From investor curious to ready to contribute: Fiona Martin
How the Women to Women Programme helped Fiona Martin build the confidence, knowledge and perspective to become part of the angel investment community Creating the conditions for people to thrive Across a senior career in public service, government, education and board roles, Fiona Martin has always been interested in people. More specifically, she has been […]
From Setback to Ready to Raise – Lesley Thomson of Nudge Innovations
How the Women to Women Programme helped Lesley Thomson sharpen the story, numbers and confidence behind Nudge Innovations Building the infrastructure for reuse When Lesley Thomson, Founder and CEO of Nudge Innovations, talks about single-use cup waste, she does not start with the cup. She starts with behaviour. “Nudge Innovations is a startup solving the […]
Women to Women Programme: Applications 2026 Are Open
Applications are now open for the next Women to Women Programme, the peer-powered investment accelerator created by AccelerateHER and our sister company Investing Women Angels. This is where female founders meet women who are curious about angel investing. As a result, it’s where investment becomes less intimidating, more practical, and more personal. Women sit on […]
How Eva Prikler is building a body-based wellbeing product for emotional regulation
Eva Prikler: Building Calming Solutions From Lived Experience When Eva Prikler joined the Barclays Eagle Labs Female Founder Accelerator, powered by AccelerateHER, she was already building from a place of deep personal understanding. Her company, Calming Solutions, did not begin as a neat business idea on a whiteboard. It came from years of listening to […]
From Insomnia to Innovation: The Story Behind Zebble – Eliza Twist
How Eliza Twist turned a personal health challenge into a hardware startup designed to help people rest better Some founders start with a market gap. Others start with lived experience. For Eliza Twist, founder of Zebble, the business emerged from a period where sleep stopped feeling safe, predictable, or even possible. Today, Zebble is building […]
Investing in Women Who Invest in Better Systems: The Petscribers Story
How Petscribers scaled from veterinary frustration to a funded startup with support of the Barclays Female Founder Accelerator, powered by AccelerateHER When Dr Angela Jones and Dr Emma Pemberthy founded Petscribers, they were not chasing a market opportunity. They were solving a problem they faced every day as practising vets: the manual, inefficient, error-prone, and […]
Female founders don’t lack ambition – with Elizabeth Pirrie
Elizabeth Pirrie on the Barclays Eagle Labs Female Founder Accelerator, powered by AccelerateHER There’s a narrative that still lingers in business circles: that women founders are less ambitious, less growth-focused, less likely to scale. Elizabeth Pirrie has spent years proving the opposite. As CEO and Owner of AccelerateHER, she has worked with thousands of female […]
The financial realities of scaling with Johnston Carmichael
Johnston Carmichael x AccelerateHER – Why the right support changes everything There’s a moment in every founder’s journey where things start to feel very real. You’ve moved beyond the idea. You’ve built something tangible. Maybe you’ve got early traction, a handful of customers, or a product that’s starting to resonate. And then, almost quietly, the […]
Female Founder Showcase – Support for female founders critical for unlocking economic growth says Deputy First Minister
AccelerateHER Female Founder Showcase: Backing Scotland’s Women to Build, Scale and Lead On Tuesday, 3 March 2026, 160+ investors, founders, mentors and ecosystem leaders gathered at The Ladies Baths at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh for our flagship AccelerateHER Female Founder Showcase in Scotland. And yes, we were packed! Our flagship event is a clear signal […]
“Launch, Raise & Scale” – Building a Bold Business with Dominnique Karetsos
After our London Big Connect event where Dominnique delivered an awesome keynote speech, we just had to sit down and probe her further… Dominnique Karetsos doesn’t just build brands. She builds ecosystems, ventures, and movements. With over 25 years of consumer-centric experience and a track record of launching more than 100 brands, she’s a trusted […]