Students on the KBS Business Start-Up Journey have had the rare opportunity to observe a real-life investors meeting. The Kent Investors Network held its February meeting at the Kent Business School\u2019s Canterbury campus with five businesses seeking investment.<\/p>\n
Such meetings are normally held in private, with only potential investors and businesses invited. The opportunity for students to see behind the scenes has arisen through the Kent Business School\u2019s extensive network of contacts in the\u00a0county\u2019s business community.<\/p>\n
For students on the Business Start-Up Journey<\/a> \u2013 the business school\u2019s flagship student enterprise programme \u2013 it was a chance to see how potential investors would scrutinize a business looking for financial investment.<\/p>\n At the end of the Journey, selected students will themselves pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, hoping to win a cash award to develop their business beyond the programme.<\/p>\n David Williamson<\/a>, Director of External Services at Kent Business School<\/a>, said: \u201cThis was a superb event. The Business Start-Up Journey<\/a> is about giving students a practical grounding in business and experience of real business. Many of our student entrepreneurs will have to pitch for investment so this has given them an invaluable insight into the process. We are very grateful to the Kent Investors Network<\/a> for allowing our students to see a real pitching session.\u201d<\/p>\n Student, Jai Sun, said: \u201cThis was an excellent event. We are getting so much help learning how to run our own businesses. I feel very happy about the success of running my own business because of the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kent Investors Network<\/a> was founded in 2009 and is comprised of a group of angel investors who consider investing in high-growth businesses or start-ups seeing funding.<\/p>\n Typical investments range from between \u00a350,000 to \u00a31million. Members are generally successful business people from a range of backgrounds including finance<\/a>, e-commerce and marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Business Start-Up Journey<\/a> is part of the Kent Business School\u2019s ASPIRE <\/a>(Accelerator Space for Innovation and Responisble Enterprise programme. A philanthropically funded programme, it provides a place for students to meet, collaborate and learn about entrepreneurship. ASPIRE <\/a>will also deliver research in the areas of responsible enterprise and innovation.<\/p>\n Find out more about the Kent Investors Network<\/a> and the Business Start-Up Journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"