Press Release: Natalia Dorfman selected as one of the 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch by The Telegraph and NatWest

We are honoured that Kita CEO, Natalia Dorfman, has been recognised as one of ‘The 100’ by The Telegraph and NatWest. There are some other incredible female founders included in the round-up, all of whom are making significant progress in their chosen fields. It’s truly inspiring to see so many other women leading successful businesses.

Read on for the introduction to the list, from the November 19th issue of The Telegraph:

From tech and comms to retail and professional services, meet The 100 – a proud cohort of the UK’s brightest female founders.

“Despite the unprecedented shock to our economy – and our daily lives – more women than ever are starting new companies,” says Caroline Barrett-Haigh, executive lifestyle editor of The Telegraph. “Furthermore, the number of female-founded businesses is growing by a third every year, outstripping growth in male-led firms for the first time.”

With this in mind, Telegraph Media Group and NatWest launched the 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch list, an initiative that shines a spotlight on some of the most exciting female-founded businesses in the UK.

After an exhaustive process of examining applications from all over the UK, the 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch list has been announced, including 10 Highly Commended businesses from which one exceptional female entrepreneur receives the Judges’ Choice award.

Those making the list earn assistance to help them further flourish, with benefits ranging from mentorship, an enterprise health check, media coverage, a parliamentary reception with Caroline Nokes MP, support from the Adelpha Group, possible investment from the Astia Fund, dinner with senior Coutts and NatWest executives and a £10,000 investment from NatWest.

Alison Rose, NatWest CEO and a judge for the Highly Commended and Judges’ Choice, notes and celebrates consistent themes across the businesses that entered: a strong commitment to innovation, a social purpose and scaling up.

Rose says: “The ambition and resilience of the business owners came across strongly in the applications. Their successes are remarkable and how they explained they would benefit from being part of The 100 made an impression. I’m confident we have some of the most exciting high potential female-owned businesses included in The 100.”

The final judging panel comprised: NatWest CEO Alison Rose; Yvonne Greeves, director of women in business at NatWest; Caroline Barrett-Haigh, The Telegraph’s executive lifestyle editor; Tory Young, The Telegraph’s deputy head of lifestyle; Rose Review Board members Debbie Wosskow OBE (co-founder of AllBright), Emma Davies (joint CEO of Octopus Ventures), Jenny Tooth OBE (chief executive at UK Business Angels Association) and Stephen Pegge (MD commercial finance at UK Finance).

Read the full feature here.