Founder Friday by Canopy Community

Episode 3 - Gabi Champange of edisfashion.com #backcatalogue

Subscriber Episode • • Canopy Community • Episode 3

Share episode

This episode is only available to subscribers.

Founder Friday by Canopy Community +

Get access to our entire back catalogue

Send us a text

Welcome to the Canopy Founder Friday series.

In Episode #3 of our back catalogue series we are joined by Gabi Champagne who is the CEO and Co-Founder of EDIS Fashion.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabi-champagne-88427252/

  • Bringing an idea to life through the Demium program
  • Bonding with a co-founder
  • Sustainable fashion and where it's going
  • Raising investment for a new idea
  • The experience of Canopy Demo Night

Share in her gifts of wisdom and experience & join us as we seek to discover what makes this inspiring founder tick.

Guest co-hosts: Fernando Batista, John Gale

Note: this episode was first recorded as a webinar in November 2019 and converted to a podcast so we could all enjoy it away from our screens.

#neverstoplearning #followyourdreams #tribe #Founder #Investor #Investing #madeoflisboa

See more about Canopy events and Membership at : https://www.joinit.org/o/canopy-community

Idea Spaces and Co Working
coworking space • experience business community

Core Angels
We make angel investing professional and global, improving outcomes, while enjoying the journey

#TRIBE
The friends of Canopy membership group

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Canopy Community

The place for founders, start ups and entrepreneurs. For more episodes, or to access coaching, events, advice, networks, education and more, visit…

https://linktr.ee/CanopyCommunity



SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Founder Friday podcast series from Canopy, where we interview inspiring entrepreneurs and innovators about their experiences and seek to find out what makes them tick. This series was recorded live as a webinar and then converted into a podcast so we can all enjoy it away from our screens. Alright, let's dive into this episode.

SPEAKER_04:

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to this Founder Friday, but this time on a Monday, discussion with Gabby. Thank you very much for joining us. I'm Stuart. I'll be your host today. And Gabby, would you like to just take 30 seconds to introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Hi, I'm Gabby. I started Edith Fashion about three months ago. I'm here to tell you a bit about my journey. I'm really excited to hear your questions.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic. Thanks, Gabby. And Fernando, thank you for joining us today to enrich the discussions. Can you introduce yourself for a second?

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you for both of you. I'm Fernando. I'm the CEO and founder of Do It On, a PR and digital marketing agency. And I'm more than pleased to listen a little bit of Gabby's project and to see how we can support her.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic. All right, Gabby. So we obviously know each other through the demo nights and stuff. And it's fantastic that you've done two demos for us this year already, which is amazing. Great responses each time. Can you share a little bit to start off with about your story? What brought you to Lisbon and what's it been like going through the Demian process?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, sure. So to start off with, I have a background in economics. I studied economics at uni and then I went straight into the civil service to be an economist. I did two years on the kind of graduate program. And then when Brexit happened, it seemed like the most exciting happening thing in government. So I moved to the Brexit negotiations team where I was there for two years. And then I sort of handed in my notice at the point where I thought that the Brexit deal was going to be closed, which was in December last year. And I wanted to move to Lisbon, partly because I've lived abroad before and I really like all the experiences you get from being in a different place. And also because I thought if we were leaving the EU, it'd be a good time to be in the EU. So that's how I came to Lisbon. I started working for a startup to gain some experience. I had my idea for a while and I wanted to gain some experience first before starting it. And then I found Demium on YouTube. Facebook marketing, I think. And I thought, why not give it a try? So that's how I ended up at Demium.

SPEAKER_04:

You literally just saw it on a Facebook ad and thought, I'll go for it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, I've had my idea for a while. I wasn't sure how to start executing it. But I thought it's a perfect way to meet a co-founder, also have a team backing you, office space, all of that. So I thought I may as well try it. I didn't even think I would get it, but I went through the process and Here I am.

SPEAKER_04:

And did you move to Lisbon by yourself or with friends? And was this a purely solo entry into the Demian process?

SPEAKER_01:

I moved to Lisbon with my boyfriend. So we did it together. But he didn't do the Demian process. It was just me. He has his own business in digital marketing as well, actually. And he's been doing that from here since we moved here.

SPEAKER_04:

So you're really kind of like throwing yourself out into the process, like really going for it. Okay. So welcome, John. Thank you for being here with us today. Do you have a first question you'd like to ask Gabby?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I've only been here like 20 seconds, and so I unfortunately missed everything she said. So my questions would be, shall we say, unfocused?

