Swapped
Milestones at Swapped
Come along with us on our journey from Swapped's inception in 2019, all the way to the present day to see the milestones and achievements so far.
Barclays Black
Founder Accelerator
OCTOBER 2024
Our sixth accelerator programme was the Foundervine x Barclays Eagle Labs Black Founders Accelerator programme which was a great win for the team as we had applied twice previously!
The value from this programme was indescribable - from the masterclasses, engaging positive team and the founder group circles that allows us to connect with our fellow founders on a deeper level. Swapped was selected to pitch at the showcase day which was great to show our progress and we were awarded best pitch of the night!
Another full circle moment for Swapped was being invited back to our secondary school to participate in a careers day event alongside large companies, universities and established businesses.
Going from being a student walking around and learning more about the career opportunities that were avaliable, to exhibiting and sharing our journey from being at that school 10+ years ago and starting Swapped 5 years ago in the sixth form was such a grounding milestone for us!
Swapped School
Careers Fair
OCTOBER 2024
IFFAC event with African Fashion Foundation
MARCH 2024
We were invited to a two-day IFFAC event in Accra Ghana bringing founders and creatives in the fashion space from Africa’s Diaspora together to exchange stories and experiences as well as creating a space to forge new business connections and relationships!
We were able to learn more about the future of the African Fashion Foundation their IFFAC initiative and the journey of their sponsor at Chocolate x Cacao.
Black Tech Awards
Young Tech Founder
In March of this year we were the winners of the Young Tech Founder of the year award at the Black Tech Awards 2024.
Being recognised and awarded in the tech space was a fantastic achievement especially as our founder is a non-technical founder which really is a testament to not restricting yourself from new and unfamiliar industries/spaces!
MARCH 2024
Winners Dinner at the
House of Commons
JANUARY 2024
As a reward for winning the Young Founder of the year award at the 2023 Precious Awards, each winner from all the categories were invited for an exclusive dinner at the House of Commons!
This exciting opportunity allowed us to network and connect with our fellow founders on a deeper level and share both stories and aligned connections!
Featured Story
for Career Wise
To wrap up 2023 we had the opportunity to showcase Swapped as the cover story in Career Wise magazine which was an exciting experience shooting the content whilst sharing our journey with the students and young interns at the company.
In addition, we were able to share more about the business journey and origin during a podcast episode making it our third feature to date!
DECEMBER 2023
Precious Award
Winner 2023
NOVEMBER 2023
Another great milestone for Swapped was being awarded the 2023 Young Founder of the Year Award at the Precious Awards focusing on spotlighting diverse female founders and showcasing their work to a wider audience.
Having the opportunity to learn about other female-led businesses in variety of industries was another great experience!
Motherland Conference at Cambridge Union
Our fourth university collaboration was with the ACS Society at Cambridge University and we were invited to be a part of the Motherland Conference and speak on a panel alongside other African/Caribbean founders at Cambridge Union.
We were able to share our milestones and barriers of being black founders and the challenges and triumphs that we have encountered along the journey.
Purple Plaque
Ceremony at School
NOVEMBER 2023
NOVEMBER 2023
As a part of winning the Women in Innovation award at Innovate UK, we were awarded a purple plaque to celebrate our achievements in the innovation space!
Alongside sharing our journey at Swapped and what sparked it’s creation with the students, we were able to visit our old secondary school and have this plaque featured in the business centre which was a great full circle moment!
Milan Fashion Week
We had the privilege of being invited to the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards at Milan Fashion Week 2023!
We were able to witness scale ups and established fashion houses being awarded for their sustainable contributions in fashion and how they intend to continue making sustainability a focus within their business practices.
SEPTEMBER 2023
JULY 2023
Sustainable Ventures Programme
Our fifth accelerator programme was a self paced programme at Sustainable Ventures where we had the opportunity to be connected to great mentors and resources!
In addition to polishing up on our grant writing skills we received pitch deck feedback and then implemented these changes alongside workshops and trainings on assessing sustainable impact and crafting a purpose driven brand.
Swapped Brunch Launch
To celebrate the official launch of Swapped, we organised a bottomless brunch at Linnean Living and invited 10 guests who were pivotal to us on our journey to creating and finally launching Swapped!
We reminisced over the early days, got to connect with other women doing fantastic things in their industries as well as some Swapped trivia with prizes at the end :)
Nexus Talks Podcast
APRIL 2023
APRIL 2023
Our first podcast feature was with the amazing team at
Nexus Talks!
Our conversation focused around our entrepreneurial journey, the importance of embedding sustainability into your business and navigating the business climate as a diverse and female-led company!
Sustainable Fashion Week
at Royal Holloway
Our third University collaboration was with the Enactus Society at Royal Holloway during their sustainable fashion week.
We had the opportunity to do a guest speaking session at their future founders lecture hall speaking about all things sustainable fashion and how we can ditch the trends and enjoy clothes already circulating in our fashion ecosystem.
JANUARY 2023
Startups Magazine Panel
JANUARY 2023
Our second panel was the Startups Magazine - Net Zero Heroes: A startup’s guide to sustainability event!
We were able to share our journey in the sustainability space so far and how we plan to continue incorporating sustainable practices into the company ensuring that we are creating a truly circular solution!
UAL Women in
Media Workshop
Our second University collaboration was at University of the Arts London (UAL)!
