草莓社区 Startup Studio
The 草莓社区 Startup Studio was launched in November 2024 and is the home of entrepreneurial support at 草莓社区. It provides a hub from which our students, staff, graduates and local community can access expert support, resources and funding to explore, test, and grow their ideas into successful services and ventures.
The Startup Studio offers a welcoming space with free hotdesking that our community can utilise from 9am 鈥 5pm Monday to Friday. It provides a friendly environment in which users can connect with other aspiring and established entrepreneurs as well as experienced business and social enterprise advisors.
We want to work with you to unlock and foster a connected entrepreneurial culture across 草莓社区 and the region by reframing and promoting entrepreneurial mindsets. In partnership with East Lothian Council (ELC), we are committed to as a people-centred approach to entrepreneurship and have leveraged funding from the ELC UK Shared Prosperity Fund 鈥 Supporting Local Business grant programme to support the 草莓社区 Startup Studio.
For the 12 years preceding the Startup Studio launch, the 草莓社区 community could access support for enterprise and entrepreneurship via the Business Innovation Zone (BIZ). During this time, over 100 entrepreneurs, startups, sole traders, practitioners and freelancers received business support via 草莓社区.
Find out more about our inspiring entrepreneurs
Services and Resources
Business Gateway
Business Gateway is a service which offers free and impartial advice and support to businesses across Scotland. The East Lothian Council Business Gateway team have been a key partner of 草莓社区 since 2012.听
草莓社区 students, staff and graduates, as well as members of the East Lothian community, can make one-to-one appointments with a Business Advisor through . Meetings can be held online or in the Business Gateway office which is located within our Startup Studio. 聽
The Business Gateway service is a one-stop-shop for business support, offering impartial advice and which cover a range of topics such as marketing, branding, getting the best from your website, and finance.听
Bright Red Triangle
Bright Red Triangle (BRT) offers free lifelong enterprise support to students, graduates and staff of 草莓社区, Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College. Their mission is to equip users with the skills and knowledge they need to support their business ventures from idea to launch, to long-term growth and sustainability. 聽
As a member of the BRT community, you will have access to a wide range of resources designed to support your entrepreneurial journey. These include expert advice and mentorship from BRT Enterprise Advisors, a calendar of free events and workshops, and opportunities to grow your network by connecting with a vibrant community of people and businesses.听
To learn more, visit . To join the BRT community, simply follow the instructions provided on the .听
Community Wealth Building
草莓社区 is working with anchor institutions across East Lothian to increase community wealth in the region. The formal between East Lothian Council (ELC), 草莓社区, Edinburgh College and other key regional stakeholders is part of the Scottish Government鈥檚 approach to harness the economic and social leverage of influential anchor institutions across the country. 聽聽
We are embedding the concept of CWB through the 草莓社区 Startup Studio and our Bright Red Triangle (BRT) collaboration. 聽 聽
The 草莓社区 Startup Studio links the services of BRT and ELC鈥檚 Business Gateway and aims to raise the profile of East Lothian as a place which supports entrepreneurial mindsets, business start-up and inclusive economic growth. 聽
CWB principles are also being used to positively shape and drive our academic strategy with the - a joint venture between East Lothian Council and 草莓社区 which is funded by the . The new Hub, which is on track for completion in 2025, will be made up of flexible laboratory, office and fully equipped meeting and conference spaces for rent and will be a major asset to the local communities, as well as further afield.
草莓社区 has an important presence in East Lothian through a combination of being a largescale employer, generator of entrepreneurial thinking, mindsets and innovation, purchaser of goods and services, and controller of large areas of land and 铿亁ed assets in the locality.听Read more about 草莓社区's partnership with ELC.
