Janine Carpenter, Head of Impact Programmes at Hatch, said: “There were a number of ventures that applied to be part of Hatch Impact 2020/2021. Ultimately, we selected the ones we thought would be the best fit for a user-led programme but also with a business model and product design that could scale to create sustainable impact and would be able to reach a stage at which investors might want to invest in them.”

2020/21 Impact cohort

Sen Talk CIC - aims to provide better outcomes for children with special educational needs, and to improve the emotional and social development of children with autism and ADHD.

Link UP London - connects highly skilled professionals with meaningful opportunities that strengthen individuals, organisations and communities to foster great connections.  

Earth Sea Love - aims to increase the number and range of People of the Global Majority or people of colour enjoying and learning from the natural world by providing creative opportunities to experience and connect with Nature in the North East of England. 

Neon Performing Arts -  aims to be involved and engaged with the next generation of artists and performers, and to provide for their needs by offering a Performing Arts Programme of Dance, Singing and Drama classes.

The Reasons Why Foundation - runs behavioural change programmes, helping people involved in crime to make better decisions and reduce the number of people who re-offend, improving lives, lowering crime rates and reducing the cost to the taxpayer.

Chichester Community Development Trust - empowers people by developing skills and supporting projects that create local opportunities, employment and build community spirit. CCDT owns and manages community buildings and land,  reinvesting profits to create long-term economic, social and environmental benefits.

Social Supermarket - e-commerce and corporate gifting created to connect every-day consumers with social enterprises who sell high quality products that tackle important social and environmental challenges.

Spark and Co. - a Community Interest Company that provides inclusive tailored information, education & opportunity to people of colour in the UK from different walks of life. 

Element -  runs creative arts projects with care leavers and at-risk students.

Writerz and Scribez - runs creative activities primarily with vulnerable groups to reduce social isolation, develop skills and improve wellbeing. 

Play Design London - makes natural playgrounds for children. Unlike equipment from conventional manufacturers, their amazing tree houses, play sculptures and school playgrounds are hand-made. 

Revolution Hive - equips young people for real life by delivering inspiring & dynamic workshops on the topics not covered in the traditional school curriculum.

BuddyHub -  a technology-enabled connecting platform that builds new friendships for older people to help them age actively, well and with dignity. 

Awakening the potential of youth and keeping them safe

Nathaniel, is a participant and founder of The Safety Box, a system of training young people and young adults to develop important skills such as leadership, communication, team working, presentation, high risk conflict resolution, violence reduction, personal development and problem solving. 

He started his impact business after seeing: "The negative spiral of young in my old area, the amount of knife crime and seeing the negative impact of black boys going to prison and coming out as men being criminals locked into a repetitive behaviour or reoffending.” 

He has joined the Impact Accelerator in hopes to: “Scale internationally, with a stronger workforce maintaining quality. We also want to develop other areas involving digital interventions.”

The chort now has access to an online community of other impact founders, as well as remote, bespoke workshops from experienced social enterprises throughout the course to support them to communicate their impact, fundraise for impactful growth, and achieve operational resilience. 

Hatch Impact Alumni

Previous Hatch Impact Programme participants include Dana Saxon, Founder of Ancestors Unknown. Ancestors UnKnown provides heritage education to students to help them discover their ancestors and untold histories worldwide. Despite her initial startup success with pilot programmes in U.S and Netherlands, she hadn’t been able to scale the program. With limited access to funding and various challenges and distractions arising along the way, she thought about giving up more than once. 

However, when she recently relocated to the UK she was motivated to give Ancestors unKnown a new home and a fresh start. This is when she joined the programme in March 2020. Since completing  the programme she said: “The primary change is my increased confidence. I now feel like I have the tools and skills to grow the business, even in the face of setbacks and challenges. In addition, I have acquired new partnerships, created 3 new revenue streams (online course, consulting, and Bristol school/community partnership), developed a fundraising plan (grant funding and angel investment), AND registered the business as a CIC in the UK!”

She’s just gone onto winning the Innovation Award from the Fair Education Alliance to help further end educational inequality. Gina Cicerone and Sam Butters, Co-CEO’S at Fair Education Alliance added: “We are at the cusp of a new normal for racial equity. We could not be more proud to support an organisation that is changing the narrative on how young people from marginalised backgrounds perceive their own histories.”

Are you looking to start or grow your impact business? Find out more here.