Scotland targeted as Morgan Stanley doubles up on diversity accelerator programme

Morgan Stanley is doubling up on an accelerator programme that invests in and works closely with start-ups led by women and ethnically diverse founders.

The investment banking giant, which opened its first Scottish office in Glasgow in 2000, said it was seeking a cohort of ten start-ups to invest in and provide strategic advice as part of an effort to close a funding gap to diverse business founders.

During 2023, the bank’s Inclusive Ventures Lab programme aims to identify early-stage businesses selected from applicants across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They will be invited to participate in a bespoke five-month programme designed to accelerate the business growth of each start-up. Last year, five emerging small companies were selected to be in the first cohort. This year, Scotland is being specifically targeted as a source of applications to the accelerator programme.

Vida Rudkin, head of Morgan Stanley Glasgow, said: “Having been here for over 20 years, Morgan Stanley knows that right across Scotland there are determined and inspirational people with great business ideas. We believe the [accelerator programme] is a proven, unrivalled opportunity to overcome the barriers faced by many of our most promising entrepreneurs, to participate as part of a truly international cohort of like-minded people and ultimately transform the growth prospects for their businesses.”

Morgan Stanley opened its first Scottish office in Glasgow in 2000. Picture: Kieran Dodds

The lab started in 2017 in response to research showing that multicultural and female business founders faced systemic disadvantages, particularly in access to capital. Over the last ten years, less than 3 per cent of venture capital funds invested in the UK went to teams of all-female founders and less than 2 per cent to teams of all-multicultural founders.