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Well, let's start with Fernando then. He's been from the beginning. What's your first question, Fernando?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, first of all, I was looking to the project and it seems quite interesting, the project by itself. I know there's another company, another British company in Portugal that is doing the same just for wedding dresses. It's kind of particular thing they do. They just do wedding dresses. They have their own modes and you just selected what you want. And as a bride, you'll get it then at home, the wedding dress that you picked up online. First of all, how do you do all the work behind the scenes? What is your model in terms of team work? and costs that you see that you have or you might will have in the near future with this project?

SPEAKER_01:

Great question. So in terms of the team, we all met at Demium. That's partly what Demium does. It's a pre-team, pre-idea incubator, although in our case it was pre-team rather than pre-idea. So I got Tiago on the team and we came together at the beginning. And also we had Antonio, who we met from the beginning as well, who was a tech guy, really incredible tech guy. And we all really wanted to work together. But fortunately for him, he has another business. And unfortunately for us, he got onto an accelerator program in Amsterdam, so he wasn't really going to be able to work with us. But he kindly found us another incredible tech guy called Gonzalo, who's now on the team as well. And through the next batch of Demian, we came together with Anna, who has a background in fashion and is doing her thesis in sustainability. So me and Tiago kind of share the business and strategy side, and then we have Anna on fashion and also does digital marketing, and then we have Gonzalo doing the tech. In terms of the cost, so we're a marketplace, so we connect users to fashion designers for bespoke clothing. And the idea actually came... from me because I have always loved clothes, love looking for clothes, and often I can't find the style that I'm looking for or the size I'm looking for. And at the same time, when you find out that fashion is one of the world's second biggest polluters after petrol, and you start looking for sustainable and ethical clothing because children are still making clothes, that becomes a lot harder. So the idea wasn't necessarily to have sell wedding dresses which is like the normal bespoke clothing that you get but actually to find like a slow alternative to that for all clothes so you can literally have anything you want made in your size and be guaranteed that it's ethical and depending on your choices as sustainable as you want it to be so it was a kind of slow fashion alternative to without restricting choice and so as a marketplace we think at the moment we're looking at a 20 commission fee the rest of the money goes straight to the person who makes the clothes and our costs are mainly going to be in marketing and tech and salaries essentially.

SPEAKER_04:

So I'm very interested in this team stuff, right? So the first time I was talking about founders first, I literally laughed out loud at the idea that you have a pre-team, pre-idea accelerator. And then when I became a little wiser, I realized that actually it was a very smart move. And I met some people that went through the programs and interviewed one who had just made the shortlist on the TechTrack 100 in the UK and how they had done it. And I was really impressed with the bond, particularly that the founders have. So what I wanted to really ask you was about, so you go into this Demium process, you don't know any of these people. How on earth do you take the leap of faith to try and do this with these people? How do you feel this connection and how do you keep it strong enough to actually be founders together?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so it has been an interesting journey, definitely. So I told you about Antonio, who was originally our tech guy. So Basically, we started speaking before even the speed networking that you have to try and get to know everyone really quickly. And I told him about my idea and he told him about his background and we kind of came together actually because he is such a talented tech person and the idea that I was telling about was so complicated tech-wise that he was like, okay, we were both like, we just saw potential in each other and knew that we wanted to work together. But Demium do really help in this process. As I said, we came together right at the beginning. But you have your all-startup weekend where you're still basically being interviewed. So I think in my case, there were like 35 people on the weekend and 20 get selected to go through to the incubation program. And the first thing they do is a speed networking. So you have two minutes to speak to everyone. Everyone has to speak one minute about themselves and hear everything. one minute about the other person. So you really, you start saying the same story over and over again. And you definitely lose your voice after 30 minutes, after an hour. But you do learn a lot about people and you start to know what you're looking for. And then you're put into teams for the weekend and you work with those teams and you see how you get on together, basically. And I mean, I had a really incredible team and we love working together. Sadly, one person on my team had a full-time job at a big corporate company. and he wasn't going to leave. And then I had Antonio and another guy that was really incredible as well. But other people don't necessarily have that bond in the team. And then once you're through to the incubation program, the first two weeks is just team building. So Demian put together a number of programs. One of them is sell or die. And each team is given 10 euros, I think it is. And you're... you have to go and try and make it into as much money as possible. What we did was we went to Lidl, bought some cheap Aperol and basically sold Aperol Spritz by the river in Lisbon. We made like 100 euros. other teams sold like a bottle of water and things like that.

