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John Holmes

I have a creative industries background, with over 20 years of experience in managing theatres, festivals, concert halls, museums, tourism and marketing agencies. I’m now Managing Director at https://www.advantagecreative.co.uk which has a track record of investing into and supporting creative startups, where I lead on coaching and mentoring projects.

When I’m engaged in mentoring or one-to-one support with a Founder or Start-up team, I tend to be engaged in the first instance in supporting them through the stages of a planned fundraising campaign, or on developing their fundraising strategy, often (but not always) with a focus on equity fundraising.

Alongside my professional practice in the creative industries, I have built a property investment business as a “side hustle” in the first instance, developing this into a more professional and diversified investment portfolio in more recent years, learning lots from the “school of hard knocks” along the way!

I”m always happy to have an initial chat with Founders to see if there are ways I can bring value.

Rich Mills

General business advice – strategy, planning, financial, business plan review, pitch deck review
Several years experience in real estate and interested in supporting PropTech startups to identify and refine use cases + identify target customers
Also interested in placemaking, sustainability, regeneration, emerging tech, personal finance, wellbeing
Limited network in East Mids currently, having moved here recently – majority of connections are London based – including startups, investors

Alicia Porter

As a second time founder, I have vast experience in the Startup world and a good understanding of the varying hurdles faced in the quest to launch a product to market. I have achieved pre-seed investment and can provide a good insight into working with accelerators, selecting and building mentor networks and onboarding advisors. My background is sales and marketing having previously worked with SME’s through to Blue Chip clients on a range of digital and print projects. Happy to connect.