Raphael Sofoluke is the CEO and founder of the Black Business Show, part of Black Business Week. The event is now the biggest in the UK and Europe, with around 15,000 attendees expected in 2023. But it started as a side-hustle! Raphael is also one of the angels in the AXA Startup Angel competition. There are six chances to win, including two top prizes of £25,000, mentorship from the AXA Startup Angels including Raphael himself, and business insurance for a year, thanks to AXA.

In this episode we talk about:  

• Why he was surprised there hadn’t been a Black Business Show before he started in 2017 
• How Raphael worked on the first Black Business Show in the evening while holding down a full-time job 
• Why he used his own money to bootstrap the business, but now wishes he had more capital to grow faster 
• How he had 25 stands for the first event, and more than 300 businesses wanting one 
• The importance of black role models in business 
• How to respond to the pressure to do better every year 
• Why some of the best businesses are created out of “frustration or inspiration” 
• His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs entering the AXA Startup Angel competition 

For more interviews, news and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business. To get more information on the AXA Startup Angel competition go to standard/co.uk/axastartupangel 

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