SPEAKER_04:

Did you need a license for that or something? I

SPEAKER_01:

don't know whether we were allowed to do it, but it was three hours and it was fine.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, you really need a license.

SPEAKER_04:

Anybody from the Portuguese government watching this, okay, all tax revenues are due from Demian, not from Gabi personally.

SPEAKER_01:

And And I think people actually bought from us because we told them the true story rather than trying to just sell out raw spritz. We said that we were from Demian. We explained what we were doing. We all wore Demian t-shirts and it worked quite well. But there's also another team bonding exercise, which is, I think it's called draw your life. And you sit in a circle and everyone talks for eight minutes about their life. And it's not about their career history. It's about their personal history. And it brings up some it's very emotional, but it brings up some really important stuff that you might want to know about your potential co-founder. So, and those are only two of the activities, but there are two weeks basically of activities like that. So you do really get to know everyone very quickly, much quicker than you would in any other situation. And then that's basically how Tiago and I came together as well. So I think it, you know, it's a different model, but it's kind of, it's, you get to know people very quickly, so it kind of worked.

SPEAKER_04:

I mean, you've got to be very brave to do that kind of stuff, right? That's not just like an introvert sits around in the corner and codes some stuff type program. That is really laying yourself out there.

SPEAKER_01:

But everyone did it, and it started with Ben, Leo, and Diogo, who are the incubator managers in Lisbon. they started talking about their life first. So it kind of sets the scene and then everyone just goes. And once people start going deep, everyone does. So even the introverted people said exactly about their lives.

SPEAKER_04:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

I just know it sounds a lot better than some of the other systems I've encountered for finding co-founders.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, and the random nature of just meeting people at meet-up events doesn't necessarily get to that depth, does it? No. So, John, what question do you want to ask

SPEAKER_02:

Gabby? Okay, so, hi, Gabby. Tell me, what are the important things you want to accomplish in the next three months?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so the main things that we want to accomplish in the next three months would be getting some investment because one of the harder things about... What we've done so far is that we've been bootstrapping and the savings just get smaller and smaller every month. So you have to wonder how long you can do it for. So investment would be a really big thing. I would say the second thing would be getting as many orders as possible done to prove the concept even further. We've completed two orders, but I want to have completed at least 20 in the next three months. And the third thing would be getting onto an accelerator, I would say, so that we can start to develop our connections further and drive the business further.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, so as a general statement, investors... want to see paying customers before they invest. And so I think you have an interesting balance where it would be good for you to go close to more customers and demonstrate those relationships and revenue before you'll be able to get people to invest. But if you start the process with the investors and say, hey, we've had a couple of customers, let's talk and see whether or not you'll be interested after we have a few more, then the ones that share your vision will likely get on board with you. So what do you think the hardest decision that you have to make in the next three months is?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's a difficult one. John's

SPEAKER_04:

good at those difficult questions. Fernanda warned you about that, right?

SPEAKER_01:

The hardest decision I'm going to have to make in the next three months. I think it's actually being able to focus on the part of the business that's the most important because you have so many different areas. So you have marketing, product, marketing, customer development, also getting as many good tailors and fashion designers on board as well as following the orders and making sure everyone's happy and the team. And there's always things that you want to do in those different areas, and also investment, as we were talking. And you have to decide how much time you want to focus on one of those areas and which one's the most important when they all feel very important, basically. So For me, it's like I'm focusing on investment, but as you said, we want to be able to demonstrate that we've got orders that have gone well and also partnerships with material suppliers that are sustainable so that we can show how it can work. But at the same time, each one takes a lot of time. So I guess the hardest decision is which one to focus on.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, so Canopy has a marketplace where you can... go look at the different mentors that are there and decide which ones you might like to talk to. So you might think about that. So what questions do you want to ask us?

SPEAKER_01:

Ah, so the interview reverses. So... No, I've really appreciated being part of the last two Canopy events. It's been a really, really good experience for me, like, pitching to 200 people, 50 people, and just different people and understanding the questions that different people have and being able to answer them or go away and think about how we can answer them or move in a slightly different direction. So I guess for me, my question is, Canopy has these events and I think maybe a co-working space and mentorship, but what would you say your kind of mission is?

