Interview: Jackie Waring, Investing Women

Jackie Waring, the founder and chief executive of Scotland's only all-female angel investing group, talks about the organisation's upcoming conference.

Jackie Waring, centre, with awards finalists Susanne Mitschke of MindMate, Rachel Hanretty of Mademoiselle Macaron, Leah Hutcheon of Appointedd, Rebecca Pick of Pick Protection, Alex Feechan of Findra and Suzanne Doyle-Morris of InclusIQ. Picture: Olya Tyukova

Investing Women will be holding the two-day Ambition & Growth event at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, starting on 7 March, and about 200 attendees are expected – including angel investors, entrepreneurs and start-ups in search of funding.

The winner of a competition to help female entrepreneurs accelerate their business will also be announced at a gala dinner at Edinburgh Castle on 7 March.

Investing Women’s AccelerateHer initiative attracted more than 100 entries and the final six convinced a panel of judges at Napier University’s Business School that their businesses have the potential to be Scotland’s next success story.

Jackie Waring, centre, with awards finalists Susanne Mitschke of MindMate, Rachel Hanretty of Mademoiselle Macaron, Leah Hutcheon of Appointedd, Rebecca Pick of Pick Protection, Alex Feechan of Findra and Suzanne Doyle-Morris of InclusIQ. Picture: Olya Tyukova

Competing for a prize worth £18,000 are online booking and management specialist Appointedd, patisserie business Mademoiselle Macaron, personal attack alarm designer Pick Protection, online development leadership company InclusIQ, dementia app company MindMate, and Findra, which designs performance lifestyle outdoor clothing.

Waring said: “The quality of entries for AccelerateHer was phenomenal and any one of the last six finalists would be a worthy winner of our inaugural pitching competition. The judges have a very difficult job ahead of them and the stage is set for our Ambition & Growth conference, which celebrates female business achievement.”