The moment a founder stops carrying it alone
30th Jul 2026
By Chantelle Brandon Reeves , RTC North
People assume innovation is about the idea. In my experience, it rarely is. Most of the founders I work with already have a strong idea. What they need is the confidence to act on it, the structure to make it real, and the belief that they belong in the rooms where decisions get made.
That belief is the part I care about most. When a founder walks in with a vision and leaves with a strategy, a structure and the sense that they belong, that's when I know the support has done its job.
This year I worked with Hawa Kandeh, founder of Globally Linked, an inclusive EdTech platform combining smart toys, an app, AI tools and learning resources for children, parents and schools. Hawa's vision was never in doubt. What we built together was everything around it: a sharper value proposition, a clear go-to-market strategy and IP protection that funders expect, and a pitch she could deliver with real conviction.
The results speak for themselves. Hawa scored 96% in the DCMS Create Growth Programme competition and secured Innovate UK funding. She has since moved onto the Innovate UK Business Growth pathway, with pilot partnerships in place and expansion plans taking shape for Saudi Arabia and Spain. Watching a founder go from refining her idea to planning international growth is the reason I do this work.
Hawa's story is one of many. Across our Innovative Entrepreneurs Programme this year, my colleagues and I supported 828 businesses to innovate. Stephen Walker turned an idea about Digital Product Passports into Sentiri, a registered company with grant funding and a public waitlist. Dragos Popa rebuilt the sales pipeline behind PLATO Academic's AI study platform and is now in funding conversations with universities. Melissa Matthew, building a job management platform for tradespeople single-handedly, found the structure and accountability to register her company, launch a website, and pitch in front of a panel with confidence.
As a long-standing delivery partner for Innovate UK, we connect national innovation priorities with the founders who can bring them to life. That means coaching, peer networks and honest challenge, and being there at the point where someone needs to think alongside them rather than carry the uncertainty alone.
Every one of these founders took a first step that felt bigger than it looked from the outside. Our job is to make that step a little less daunting, and the road after it a little clearer.
You can read their full stories, and more from across the year, in our 2025/26 Annual Review.