompanyWhat’s your business and the story behind it:
As a qualified vet, I am passionate about helping pet owners understand their pets. I have been running The Veterinary Content Company for two years, providing over 2000 blogs and articles about pets for companies and pet owners all over the world. The Pet Health Academy is the next logical step, taking the lessons learned from being a practicing vet and a freelance writer to bridge the gap between what vets have time to explain and what pet owners want to know.
Why am I taking part:
I built The Veterinary Content Company from scratch, but I feel I was mostly lucky that it has worked out well as there was no plan behind it - it grew organically. This next step is going to be harder- I need to understand business, economics, and pitching to make the leap. I’m hoping the course will give me the knowledge and confidence to springboard this idea and get it airborne.
Ben Wratten & Dave Wratten
Founders of Stage PortalWhat’s your business and the story behind it:
Stage Portal is an event, crew and asset management platform for the live event industry. The platform Streamlines the process of event organisation for artists, venues, event organisers, freelancers and production companies.
The business has come about after running an AV business for 10 years we encountered the same problems when organising and running events. So, we have decided to build a platform to solve these challenges.
Why are we taking part:
We are taking part in the accelerator to help build our go-to-market strategy and pitch for our business. As well as being able to meet other similar-stage businesses to network.
Louis Jooste
Founder of CloudWealthWhat’s your business and the story behind it:
CloudWealth is a software company aimed at assisting advisors and clients in the private wealth space to optimise compliance, advisory and administrative processes by reducing reliance on paper and enabling teams to work from anywhere. It started as a coffee meeting between advisor and client and ended up in a software prototype two years later.
Why are we taking part:
We are taking part in the academy because we value the experience that the invigilators bring to the table and to optimise our go-to-market strategy.
Tim Rowe & Sonia Mills Vincent De Vera
Founders of Wild Wolf Wellbeing LimitedWhat’s your business and the story behind it:
Wild Wolf Wellbeing was born from the captivating story of Tim, known as @the_wildwolf on Instagram, who fearlessly shared his personal journey through mental health challenges via poetry on social media. His raw and honest words deeply resonated with a dedicated following of over 5,000 individuals, providing them with solace, inspiration and support to help process their own emotions through poetry.
During the summer of 2022, Tim crossed paths with Sonia, an experienced and inspirational psychotherapist who had embarked on her own transformative journey from teaching to psychotherapy. Having witnessed the struggles of students in her previous profession, Sonia's passion for helping others was ignited. Their profound conversations on various aspects of well-being revealed a shared belief in the transformative power of their collective experiences.
Recognising their potential to create something extraordinary, Tim and Sonia joined forces to establish Wild Wolf Wellbeing — a business and philosophy committed to providing authentic, humanistic support for individuals facing trauma, emotional struggles, relational issues and more.
In 2023, Wild Wolf Wellbeing proudly opened its inaugural clinic in Guernsey, marking the tangible realisation of its vision. Since then, the clinic has witnessed continuous growth, attracting clients who are drawn to its unique and holistic blend of psychotherapy, coaching, and alternative therapies. Rejecting the practice of labelling individuals, Wild Wolf Wellbeing embraces the understanding that each person is unique, fostering a supportive environment that has garnered overwhelming praise from their clients.
However, the clinic represents just the initial stage of Wild Wolf Wellbeing's ambitious mission to challenge the stigma surrounding therapy. Tim and Sonia are driven by an unwavering commitment to developing and refining their comprehensive well-being program. With a clear vision, they aspire to expand their global reach through international online platforms and community-based initiatives. Their ultimate goal is to make their innovative approach to well-being accessible to individuals worldwide, ensuring that everyone can access genuine support on their personal journey.
Why are we taking part:
We are incredibly grateful to be selected as one of the businesses in this year's Startup Academy 2023. This recognition underscores the magnitude of the mission we have at Wild Wolf Wellbeing. Our goal is to break the stigma surrounding therapy and provide authentic, humanistic support to individuals facing trauma, emotional struggles, and relational issues.
Participating in the Startup Academy is vital for us to help ensure the success of our ambitious business model. It grants us access to invaluable support and resources from Digital Greenhouse and Blenheim Chalcott Red Team. Engaging with these industry experts allows us to ask critical questions, refine our strategies, and make informed decisions as we prepare to scale Wild Wolf Wellbeing. Helping us to build a solid foundation for long-term success and empowering us to bring our transformative vision to a broader audience. Through this program, we aim to make a lasting impact and fulfil our mission on a global scale.