SPEAKER_04:

My which is?

SPEAKER_01:

mission

SPEAKER_04:

our mission yeah so i mean our primary mission our primary reason to exist is to support people like you and all of us on the call on our lifelong journeys so and we all get support from each other in this weird and wonderful world where you have to be slightly mentally aberrant to go into the startup world in the first place and so we all need a little bit of extra help right so the coaching and the mentoring is a big part of that which is Even John, even John occasionally needs some help, right? And he has a school of like 20 mentors and coaches there that he can go to and maybe gets help from me or maybe gets help from Rodrigo or somebody with a particular challenge. Maybe even comes to you because one of the things that we look at a lot inside that is what I call close mentoring, which is if I was now going to go and join a Demian cohort, one of the first people I would call would be you to get some coaching and mentoring for me about what that's like, because you've just done it six months ago. I wouldn't go to somebody who graduated 20 years ago from Demium, because that relevance isn't really there, but you're very relevant to me now learning how to do it better very quickly. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. And a lot of the other stuff that we do spiders off of that coaching and mentoring. So apparently there's a stat somewhere that we saw that you're 35% more likely to succeed in your first two years as a startup if you have the right coach or mentor. And that's really what we've been trying to provide there. Cool. Makes sense. All right. So question on the fundraising, on the money side. What kind of money are you going to go after? I mean, not just smart or dumb money, but are you going to go after fashion money? Are you going to go after impact money? What's the focus?

SPEAKER_01:

So I think we're going to try and go after impact money, yes. But I think the thing is, is that in Portugal, the number of investors is huge. very small so I think we're going to be looking probably in Portugal and the UK and maybe other places in Europe as well but mainly focusing in Portugal and UK. Next week I'm going to an event in London called Among Investors which is an impact event for impact startups and investors so it'll be interesting to see who's there, what comes out of that and also just the other founders doing similar things but I think There are funds that specialize in marketplaces as well. So we'll look into that and early stage disruptive funds because there aren't other people doing our idea. And I think we could capitalize on that because I think investors often see, well, this is what they were saying at Web Summit, a lot of copycats and that's not what we're doing. So hopefully they'll see something and having a completely new idea that's also sustainable. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Have you looked at Maze and the impact fund at Maze yet?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. I actually spoke to Rita, who heads up before I started Edis. She's also going to be at this event next week. So, Rita again then.

SPEAKER_04:

So, Fernando, what kind of money would you think that Gabby should go after?

SPEAKER_03:

Honestly, before looking for what kind of money she can go look after. It's what are the major threats that you can have in between getting the money. Because there are a few... Sorry, my series just started talking. I've seen some fashion marketplaces that are already in the market and very, very developed. And How long did one of those marketplaces take to do the same

SPEAKER_01:

thing as

SPEAKER_03:

you?

SPEAKER_01:

I think most of the marketplaces bring together brands or shops with users, but very few bring together actually fashion designers or tailors with users. it will take them quite a long time to get that network of fashion designers or tailors, in my opinion, in order to be able to do the same thing as us.

SPEAKER_03:

With that vision, I do believe you need to, in Portugal, at least when you're talking about Portugal and the UK, there is a person that you should and try to get in touch and be her best. That is Eduarda Abondanza. I can write it down. She's the curator and the general manager of Portugal Fashion. Okay. And she's the one who has the whole fashion designers network in Portugal. So she's the one that you need to in Portugal. Okay. Besides that, I suggest you to go and look at the economy minister and try to find out what... are the lines of support that exist in Portugal that have some support also from the EU focused only on fashion. Because I know there are a few lines of investment for fashion and this can be interesting to use it. I'm not quite sure, but I do believe that some of the major companies in Portugal, they are focused on fashion. They already use that. And some of the startup fashions like Hub and other ones already use those lines. Also, I try to talk with the Hub guys because those ones, they know all they have been done. They've done the process in the last two years. They know how it works, what are the major difficulties, and how you can work around to support and stay without being on that red line of no money in the pocket.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so I think Tiago, who's my co-founder, knows the co-founders of Hub well. So we are looking to get in touch with them very soon. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. John, what sort of money do you think Gabby should be going after and why?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, let me ask a question. Do you have a written business plan?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh, not fully done.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Do you have a pitch deck? In other words, if you were going to see an investor today, do you have something to show him?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, how many slides?

