On the 19th of October, the ARU London Enterprise Club held its second in-person themed networking event at the Import Building, East India.
Charles O’Dean opened the event and introduced the programme for the evening: a panel of experts on Finance and Funding Streams, followed by networking and food with the opportunity for the participants to share ideas and make connections.
Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, Nidhi Gogia, kicked off the panel discussion by talking about her experience as a Management Accountant for a Startup in the UK and overseas.
Winifred Soribe, an expert in entrepreneurial finance, followed the discussion by talking about non-traditional financing.
Finally, Simon Krystman, co-founder of the 12Ronnies, gave a different perspective by talking about the benefits of Bootstrapping, rather than seeking external investment.
There was a short Q&A when participants engaged with the topic of the event but also shared some interesting thoughts about what it is like to be an entrepreneur and how important it is to have a network of meaningful connections around to avoid feeling ‘lonely’.
After the discussion, the group went to network in the breakout space over food and drinks. The conversations were flowing, and the speakers and organizers were delighted with the enthusiasm of participants and with the bubbly atmosphere. We also had one of our entrepreneurs from the Enterprise Club, Valeria Scire’, who runs Valitaly, an Italian online grocery shop, that was giving out samples of Italian chocolate and coffee.
The event was a great success, with over 50 people attending, and the fact that people stayed on until nearly 8.30pm is evidence that they enjoyed it.
If you would like to have more info about ARU London’s Enterprise programme of events please email enterprise@london.aru.ac.uk.
Finance and Funding Streams