King's College London

The Women Entrepreneurs Retreat, hosted by King's Entrepreneurship Institute, is an annual event hosted by the Women Entrepreneurs Network (WEN) to help venture-oriented women from the King's community increase their entrepreneurial skills and take their ideas further.

This year, nearly 100 women from King's, other universities, and local businesses, came together for a jam-packed 3 days exploring all aspects of building a venture.  

Keep reading for everything you need to know...

Bringing 98 women entrepreneurs together

It's the people who show up that truly define an event. And over the weekend, nearly 100 women founders showed up to dedicate time to working on their venture!

Whether it was being present and engaged with our facilitators, or supporting each other by sharing their own experiences, attendees made sure that the weekend was filled with valuable insights. 

Bringing together a mix of the King's community, other universities, and local businesses is a rare occurrence but offers a unique chance for people from all stages of entrepreneurship to learn from each other. 

Collaborating with UK universities and local businesses 

In 2023, the Institute opened up the WEN Retreat to UK university colleagues and their communities for the first time. Expanding our impact allowed us to empower even more women, make wider connections, and explore new insights.

So this year, the Institute went even bigger! We invited local businesses in London to join in on the fun. 

We were very lucky to be joined by:

• King's students, staff and alumni (from numerous faculties, year groups and departments). 
• Other university communities - including Richmond American University, Imperial, LSBU, LSE, Oxford Enterprise, QMUL, SZTE, UCL, University of Cardiff, University of Greenwich, University of Surrey and Warwick Business School. 
• Local businesses - including Considered Capital, Rise, School for Social Entrepreneurs, SheOath, Somerset House Business Residency, TERN, Employability and Wellbeing Academy, and UnLtd. 

If you're interested in collaborating at future WEN Retreats or on other projects with our Women Entrepreneurs Network, please get in touch with Jessica Horwill.

Providing value-focused sessions 

Each year, the Institute invites experts from the community to lead sessions on everything from branding and pitching, to investment and legal advice. They make sure that each session is value-focused so everyone goes home with practical takeaways to put into action, but also make sure attendees have fun and enjoy the experience!

This year, the packed agenda included:

Day 1

• Clarice Ng (Founder of GROWN), Roxanne Stevenson-Brown (Founder of Find Care Compare) and Jas Wilks (Founder and CEO of Rejazz) sharing their experiences as female founders on our Meet the Founders Panel.
• Izabella Brooks and Rory Wilson (Hunters Law LLP) answering all those burning legal and IP questions.
• Sonya Barlow (Founder of LMF Network) wrapping up day 1 with some tips on authentic networking.

Day 2

• Lou Nylander (Founder of Wildflowers of London) on branding & community through authentic storytelling.
• Kay Kukoyi (Founder of Purposeful Group and EI Tech Expert-in-Residence) with AI tools to grow your business.
• Esme Verity (Founder of Considered Capital) giving an introduction to funding.

Day 3

• Sarah Whale (Founder of Profit Impact) helping attendees down the path of sustainable impact.
• Rachel Stockey (Founder of Disruptive Realm and EI Head of Entrepreneurial Skills) on assumptions and experiments.
• Jenna Dominique (Founder of First Class Comms and EI Comms Expert-in-Residence) with her masterclass on compelling content and impactful communication. 

A safe space to learn

Above all else, the WEN Retreat is always a safe space to learn and ask questions. Whether that's during the weekend, or beyond. 

At each Retreat, attendees are encouraged to share their ideas openly in group discussions, ask questions to our facilitators and give feedback to each other. There really is no such thing as a silly question.

To continue this safe space and sense of community, there is an online space to allow attendees to continue asking questions, share knowledge, and put their professional profiles on each other’s radar. The online group has a community of attendees from all Retreats since the first one in 2019 - so it's also a space to make even more connections!

What's next?

🚨 Are you a woman entrepreneur at King's? Join the Women Entrepreneurs Network LinkedIn group to connect with likeminded change-makers and find out about similar events. 

🚨 Are you interested in WEN and the Retreat but not a member of the King's community? Collaborate with in the future by reaching out to Jess.