SPEAKER_01:

10.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. That's good. Uh, I think about a 15, 20-minute pitch deck is good. I would encourage you to gradually expand that pitch deck into essentially including business plan components to it. I would also suggest that you want to look at conventional seed stage financing and ask them how they feel about your business. My impression is that impact investing is getting a lot more popular public discussion than it used to. But I think if your business model is acceptable to a traditional seed stage investor, I think you will find it easier to raise that money. And I think that London would be a good place for you to try to do that. There's a lot of fashion activities in London. There's a number of people in those small businesses who have been successful who are angel investors. over in the East End in particular. And so I think that London's a very good place for you to talk to early stage C people who are focused on clothing.

SPEAKER_04:

I John likes London. He likes London like I like Lisbon, right? So he's always going to have this bias in his advice, right? Oh, come to London. Come to London. Buy me coffee.

SPEAKER_01:

Actually, for me, London after Lisbon makes the most sense. Also, it kind of works for

SPEAKER_02:

me. I think London is also a good market that will grow faster for you than Portugal. I think you'll generate more revenue faster there. So I... How are you working to evolve your business plan and your pitch deck to make it more sophisticated so that the investors will be more impressed?

SPEAKER_01:

So on Wednesday, we have the Demium Demo Day. So that will be the first kind of official pitch. So I've been working quite hard on the pitch deck. Also, after the Canopy Nights and there was like a small brunch at Demium last week, looking at other people's pitches over Web Summit as well. I'm starting to hone in on my pitch deck and make it as kind of simple as possible and also as kind of visual as possible without having too much information on the slides. I think those have been the best ones. So Demium have been helping with that. And also I think the other one that you're talking about for the investors I've been also working on, it's not quite finished yet. But I've also been working with Demi on that. So the financial model also underpins some of the numbers that will go into that to make it as attractive as possible, but also just really cracking down on what the story is and how we're different, essentially.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. So I would suggest you take a piece of paper and you put a heading on it of five-year objectives and put down three or four bullets. And then another heading of one-year objectives and put down four or five bullets. And then another heading of, say, three-month objectives and put down you know, whatever number you have for that. I think that will help you form the questions that you want to ask your mentor about how to keep focused on what's important. And it will also influence the things that you think about in order to evolve those presentations and business plan.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. I think that will be really helpful for me to do as well.

SPEAKER_02:

And I've written a white paper on how to do the business plan for early stage, but there's a lot of those around there. So I would encourage you to look for those and see what you like.

SPEAKER_04:

I like the advice you're giving, John, but I notice you haven't answered my question yet, which is what sort of money do you think Gabby should be going after?

SPEAKER_02:

I did answer that. I told her she should go after traditional investing, not impact.

SPEAKER_04:

What about this whole women in tech kind of money? There's a bit of a niche there and you obviously fit into that niche. Is that worth going after?

SPEAKER_02:

Are you asking her or me?

SPEAKER_04:

I'm asking you first.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, fine. I think that if she can find female angels, that they will be interested in what a woman is doing. And so I would encourage Gabby to do that. I don't know how formalized that is yet. I think it's more likely that if you go to... The angel investors perhaps associated around the university that you went to, like NOVA has an angel group associated with them. If you went to Oxford or Cambridge, they've got them. There's angel groups in London. And most of the ones I mentioned are large enough to have female members. And so although there's fewer women who do this, you can certainly find them. But I would think that you also might want to look at crowdfunding. So, for example, Crowdcube spoke at a recent event that Stuart organized, and I would encourage you to look at equity-based funding from organizations such as Crowdcube and Cedars. The reputable ones. Some of them who are, shall we say, newer, tend to take less sophisticated startups. And I think that you want to be associated with a good, strong one because you want the future investors to respect that. And I would encourage you to, when you do your round of investment, to perhaps do part of that from... crowdfunding and part of it from traditional angel investors.

