CO4CH has won the Early Stage Stand Out Award in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards (GBEAs) for the North East, Yorkshire and The Humber section.  

The Newcastle-based startup, founded in 2025, helps ambitious founders who are looking to scale their businesses. The company offers financial modelling, fundraising guidance and fractional finance, and will soon launch a free learning platform for founders through its Finance 4 Founders community. 

Founder Beth Crosier said she started CO4CH after seeing firsthand how women often face additional barriers when trying to access the money they need to grow their businesses.  

Earlier this year, CO4CH launched a new Female Founder Initiative aimed at increasing the flow of support, opportunities and investment into women-led companies and tackling the long-standing funding gap for under-represented founders. 

Women still receive a tiny proportion of total venture capital funding each year. In 2023, MPs put the figure at below 2%. 

“We wanted to take what’s usually kept out of reach and make it available to founders who are often overlooked, underestimated and underserved,” said Crosier. “Our goal is to empower female founders to understand their finances, build confidence, and be ready to secure the funding they need to scale.” 

And now the business has been recognised with the prestigious award, following its delivery of 239 hours in pro bono advice to entrepreneurs who would otherwise have struggled to access this level of expertise. 

Among CO4CH’s community are fast-growing, female-led ventures such as Financielle, the financial wellbeing app founded by BBC Morning Live finance expert Laura Pomfret and her sister Holly Holland, which now supports a community of more than 200,000 people. 

They have also supported Wac, Noggin HQ, Fabric Academy and Polybox. 

“What all of these founders have in common is a clear sense of purpose,” added Crosier. 

“They’re building businesses that aren’t just about making money – they’re about making a real, sustainable difference, and we’re proud to support them as they bring that vision to life.” 

CO4CH is also preparing to roll out its signature Start – Fund – Scale programmes nationwide next year. They will offer step-by-step guidance to founders to help them build their financial foundations, become investor-ready and scale their businesses.  

“Founders tell us their biggest challenge isn’t coming up with ideas, it’s their lack of access to capital and the right network that holds them back.” said Crosier. “Access to both these things shouldn’t depend on who you know or where you’re based. Our network gives them the confidence they need, so that everything else can start to move.”