Enterprise Nation Fund launches with TikTok to champion relentless value-driven businesses

Small business support platform and membership organisation Enterprise Nation has today launched its own annual fund in partnership with TikTok to offer financial assistance and mentoring to the brave businesses that are relentlessly driven by their values.

The platform, which supports 800,000 start-ups, early stage and small businesses every year, has pledged to deliver three £5,000 grants, 12 months of one-to-one mentoring with an expert entrepreneur – including Emma Jones CBE, founder of Enterprise Nation – plus an epic bundle of targeted resources worth thousands of pounds.

TikTok will also provide access to ads specialists in its London office who will provide guidance on building brand presence and driving sales on the platform.

The fund aims to champion the businesses that reflect Enterprise Nation's own values, the ones that understand the deep advantages of aligning with their own community, the incredible power of trust, and those that demonstrate an inspiringly entrepreneurial spirit.

The fund will be accepting entries from businesses that excel in the following areas:

Entrepreneurial

For businesses driven by a creative and innovative spirit. The winner of this category will be mentored by Timothy Armoo, co-founder of social and influencer agency Fanbytes, who was only 27 when his business was acquired in a landmark eight-figure deal.

Trusted

For businesses trusted by customers and the people who hold a stake in it. This category's winner will be mentored by Mike Turner, co-founder of Bird & Blend Tea Co., the UK's most loved indie tea company. The award-winning brand offers eco-friendly tea and is B-Corp certified.

Community-led

For businesses centred around their community. This winner will be mentored by Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation. Enterprise Nation is an 800,000-strong community of small businesses and advisers offering trusted business support.

Emma has taken Enterprise Nation from start-up to more than £8 million of revenue in 2023, delivering a digital platform to support small businesses in the UK and Ireland with the technology to support businesses globally.

Emma said:

"We truly believe in the power of entrepreneurial spirit, trust and community, these are the qualities that best reflect our values and we want to celebrate and reward businesses that share that vision.

"By launching our own fund with TikTok, we hope to create a legacy that will help the next generation of businesses to collaborate and support each other in innovative ways."

In a recent study from Oxford Economic, activities by SMEs on TikTok contributed £1.63 billion to UK GDP in 2022. SMEs using TikTok as an advertising and marketing platform for growth supported 32,000 jobs in 2022.The study also found owners of SMEs on TikTok are also 55% more likely to be ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and under 30.

Lisa Friedrich, TikTok SMB leader in EMEA, said:

"At TikTok we are incredibly humbled by the inspiring small businesses that come to our platform every day to promote and sell their products. TikTok has become a key part in their marketing strategy, as an affordable and engaging way drive sales and we're very proud of the role we're able to play in breaking down the barriers to starting a growing a business.

"We're delighted to support the Enterprise Nation Fund and hope it will inspire a wealth of passion, creativity and innovation in the small business community."

Entries open on 10 August 2023 and close on 14 September 2023. A shortlist of 30 successful entrepreneurs, 10 in each category, will then go to the public vote, with finalists going forward to judging. The winner will be announced in October.

The three winners will receive the following:

• A £5,000 grant

• Monthly mentoring sessions for 12 months with an experienced entrepreneur who will guide and support business growth

• Meeting with a dedicated TikTok ads specialist for a tailored media plan to get a business started on TikTok at TikTok's London office

• £500 credits to spend on VistaPrint.co.uk

• Santander Navigator 'Prepare' package, worth £1,800 of international growth support.

• 12 month Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps membership, worth £596

About the Enterprise Nation Fund

The Enterprise Nation Fund is an annual bursary from Enterprise Nation and TikTok, which includes a £5,000 grant and 12 months of mentoring and support packages from its partners awarded to three value-driven small businesses.

Criteria for the awards are for businesses that are guided by entrepreneurial spirit, prioritise being trusted by customers and are community-led. Businesses that enter go to the public vote and winners are picked by judges. Read more about the fund

About TikTok

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul and Tokyo.

Mentor bios

Emma Jones CBE, founder and CEO, Enterprise Nation

Emma Jones sold her first company successfully when she was 27. The experience of starting, growing and selling a business from a home base gave Emma the idea for Enterprise Nation which was launched in 2005 to support the flourishing number of start-ups and SMEs.

The company has since expanded to become an active small business membership community, reaching more than 800,000 businesses each year with its powerful digital business support platform. Enterprise Nation also presents a positive campaigning voice to governments on behalf of its partners and members.

With Emma at the helm, Enterprise Nation now works with multiple global and government partners to deliver tailored business support programmes for a growing number of micro and small business owners. It also delivers regular data-led research to highlight and understand the important contribution SMEs make to the economy and to establish 'what works' when it comes to funded support programmes.

In 2021, Emma was awarded a CBE for services to small businesses and entrepreneurs and has held several key advisory roles at the heart of the UK government, making the case for small businesses in the corridors of power.

Timothy Armoo

Timothy Armoo is the co-founder of social and influencer agency Fanbytes, who was only 27 when his business was acquired in a landmark eight-figure deal. His business helped brands like Nike, Deliveroo, Samsung and even the UK Government engage with Gen Z through influencer marketing.

He sold the business to global marketing company Brainlabs. He's now an accomplished public speaker, giving keynotes and helping corporations like Goldman Sachs, PWC and Nespresso understand how to future-proof their business model with Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Mike Turner

Mike Turner and his business partner Krisi Smith launched Bird & Blend Tea Co from a back bedroom in Krisi's mum's house in Nottingham with a dream of revolutionising tea – and starting their own chain of tea shops and sustainable online range of delicious teas.

Today they have 15 shops, including three in London, which are the shopfront for their range. The pair started out with a £25,000 Start Up Loan to open their first shop in Brighton in 2014, before turning to equity crowdfunding website Crowdcube to raise more.

They now turnover more than £5 million a year and have more than 160 staff and are a registered B-Corp.