SPEAKER_01:

That's interesting because I have heard about crowdfunding. A lot of people have said that it would be a good idea, but other people have said actually you spend a lot of money marketing yourself before that. Do you have any thoughts on that, essentially?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, if you're going to do crowdfunding, you need to get a special marketing person who understands how to make the video for you because you're going to need a special video in order to do that. But I think you can find a person like that through either Cedars or Crowdcube, for example. So I don't think it's going to be hard to find somebody like that. I think that, well, one of the questions I asked the founder of Crowdcube when he was on Stuart's program was, is it possible to do B2B or does B2C work? only work. And he said, well, yes, it's possible to do B2B, but B2C is easier. I think in your case, you have something that's going to appeal to the average woman who is involved in a crowd cube or a Cedars. So I think that you've got an interesting story for a B2C environment, which is basically what crowdfunding is.

SPEAKER_04:

I'll just chip in a couple of pennies around this crowdkeeping or the equity crowdfunding. So I really like your platform as a fit for that. It's interesting it's come up because you will generate customers and customer loyalty at the same time on both sides of your marketplace. So if I'm an existing tailor within your platform, then putting some money in to get a share in your platform really kind of binds me into the whole process and makes me quite an ambassador. Equally, if I'm buying something from the platform already, I'm ordering something to be done and I'm really happy with it, I'll probably chip in some stuff. And it may be 10 euros. You can put as little as 10 pounds in through an extra crowdfunding campaign. But that binding of ambassadorship I think is really cool. And it could maybe spin the whole platform a little faster. And I'm a big fan in general of the crowdfunding kind of democratization of investment. I think it's really great. Fernando, do you have any thoughts on that, on the Cedars or Crowdcube world?

SPEAKER_03:

Of course, I'm going to say Cedars. It's fortunate. So, no doubt. And the As John said, they already proven their efforts and their support to a lot of projects. And it's really, really important to have some... If you do crowdfunding, that you use the right platform to do it. Because in the end or in the near future, when you go to an investors round, they want to see that you... thought well in each stage of the development of the company. You should not and you cannot go and just play around with the idea of just checking out with any kind of platform. You should look at, first of all, looking for what type of business that you work because you are as As Stu already said, you are in the middle of B2B and B2C. So you need to find out which platform will be the best or the one that suits best on your project to sell you better. Because Honestly, and let's do just a comparison, you're not a project for Indiegogo. It doesn't make any sense because Indiegogo is completely B2C and gadget-focused. So you need to go for the ones that could support you on this B2B side and show that you are in the startup environment with a goal. So...

SPEAKER_01:

It's a concept more than a product.

SPEAKER_03:

And you should do it with the focus of a proof of concept, always. Because if you do it, you will win. twice than you think because you're going to test and you're going to do some twists on your deck. You're going to see what really works and what really makes sense to your project or not by listening to the people around the world. And even if you are thinking in Portugal and the UK, don't forget Spain and France. They are very, very strong in terms of fashion also. Just in the European zone without living. I already left also one link with the APME guidelines for entrepreneurship and the support of their voucher. in terms of investment. And also there's a line, a credit line, a Portuguese credit line for companies that are exposed to Brexit. So there's a lot of ways of getting funding at this moment. You just need to prove that you are here for something.

SPEAKER_04:

Gabi, have you looked at this startup voucher before?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So we applied for the startup I don't know whether it's called. There's two. There's a startup voucher, which gives you 5,000, I think, for your company through your incubator, essentially. And then there's startup. I can't remember exactly what it's called, but it gives you 700 euros per month for up to two founders. If you're under 35, I think it is. So we've applied for that. The deadline is the 16th of November. So I guess we'll hear back. probably in January from that one. And I think the 5,000 one isn't available until February, but we're looking

SPEAKER_04:

into it.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04:

Is that the stuff you were thinking of, Fernando? The 5,000? The 5,000, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And

SPEAKER_04:

you can do that through Demium because they're a registered incubator or you have to go through somebody else?

SPEAKER_01:

I think Demium are in the process of registering or have just registered, so it will be available through them when it comes back out in February.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. And so, you know, this process, where does it start with them? Do they help you with raising the funds in the next level or does it just kind of like come to an end and you go on your merry way after that?

SPEAKER_01:

So the program is supposed to be six months, but they don't really kick you out. Like the people that have been here longer than six months still have access to the office space, still come to the demo days, still work. are invited to most events. Maybe it's because it's like I was only the second batch in Lisbon. And maybe it's because they don't have as many people as they might do in the future. But for now, they're always there to support you. And one of their aims is to help you get investment. So they are always looking out for you, making connections with everyone, trying to find a way for each of the companies to get investment.

