Digital Catapult’s Black Founders Programme, delivered in partnership with Sony Music and, most recently, Channel 4, has run for three years and supported over 30 Black-founded creative technology companies, with 10 alumni collectively raising more than £1.9 million in funding. This session brings together programme alumni and programme sponsors to explore how the creative economy is being redefined in practice.
Through founder journeys, the session will highlight what is being built, the realities of raising funding, and the challenges of navigating the creative technology landscape as underrepresented founders. It will also examine the role institutions must play to better support and scale diverse talent, and how targeted programmes can drive long-term, systemic change across the industry.