Monday 4 December 2017 saw Shaw Gibbs hosting the fourth finale of FAB Accelerator, Oxford’s first accelerator programme for ambitious entrepreneurs and start-ups.The event, which attracted 60 attendees was a culmination of a 12 week programme in which the participants of the programme (known as ‘fabicorns’) presented a pitch and showcased their products in order to attract investment. 

 Shaw Gibbs, who have a long-history of supporting start-up and growth organisations in Oxfordshire have sponsored the FAB Accelerator since its inception in September 2016. This support involves Shaw Gibbs experts in accounting and HR presenting to, and acting as a sounding board for each intake of the accelerator programme. 

“For a county which boasts more start-up’s per capita than the rest of the UK, the FAB Accelerator is a fantastic resource, it is great to see how each fabicorn grows throughout the programme, as a result of their mentoring and the support provided by Shaw Gibbs and Knights as their sponsors” says Sarah Gardener, Director of Shaw Gibbs and spearhead for the accountancy practices sponsorship. 

Each fabicorn had been mentored for the duration of the programme in order to help them shape their offering, rehearse their pitch and really understand their market and where their company is likely to be in the future. FAB has seen some particular successes already with 18 fabicorns now trading, four have received funding and three are competition winners. 

The audience, which comprised of a panel of angel investors, business advisers, funding bodies and support organisations was also invited to vote online for their favourite pitch. The winner of this vote was Y.O.U Underwear, an organisation which seeks to ‘change the world one pair of pants at a time’ by supplying 100% organic cotton underwear for men and women alongside a ‘buy one, give one model’ where for every product purchased, a proportion of the profits are donated to their charity partner (Smalls for All). 

Sarah Jordan, co-founder of Y.O.U Underwear, presented at the Finale in which the company received 38% of the audience vote and was ‘……so pleased to have won the audience vote. This was the icing on the cake after a truly fantastic experience with the FAB Accelerator, which really helped us to solidify our business, make some great connections and elevate our profile to a degree which we would not have been able to achieve on our own’. 

FAB are now recruiting for the fifth intake of fabicorns which will start on 15 January 2018, individuals and groups are welcome to apply, for more info see http://fabaccelerator.com/