On Tuesday, 10 September, the Economic Strategy and Innovation team hosted the ‘No Wrong Door’ Challenge Pitch Day, where innovative solutions to improve collaboration across the job and skills training sectors were presented.
At City Hall, 15 finalists shared their concepts, paving the way for more effective and impactful ways to address the employment and skills challenges in London. The final three selected will receive up to £50k to scale up prototypes across the capital and receive continued mentoring and business support. All finalists have received seed funding of £10k to refine their solutions and gain valuable insights.
Following their presentations, attendees made up of organisations spanning the investor community, local authorities, and business networks, were invited to connect with the finalists, learn more about their innovative solutions, and explore possible partnerships and support to practical solutions tailored toward the needs of London’s unique workforce.
The No Wrong Door initiative’s primary goal is to facilitate seamless connections between Londoners and the appropriate support and resources to ensure that every Londoner, regardless of their background, has access to good, meaningful employment.
This is Challenge LDN’s 28th open call since its inception in 2018, with previous innovation challenges supporting ideas and collaboration to solve London’s most complex challenges, using groundbreaking initiatives each addressing a critical issue such as climate change, crime, community resilience, affordable housing, and regeneration.
Challenge LDN connects innovators and entrepreneurs with organisations and communities to positively impact the lives of Londoners and help tackle the city’s most pressing issues. This year’s challenge was delivered in partnership with Allia, a charity dedicated to supporting small businesses and charities in developing, growing, and achieving their impact aims.
As part of Challenge LDN’s comprehensive support system, seed funding and hands-on guidance has empowered participants to test and refine their ideas, develop robust business models, and navigate the complexities of bringing their solutions to life. Challenge LDN alumni have since gone on to raise over £125 million in investment.
Challenge LDN has achieved the following since its inception in 2018:
£3 million invested to help innovators prototype, test, and scale up their ideas
- Over 1,000 hours of business support, mentorship and coaching provided to entrepreneurs.
- Supported 135 start-ups & projects to scale
- Supported innovators to build partnership with public sector organisations across London Delivered 28 open calls to find innovative solutions to, to address London’s most pressing city-wide challenges.
Find full details about the Challenge LDN programme.
