Entrepreneur is ‘pitch perfect’ at IoD conference

A software engineer turned ardent entrepreneur has won the Pitch Perfect competition, at the IoD Northern Ireland (IoD NI) Women’s Leadership Conference, securing £4,000 in funding for her start-up business.

Rachael Coulter is CEO and founder of Stable Manager, a digital platform connecting horse owners with service providers offering the perfect technical solution for horse management.

She was one of the six female entrepreneurs to ‘pitch’ for viewer votes during this year’s virtual conference.

Rachael said: “I’m thrilled to have been awarded the Pitch Perfect winner. As a software engineer, I’ve spent a lot of time building the product and it really was amazing to get to pitch to the viewers and for them to like what they heard.

“I’ve been involved with horses for over 15 years now, I grew up on Pony Club and now I’m a grand prix dressage rider and I just felt there was really a need for a technical solution to horse management, allowing us to spend more time with our horses and less time stuck in the office.

“The funding and mentoring I will receive is invaluable especially as a young female founder in business and will support my vision of helping bring the equestrian sector into the 21st century and beyond.”

The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a non-party political organisation representing the views of around 30,000 individual business leaders in the UK with over 800 members in Northern Ireland. Members are drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors.

IoD NI National Director Kirsty McManus added: “Congratulations to Rachael and her fantastic start-up Stable Manager. All pitches this year were terrific and are a true reflection of just a few of the amazing female founded enterprises we have here in Northern Ireland.

“During a year of such difficultly for businesses and our local economy, gathering local enterprises together and showcasing their business ventures brings hope as we work towards building our economy post-Covid.”

The conference, held virtually for the first time, was sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills and took the theme Great Leaders Rise out of Adversity’ A record attendance of up to 1,100 delegates logged on each day. Speakers included national and international leaders such as, Dame Stephanie Shirley, Nadiya Hussain, Nagin Cox and Erin Brockovich.

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