We were able to partner up with the Women in Media society to talk to their members about entrepreneurship, how media has propelled our business and doing a Q&A session via an online workshop!
OCTOBER 2022
UK Black Business Show
As a part of being on the Women in Innovation programme at Innovate UK, we had the opportunity to showcase at the UK Black Business Show alongside other award winners.
This was another great milestone for Swapped as we were able to have a physical presence which allowed us to receive real-time feedback from potential customers as well as be inspired by the other businesses and their journeys to date.
OCTOBER 2022
Creative Futures
Programme at UAL
Our fourth accelerator programme was the Creative Futures Programme at UAL which had a focus on diverse founders in the creative industries. Throughout the programme we received a variety of workshop trainings from IP, embedding sustainable practices and building healthy business habits.
The programme ended with a pitch day and we were welcomed back the following February to be a guest speaker talking about our journey so far and our experience on the programme.
King's Entrepreneurs Society Freshers Collaboration
SEPTEMBER 2022
SEPTEMBER 2022
A full circle moment for us at Swapped was being invited back to our first programme at Allia to do a workshop and Q&A for aspiring female founders who were interested in learning more about the Women in Innovation Award.
It was rewarding being able to answer a variety of questions having been through the application process, securing the grant and then having experience of being on the programme. What was more gratifying is that one of these mentee’s went on to be a part of the following cohort and secure the £50,000 grant!
We had the privilege of collaborating with the Kings Entrepreneur Society at King's College London to showcase Swapped at their Freshers event!
We were able to have several sessions with the team to discuss strategies for promoting Swapped in front of new students in addition to sponsoring their stall on the day!
Swapped £50k Mentee
JULY 2022
Tech Nation - Libra 2.0
JULY 2022
We were introduced to and encouraged to apply for the Libra 2.0 at a sustainable Women's networking event and got a space on the programme in July!
The programme focused on diverse founders in the tech space which opened us up to a new network of like minded founders and we learned more about fundraising strategies and developing our pitch decks!
Rebrand & Registered Trademark!
During our time on the Women in Innovation Award we received non-financial support in the form of mentors and business specialists who were able to brainstorm a rebrand for the company.
We wanted to transition from the name Swap Shop as it is a concept in itself to a punchier, more self explanatory name that said what it did on the tin. After many different iterations we landed on Swapped, worked with a freelancer to create our brand guidelines and received pro-bono legal support in putting in an application to register the new logo which we received a year later!
MAY 2022
Our first panel was a virtual panel in collaboration with Founders4Schools who was introduced to us through the Women in Innovation project. The careers day event focused on business professionals from different industries sharing their journeys and inspiring the students to broaden their career option horizons.
We were featured on the “Careers in Sustainability” segment of the session discussing the varied roles that are avaliable in the sustainability space and our journey in the fashion industry going from a fast fashion trends based company to incorporating the circular economy to find new solutions to existing problems that we are facing.
MAY 2022
Founders4Schools Virtual Careers Fair
Women in Innovation Award at Innovate UK
Being awarded the Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK was one of our biggest milestones to date, awarding us with a £50,000 grant!
Out of just under 1,000 companies that applied, we were selected in a cohort of 35 female-led businesses across the country and at 19/20 our founder was the youngest at the time to win the award. The grant allowed us to experiment with different marketing and go to market strategies as well as creating new features on the app such as our subscription feature, request swap and a track your impact tab!
APRIL 2022
Net Zero Programme at Startup Discovery School
APRIL 2022
A judge on the Allia Impact Accelerator encouraged us to apply for the Net Zero Accelerator at Startup Discovery School which lasted 6 months and was where we won our first grant of £5,000!
We used the £5,000 to conduct testing for the first version of Swapped (then Swap Shop) with 100 students who demoed the app and provided us with feedback. Once we received feedback on the user flow, aesthetics and functionality of the app, we were able to feed this back to our development team to make those changes and new iterations of the app.
BBC 3 Counties
Radio Interview
Our first radio interview was with BBC 3 Counties Radio as a part of their International Women’s Day series! The interview focused on our founders journey from her former streetwear line (fast fashion) and shifting to creating Swapped a circular fashion solution (slow fashion) and what we anticipated for our journey ahead!
MARCH 2022
Impact Accelerator Programme at Allia
JUN-DEC 2021
The six month Impact Accelerator Program at Allia Future Business Centre was the first of many programs that Swapped (then Swap Shop) would attend!
With the great programme leaders, mentors and cohort who all focused on the impact space - we were able to grow our network, define our customer segments and conduct our first pitch!
Idea to Market Course at Stanford Online
JANUARY 2020
After originally wanting to go to Stanford University after her final year at sixth form, Mya decided to shift gears and go all in on her newfound circular fashion idea.
The swipe left and right feature is new to the fashion space and she wanted to create a solution that was fun, affordable and of course sustainable! She decided to do a 12 week Stanford Online program called “Idea to Market” which helped her flesh out the initial concepts for Swapped.
Swapped is Born
JUNE 2019
Swapped (then Swap Shop) was created by our founder Mya Gooding-Springer after previously owning a streetwear line called Shop Relatable in 2016.
After doing more research into the industry, and finding out about the 92 million tonnes of clothes that go to landfill, she wanted to shift from fast to slower fashion. During a week of work experience at sixth form, she pitched the idea of digitising clothes swaps (which she had previously been doing with her friends) and Swapped was born!
STAY CONNECTED
GET THE APP!
© 2024 Swapped