Startup Session #8 – Soho Startup Showcase: Truths from the Trenches

This event is now sold out!

Join us in Soho, London on the 4th of November for an honest startup showcase with three founders at different points in their journey. You will hear why they launched, the highs and lows so far, what they wish they had known on day one, how they see the future, and the practical tips and tricks that keep them moving.

We will close with a lively panel where you can ask anything to our generous speakers. Founders will leave with sharper ways to validate ideas, common pitfalls to avoid, simple playbooks for early growth, and fresh connections with peers and mentors. Key takeaways include proven tactics for customer discovery, fundraising readiness, building resilient teams, and staying focused when everything feels urgent.

Registering on Meetup does not grant you access to this event,

Doors open at 6:00 PM

6:30 PM Intro and welcome from David Loughlan and Jessica Willis, Co-Founders @ Founders500

6:35 PM Talk 1
Tina Chen: Our Chief Tea Officer Tina was inspired by Taiwanese bubble tea concept and British tea drinking culture to develop a delicious, well-balanced tea latte beverage. With her love for a quality cuppa and her desire to make a positive impact on society, Tina made a career switch from IT to just tea, and HumaniTea was born! A proud social enterprise, HumaniTea supports wellbeing and sustainability initiatives through wholesome tea. Spreading Me Time, Tea Time, Any Time, we encourage people to take tea breaks to find mindfulness.

6:50 PM Talk 2
Madalina Mihailescu: My entrepreneurial journey began in the classroom, while delivering lectures to MSc Data Science students, where I witnessed a critical gap in education delivery. Students struggled to find employment despite completing rigorous academic programmes because companies demand industry-specific skills that rigid curricula fail to provide. Academic institutions prioritise theoretical knowledge over practical application, leaving graduates unprepared for real-world challenges.

This educational crisis resonated deeply with my personal experience as a neurodivergent learner who had struggled through traditional educational systems until discovering personalised study techniques that transformed my learning approach. Recognising that different learners require different methods, I founded HiveMind with a mission to make education efficient, personalised, and responsive to how people actually learn – especially in our rapidly digitalising world where time is precious and adaptability is essential.

7:05 PM Talk 3
Fredi Monk Porcel – Fredi oversees the smooth running of Voicebox, and is the company’s Director of Partnerships & Strategy. He has completed an MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health from Queen Mary, University of London. Fredi has extensive experience of facilitating conversations on masculinity with a breadth of different audiences including adolescents, primary age children & professionals. Fredi’s particular interests lie in male mental health and facilitating spaces where men and boys can proactively increase each other’s wellbeing and bond with each other.

7:20 PM Panel Q&A

8:00 PM Networking

Doors close at 9 PM

About our featured Start-Ups:
HumaniTea: We craft the UK’s 1st chilled ready-to-drink plant-based tea lattes bottled into recyclable aluminium cans. Brewed with actual tea leaves, creamy oat milk, and ethically sourced, quality ingredients, our refreshing Matcha and Earl Grey Tea Latte Oat Drinks exclude artificial flavours and emulsifiers, contain low sugar (<5%) and low calories (<70 kcal/can), and provide boost of antioxidants and natural energy without a caffeine crash. We use oat milk instead of dairy, which is perfect for people who are vegan or lactose-intolerant, because oat milk is one of the most eco-friendly milks available in terms of both emissions and water usage. HumaniTea creates impact on many levels: tackling obesity with low sugar, plant-based drinks; promoting mental wellbeing by encouraging everyone to take tea breaks; and working to improve the environment through commitment to recyclable packaging materials and quality ingredients.

HiveMind Academy: is an EdTech startup that blends depth psychology with AI to transform how organisations onboard, learn, and share knowledge. Our team is now working on developing an adaptive, unified platform that guides new hires through personalised onboarding pathways while also converting tacit expertise into a living knowledge hub. We are on a mission to create intelligent learning ecosystems where every interaction builds capability, fosters collaboration, and drives sustainable growth.

To date, we have achieved significant milestones such as earning top recognition through an 81.1% score on Innovate UK SMART grant applications (top 6% among 1,392 submissions), leading to acceptance into the Innovate UK Business Growth programme. We have also established research partnerships with leading academic and industry groups, while gaining support from Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, and Barclays Eagle Labs. Through comprehensive market validation including 25+ industry interviews conducted with MBA consultants, we have developed a research-backed go-to-market strategy, completed our first platform prototype, and secured our first pilot programme.

Voicebox’s mission is to help boys and young men to thrive, & promote healthy masculinity, with everyone, for everyone. We have promoted healthy masculinity for over 6 years, with over 46,000 participants, and 200 schools and organisations. We work with primary, secondary & sixth form students, teachers and staff working with young people, and parents, to promote healthy masculinity, challenge misogyny and harmful attitudes to gender equality & VAWG, and help all men and boys live lives of authenticity, motivation and care.

Thank you to our founding partner Signal for making this event happen.