As we prepare for the much-anticipated Silicon Summer social event, we’re excited to highlight one of our partners, Creative UK. Their Culture and Creative Investment Programme offers a range of financial and business support to creative industries in North Tyneside, Northumberland, and Newcastle.
This interview delves into Creative UK’s impactful activities the common hurdles startups encounter and offers expert advice for budding entrepreneurs.
Interview with Sasha Collington, Investment Manager for Creative UK’s Culture and Creative Investment Programme
Running a startup is a really difficult thing, and it takes a certain type of personality to do it
Q: What inspired you to get involved in supporting startups?
A: My involvement in supporting startups began during my time in the film industry, where I raised finance from private angel investors. This experience sparked my interest in early-stage investment, which led me to pursue an MBA to deepen my understanding.
Running a startup is a really difficult thing, and it takes a certain type of personality to do it. I really admire entrepreneurs. It’s a very difficult journey. That whole ethos of taking a calculated risk, which is what entrepreneurship is all about, resonates with me, and that’s part of why I want to support entrepreneurs. You have to be able to communicate your belief in something to other people and bring them on that journey.
Q: Can you tell us about Creative UK and its mission?
A: Creative UK supports the Creative Industries. When people think of the Creative Industries, they don’t appreciate how many subsectors it covers – including marketing, creative tech, animation, gaming, eSports, etc. Our work promotes and supports the entire creative economy. We have different programmes to help creative entrepreneurs, and we also have an investment team that focuses on startup finance and scale-up finance. And then we have our members, who contribute to our policy, research and campaigns to champion the Creative Industries.
In the North East, we have a debt and equity fund exclusively open for businesses registered in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Our equity offering is up to £150,000 with a match element, so there has to be a private match for that money. And we also have loans of up to £150,000. We then have a nationwide debt fund, Creative Growth Finance, which offers up to half a million to businesses looking to scale.
Q: How does Creative UK support startups?
A: We support startups in a variety of ways. We have the Create Growth Programme in the North East, and in other regions of England, that essentially helps businesses get investment ready. People work with mentors and are part of a cohort and go on a journey towards raising investment. We also have the Cultural and Creative Programme, which runs workshops for businesses and offers grants and investment. To date we have supported almost 300 businesses and freelancers and invested £1.5 million which has generated a further £4.5m in match investment in the past 3 years.
It’s often a misapprehension that Creative UK doesn’t invest in tech, but for the equity fund we do invest in tech that’s applicable to the Creative Industries. That could be tech that’s applicable to gaming, XR, marketing, any creative subsector. So yeah, we want tech startups to know that, if they are crossing over into the creative sector, we are a potential investment partner.
Q: Can you share some local success stories of startups that have benefited from
your support?
A: A nice story to share would be Grid Finder, an esports start-up based in Newcastle upon Tyne, who were the first business to receive equity from the programme back in 2023. The investment was part of a wider equity funding round, which enabled the business to employ two more talented developers. In January of this year, Grid Finder was acquired by America motorsports supergroup RAFA Racing Club in a multimillion-pound deal. The team remain committed to working out of Newcastle to continue supporting the local creative economy.
We see the fundraising landscape continuing to be challenging
Q: What are the biggest challenges you see startups facing today, and how do you help them overcome them?
A: There’s quite a lot of different challenges that startups face. The first one that we look at is, what problem are they solving. How much of a need is there? How big is the market for this? And tha’s something we come across, that lack of clarity about the problem and being unrealistic about what competitors are out there and what really differentiates them.
Another thing we’re always looking at is the team, making sure that the kind of people they’re surrounding themselves with have complementary skillsets. Being aware of your weaknesses, because no one can do everything. We ask whether we think this team can deliver on their objectives. Have they put together a finance model with projections and assumptions based on robust research? There is a line between optimism and realism, and you obviously need to have a lot of optimism to have a startup – but equally, investors will interrogate those figures, look at how achievable it is with the resources that you have in the market that you’re operating in, so there are challenges in putting that investment proposal together.
That’s where the business support offering at Creative UK works in parallel with the investment fund. If people come to us and we feel there’s a lack of clarity of they need work to finesse the pitch, we introduce them to the North East Create Growth Programme team to get that support and bespoke one-on-one mentoring to work out the snags.
Q: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who are just starting?
A: Surround yourself with the right people. It’s a long journey, you know, and you have to be compatible working together for the long term, and in terms of your skillsets as well. Another thing, is don’t be afraid to let an idea go. I’ve seen that before, people hold on to an idea that isn’t right – but flexibility and adaptability is what makes really good entrepreneurs, and good businesses. Understanding that this particular idea isn’t right, but that the market need that you’ve identified is really valid. So, what can you do to enhance something to address that?
Being flexible and adaptable, and also listening to feedback. Coming from a film background, lots of feedback is something I am used to, and it’s similar for entrepreneurs – you’re getting feedback from all angles, so how do you know what to take on board, and what to put aside.
But listening to feedback is a key part of the journey. A key similarity I’ve noticed with all of the founders we’ve worked with is that adaptability, that willingness to listen to other perspectives and integrate them. That’s really crucial.
Q: What common mistakes do startups make, and how can they avoid them?
A: It’s inevitable to make mistakes. And I don’t know that there is a way to avoid them, quite frankly, because it’s part of the process of discovery. Especially at the beginning of a startup, it is a discovery phase, and ruling things out is the only way to move forward. So I suppose my advice would be don’t be afraid of making mistakes, because they are a learning tool. So how could it be better next time? But in terms of actual things to look at, it’s the team, it’s the market size, knowing how many people you know would buy this, would pay for it, and how much of a problem is it solving? The mistakes are not having those solid blocks and those questions at the forefront when you’re developing your business.
Q: What key message would you like to share with the readers?
A: If you’re a startup operating in the creative industries, please come and talk to us to see if we can support you. You can read more about what Creative UK offers in the North East here: https://www.wearecreative.uk/support/regional-growth-programmes/north-east/
The Cultural and Creative Investment Programme is funded by the North East Combined Authority and delivered by Creative UK.
We extend our thanks to Sasha and Creative UK for their valuable contributions and support of Silicon Mingle. Join us at Silicon Summer on August 29th at The Grove in Byker to meet the Creative UK team and engage in more inspiring conversations.
Get your tickets here: siliconsummer.com