UNKNOWN:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Interesting, interesting. So I'm going to come back to you in a couple of minutes with your best advice for anybody following in your footsteps. That's one of the key things from today. But before that, I'd like to check, Fernando, do you have another question, a last question for Gabby today?

SPEAKER_03:

No, no. I think this is the best part because what I understood for this short conversation that we have is you have a great idea, a great idea, but At the moment, you have everything on your hands and you need to do everything. And it's quite a terrible period of time because you need to prioritize everything and it's not easy, really.

SPEAKER_01:

That's exactly it.

SPEAKER_04:

You carry it very well though, Gabby. You carry it very well.

SPEAKER_03:

Anything from my side, feel free to call me back in an email and sometimes just to talk. You're more than open to do it, okay?

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. Really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_04:

No worries. John, what's your last question for Gabby today?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, maybe a comment as well as a question. Are you planning on... scaling in the Northern hemisphere or the Southern hemisphere?

SPEAKER_01:

The Northern hemisphere. So when we started, we saw it as more, we would have the supplies to start off with in Portugal and the demand in the UK because Portugal has a natural kind of competitive advantage in the textile industry. And because I think the kind of customers we're going after are more in the UK. So like eco-conscious, looking for unique designs and like looking for a new experience that are quite more tech focused essentially. But we want to be able to have tailors all around the world so that we can service like a more local economy. That's what I was talking about Canopy before through the Fab City initiative. So the closer... the user is the fashion designer, the less impact it's going to have environmentally. So that's why we want to scale that as much as possible.

SPEAKER_02:

So I would encourage you to look at where your biggest growth opportunity is going to be over the next year or two and look at where those investors are going to be. And then I would encourage you to put your headquarters there because investors like it when you're close to customers and close to them, especially at seed stage. So I encourage you to think about that as you're moving forward. I'm

SPEAKER_01:

definitely thinking about it. We're just having a look to see what happens with Brexit and the political landscape and then we will... make those final decisions,

SPEAKER_04:

basically. You're not hanging your decisions on when Brexit finishes as a process.

SPEAKER_02:

Brexit will be finished any time in the next 10 years. So best of luck. The Canopy platform for going back to mentors and so forth might be very useful to you. So feel free to come back to any of us that way if you want.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04:

And we should mention that platform has ad hoc support for free with any of the coaches. So you just get a half hour with any of them at any point, the other journeys of what you make of them. But yeah, anytime. So Gabby, most important then, here you are, early stage founder gone through this pre-team, well not pre-idea, but pre-team accelerator program. If you're giving somebody advice who's about to start this process, what are your wise words to give them?

SPEAKER_01:

I think my wisest words are just go for it, basically. Say yes to everything and just do everything you can to make, if you have an idea, to make it a reality because no one else is going to do it for you. And if you really believe in something, you just have to do it.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic. I think those words are really reflective of the amazing energy that you've exhibited at both demo nights as well. You know, you've really thrown yourself into both of those and you've obviously thrown yourself into the Demian process. I think the way you described it earlier, you've been very brave as of the other co-founders in going through that process. It's quite something. I applaud you for that. So congratulations on everything you've achieved so far. we all on this call wish you every success and look forward to seeing how it all goes for you. And as I've mentioned in the chat for people, if anybody wants to watch you do your pitch or your demo from last week, it's on IntroVogue, which is our test and learn platform for the evening. And I understand we're going to be getting some links soon, which are like your kind of straight zip to your pitch. So we'll be able to share that link as well. So you'll be able to literally share it and people will just watch your piece. But yes, if anybody watching this wants to see what Gabby's like in action doing her actual demo, then please go and have a look at the intro book. So anything else you want to say, Gabby, for this one before we

SPEAKER_01:

sign off? Thank you so much for having me. It was great to chat to you all. And let's keep in touch, basically.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Fantastic. So a fist bump for everybody. All right. Thank you, Gabby. Thank you, John. Thank you, Fernando.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Founder Friday podcast series. If you've enjoyed this episode, please feel free to rate, review and subscribe on your preferred podcast listening platform. We really appreciate that effort. If you'd like to recommend an entrepreneur or innovator for a future edition, please go to our website, www.canopy.community and tell us all about them. This series is made possible by the kindness of the members of Hashtag Tribe along with support from our sponsors, Damia Recruitment, Core Angels Investment, and Ideas Spaces and Coworking. Obrigadísimo a todos.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Stewart Noakes

Host