New venture pioneer joins ASPIRE startup reskilling and outskilling programme

1 December 2020, London, UK: Participants of the ASPIRE programme, will now have access to assets and support from MOHARA, a venture development specialist that also specialises in ‘low-code’ venture growth.

The pioneering ASPIRE programme from Rainmaking and Startupbootcamp is designed for anyone that wants to take an idea and turn it into a revenue generating business. It is available to corporates and governments as a reskilling tool for internal innovation and outskilling programme for workers who are being made redundant and can also be booked directly by people who want to de-risk the shift to self-employment or create a side-hustle.

ASPIRE is based on a combination of Rainmaking and Startupbootcamp’s proven methodology and is designed to improve the 10% survival rate of idea-stage startups. Over three quarters (76%) of the 950 startups that have graduated Startupbootcamp are either still active or have exited.  As well as teaching the entrepreneurs the skills to succeed, it also gives them access to early-stage VCs, angel investor, mentors and exclusive partner deals from leading technology and wellbeing providers.

MOHARA will initially be developing tutorial videos on its low-code approach for the course programme, as well as advice for scaling organisations. These will give practical details on how the participants can simplify application development so that they can design, build and scale early-stage businesses without spending money on a single line of code. ASPIRE and Mohara will also be running a free webinar for would-be entrepreneurs on the 7th of December.

Startups have proven themselves largely resistant to the pandemic, with European VCs staying course to continue the record-breaking fundraising trend seen since 2015 and startups themselves becoming a leading engine of job creation in Europe. Mid-sized businesses and enterprises have fared much worse. In a survey of 300 global CEOs, nearly a third (29%) said they were cutting staff costs to help navigate the crisis.

Chris Locke, CEO of ASPIRE: “Companies are making huge cuts to their permanent workforce and this trend is set to continue. In the UK alone, a record 314,000 people were made redundant from July to September, and there are still 2.5 million people on furlough who face an uncertain future. The world of work is changing at an unprecedented rate and market forces are aligning to make it a positive environment for startups to take advantage.

“ASPIRE has been developed to enhance the success rate of starting a new business. Having a great business idea, or desire to succeed, is just one part of the equation. We want to give people the tools, skills and mindset needed to transform ideas into a business. This is why we are so pleased to be bringing in innovative companies, like Mohara, who can help our entrepreneurs achieve their ambition.” 

Richard Sams, CEO, MOHARA: “We are pleased to be sharing our expertise and insight into how the “low-code” movement can enable startups to get their MVP to market faster and get their runway to last longer.  By being able to quickly accelerate the build, test, learn cycle through rapid prototyping, startups will be able to validate core assumptions without having to invest time and capital in coding. It removes the barriers to growth and enables startup founders to prioritise efforts on getting market fit.”

Entrepreneurs who are interested in joining the ASPIRE programme can choose from three courses:

• ASPIRE Digital: Ideation & Customer Discovery: Access to the first Sprint of the ASPIRE programme via the ASPIRE platform providing the first six weeks of video learning, exercises, case studies and resources
• ASPIRE Digital: Full Programme: Access to the ASPIRE platform providing the full 20 weeks of video learning, exercises, case studies and resources
  
• ASPIRE Live: Full Programme: Everything from our ASPIRE Digital full 20-week programme plus the additional support through weekly hosted live group workshops and Mentor deep dives into topic areas.

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About Rainmaking

Rainmaking is one of the world’s leading corporate innovation and venture development firms with 12 offices around the world, including major tech hubs such as London, Copenhagen, Dubai, Singapore, New York, and Sydney. They create, accelerate, and scale new business with the world’s leading corporations and entrepreneurs to solve big problems.

Rainmaking has launched over 50 ventures worth over $1BN in value, including one of the world’s most active global investors and accelerators, Startupbootcamp. Since 2006, they invested in nearly 900 startups who went on to raise almost $1bn. Rainmaking has partnered with 10% of the Fortune500 companies to bring new strategies and market-based solutions including IKEA, VISA, Airbus, Engie, HSBC, Jaguar among others. They are also a proud member of the UN Global Compact, driving major initiatives on a broad spectrum of social and environmental impact issues. 

About MOHARA

MOHARA is a digital product development agency, founded in 2010, with offices in London, Brighton, Bangkok, Cape Town and Dallas. They work with start-ups and corporate businesses as an innovation delivery partner, bringing their clients’ ideas to life and enabling them to flourish.

MOHARA follows a robust user-centred process, ensuring they validate assumptions and de-risk development.

To deliver a winning product, you need to know your users, address a definite pain point and be a great developer. These parts need to be joined to succeed – MOHARA specialises in helping teams join the dots and bring products to market.

MOHARA’s proven SCUBA model takes products from identifying the problem to reality. SCUBA aims to surface innovative and viable product ideas, choose the best idea to pursue, de-risk the engineering process and ensure products deliver ROI. The model helps to plot your roadmap, which creates alignment and a clear line of sight.

For more information please visit:https://rainmaking.io/aspire or https://mohara.co

Rainmaking press contact:

Tel.  +(0)7826 528900

Email: claire.jones@jonesconsulting.co.uk

MOHARA press contact:

Tel.  +(0)7935 762225

Email: benji@mohara.co