Leicester Startups

07/05/2026

From startup founder to exited founder to travel enthusiast ✈️

We got the whole story from Sophie Hainsworth during our Meet the Startup talk at our brand new incubator space at Canopy.

Sophie's story is absolutely fascinating and a brilliant real-world example of what building, growing and selling a startup is really like.

Having tinkered around with the idea of LoyalFree as a loyalty stamp app for independent businesses in 2016, she and her co-founder Jay pivoted their business to become a destination app for Business Improvement Districts and Councils as their primary customers.

It worked!

One customer led to 70 (!) and after working on the startup on the side of working two other jobs, some recruitment challenges and driving all the way up to Scotland to pitch potential clients, the pair slowly but eventually grew LoyalFree to a very profitable business.

In 2022, the pair found a buyer. And in 2023 both finished what they started.

There was lots in the talk about perseverance, customer development, product development, growing a team and leadership. But the big takeaway seemed to be about the reality of being a female founder, which really struck a chord with the audience today.

A massive thank-you to Sophie for taking the time today- it was brilliant! 🌟

And a reminder to our members, Sophie is one of our excellent new Entrepreneurs in Residence at our new incubator space at Canopy.

We are hosting another Open Day here next Tuesday 12th May- check out the Whatsapp group for more!

05/05/2026

🏠 Want to check out our new home?

We're hosting an Open Day at our new city Incubator space!

👉 Join us on Wednesday 6th May from 9am at Canopy on Kings Street.

There's plenty of desks, strong wifi and our neighbours are the superb coffee shop Public and Plants ☕️

Plus, we're thrilled to announce that we're hosting a Meet the Startup with Sophie Hainsworth! Sophie is a multi-award winning exited entrepreneur who sold her startup in 2022. Today she’s a marketing and sales consultant, public speaker and now an Entrepreneur in Residence at our brand new Leicester Startups Incubator 🚀

📢 Members, check the Whatsapp group to register 📢

If you want to try it out for free and are NOT a member, please email us: [email protected]

⚡️ Leicester Startups is proud to be creating a homeground for startups in the city, and we’re excited to welcome you through the doors! ⚡️

30/04/2026

We're hosting an Open Day at our new Incubator space! 🚀

As a bit of a house warming and to give you a taste of what it's like, we're opening the doors to our new place at Canopy on Kings Street next Wednesday 6th May.

There's an event space, where we'll be hosting a Meet the Startup (more details tbc), plenty of desks, strong wifi and our neighbours are the superb coffee shop Public and Plants ☕️

Leicester Startups is proud to be creating a homeground for startups in the city, and we’re excited to welcome you through the doors!

If you want to try it out for free, please email us: https://www.leicesterstartups.com/contact-us/

📢 Members, check the Whatsapp group to register 📢

28/04/2026

What an excellent afternoon hearing about angel investing from one of our most successful and generous founders!

David Chan, a five-time founder who's previously sold a startup in Silicon Valley, was in conversation with Sam Larke about all things early-stage investment. David's current startup has around 15 investors, so he's the ideal person to discuss the do's and don'ts.

Here's what we covered....

✅ When founders can/should seek angel investment
✅ Where he found his investors
✅ Examples of bad practice with investors
✅ Why the UK is unique for angel investing
✅ What Angels are looking for

There'll be more insights to come in the next few days but thank you to everyone that turned out this lunch time and a big THANKS to our partners Lewis Stringer at British Business Bank for helping to support with this event!

Also great to have so many of you at our new incubator space - Canopy 📍

25/04/2026

📢 Startup Entrepreneurs! 📢

Join us for our next session ‘Early Stage Investment Insights from a Founder’s Perspective’ 🚀

Serial entrepreneur and exited founder David Chan will share his advice and guidance on securing early-stage investment on Tues 28 April.

Reasons to attend:
✅ David Chan is a legend
✅ It’s FREE
✅ You get to see our new home, Canopy
✅ Superb coffee next door
✅ David Chan is a legend (yes we know we said this twice but it bears repeating)

This session is part-two of our Early-stage Investment Insights series with British Business Bank so join us:

🗓️ Tues 28 April
⏰ 12-2pm
📍 Canopy (our new home!)
👉

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

24/04/2026

🏆 The first ever Asian Founders Awards being held in Leicester in 2026 is now open for nominations.

