NatWest Accelerator
Nightingale HQ joins the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator
Nightingale HQ started on the NatWest Accelerator this month as part of a continued programme of readiness, product development, and networking for Nightingale HQ.
Gordon Merrylees, Managing Director Entrepreneurship, NatWest said: We are delighted to welcome Steph, Sarah, and Nightingale HQ on to the programme in Cardiff.
With our unique offering that provides the right environment, coaching, and networks, we help entrepreneurs start, scale and succeed every day. We look forward to seeing Nightingale HQ engage with the programme and grow their business with us. With hubs distributed across the UK, NatWest are helping build local economies and drive change away from the London-centric perspective.
I chose to stay in Cardiff and have been dedicated to growing the technical community here for nearly a decade. The talent drain to London has been something I’ve tried to actively fight and I’m proud we have such a flourishing tech scene and now a growing startup scene. Another great aspect of their program is they are working to support female entrepreneurs and 47% of their cohorts in 2018 identified as female. As an all-female founder team, we’re aware we face some additional challenges to many startups so we really value the active support both NatWest and Welsh Government are giving us as we build Nightingale HQ.
FAQs
What did the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator provide?
The NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator is one of the UK’s most established startup support programmes, operating from hubs across the country. The Cardiff hub, where Nightingale HQ was based, is part of a deliberate strategy to support entrepreneurship outside London — something that Steph Locke had been working towards throughout her career in the Welsh tech community.
The programme provides more than just office space. Dedicated coaches, peer learning groups, access to the NatWest business network, and connections to investors and corporate partners are all part of the accelerator’s offering. For Nightingale HQ at an early stage of development, this combination of structured support and network access was exactly what the company needed to accelerate its growth.
Why does GoSmarter back female founders?
The fact that 47% of NatWest Accelerator cohorts in 2018 identified as female was significant for Nightingale HQ as an all-female founding team. Access to a programme that actively works to support diverse founders — rather than one that treats diversity as an afterthought — matters both practically and symbolically.
The structural challenges facing women founders in the technology sector are well documented: less access to early-stage capital, smaller professional networks, and systematic biases in how their businesses are assessed. Programmes like the NatWest Accelerator that actively work to counterbalance these dynamics create better outcomes for individual companies and for the overall quality of the startup ecosystem.