Asian Founders began in Leicester as a Barclays Eagle Labs and De Montfort University initiative in 2023, and has since expanded to 10 cities and connected more than 1,000 founders across the UK.

The Asian Founders Awards will take place on the 11th September. Barclays Eagles Labs Ecosystem Manager Poonam Sharma said:

“At its core this has always been about people. Getting the right people in the room, the builders, the doers, the ones quietly creating something meaningful without the spotlight they deserve. So now it’s over to you. Nominate yourself. Nominate a business. Nominate someone you genuinely think deserves to be seen.”

More here:

The first ever Asian Founders Awards being held in Leicester in 2026 is now open for nominations. Asian Founders began in Leicester as a Barclays Eagle Labs and De Montfort University initiative in 2023, and has since expanded to 10 cities and connected more than 1,000 founders across the UK. The As...

23/04/2026

📢 Founders! Want to learn about angel investment from a founders perspective?

Serial entrepreneur and exited founder David Chan will share his advice and guidance on securing early-stage investment.

This is part-two of our Early-stage Investment Insights series with British Business Bank so join us:

🗓️ Tues 28 April
⏰ 12-2pm
📍 Canopy
👉 InvestmentInsightsRound2.eventbrite.co.uk

Serial entrepreneur David Chan shares his insights into what it takes to secure Angel investment.

22/04/2026

🚀 Congratulations to one of our community's latest members for launching!

Hema Kala just joined Leicester Startups this month and has launched Momentofy- a "goal ex*****on system designed for high performers".

“Momentofy started from a very real frustration… I had big goals, tons of ambition – but I constantly felt stuck figuring out what to do next.

“Most tools out there help you track tasks, but not actually break down your goals into actionable steps. That gap is exactly what I wanted to solve.”

Read more here:

A Leicester entrepreneur has launched what she describes as an AI powered “goal ex*****on system designed for high performers”. Momentofy uses artificial intelligence to help entrepreneurs, professionals and others turn “ambition into achievement”. The platform enables users to input their g...

18/04/2026

🎉 Leicestershire heathtech startup Safe Appetite has grown its team by four new members of staff and its founder has announced a raft of upcoming changes.

Founder Sophia Turner announced the expansion on Linkedin describing the impact on her businesses as “immediate”. She said:

“Being a founder can be all consuming at times , there’s always so much to do and in the early days the ever growing to do list is 100% on you!”

Over the next couple of months the entrepreneur is also planning a rebrand, a relaunch of her app and a new B2B platform.

Leicestershire heathtech startup Safe Appetite has grown its team by four new members of staff. Founder Sophia Turner announced the expansion on Linkedin describing the impact on her businesses as “immediate”. “Being a founder can be all consuming at times , there’s always so much to do and ...

15/04/2026

🚀 "This kind of real-world validation is exactly why this stage matters and it’s already making the product stronger."

A Loughborough startup developing a device to help babies sleep is celebrating after fully assembling and completing a trial prototype.

Ryan white’s Mimic Motion aims to transform babies sleep with technology that mimics the same effect as riding in a car.

Following months of design, engineering, and iteration, the entrepreneur has been doing initial testing, which includes learning ways to strengthen the functionality of the device.

https://lnkd.in/eJeBK-j7

14/04/2026

🖤 This week we're hosting a special invite-only private event for Leicester Startups members and mentors 🖤

We know that mentors are a crucial part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Simply put, they are the short-cuts to wisdom, often shielding founders from costly mistakes and wasted time.

It is why we, with our friends at Howes Percival, British Business Bank and The The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity are putting together an evening where local founders can meet those that have 'been there and done that'!

🚀 For founders > this is a chance to meet people who can challenge your thinking, open doors, and help you move faster

👋 For mentors > it’s an opportunity to give back, share your experience, and make a tangible difference to the next generation of startups

This is a curated, primarily invite-only event, but if you’re a founder building something exciting, or a mentor keen to support high-potential startups, we’d love to hear from you. (Unfortunately, we only have space for 1 founder per startup).

Interested? Email us today (link in comments) 👇