Last year, we welcomed more than 450 guests and handed out 16 awards to the winners from a pool of 80 finalists. And this year’s event will be even bigger.

But we also like to keep things fresh. It’s important to take stock of the industry each year and ask how our events can best reflect the market.

So, this year, we’ve decided to add a few extra award categories.

All of last year’s awards are still running, and the new awards are:

• Mindful Investor of the year
• Industry Rising Star
• Team of the Year

So why have we added these extra awards? This year’s event is about inclusivity.

Although we’ve always sought to celebrate the people and teams that deliver more than investment, this year we’re widening the net.

We want to ensure that more teams, more products and more people gain the recognition they deserve.

Our goal is to make the UK the most supportive and inclusive investment community in the world, where anyone with a good idea can start and grow a business.

Mindful Investor of the Year

This year we’re launching Mindful Investor – a future-facing programme that will drive lasting change by measuring and improving wellbeing, diversity and inclusion in the investment community.

To coincide with the launch of Mindful Investor, we’ve introduced an award to celebrate champions of mindful investing.

We want to help drive a change in investment culture, so that people are put on the same level as profits.

What do we mean by mindful? A mindful investor strives to make itself as inclusive and supportive as possible.

Mindful investors pay attention to the wellbeing of their staff and investees, while also striving to be inclusive.

So the Mindful Investor of the Year award will go to an investment team which stands out from the crowd in this regard.

Judges will rank entrants against the five pillars of mindful investment: Communication, Health, Equality, Connections and Knowledge.

Industry Rising Star: awarding start-ups

This award will go to a product or company that has been around for less than two years but is already making an impact.

Growth finance is a fast-changing market with new entrants jumping in every month.

New teams and new ideas deserve to be recognised.

That’s why we’re looking to celebrate a new company, or a new team, that is making a difference despite being a little younger than its competitors!

Team of the Year

With this new award, we want to focus on the people behind the logo.

This award is open to any team working in the growth investment community to deliver exceptional results.

Whether working in business development, customer service, marketing, advisory or something completely different.

Judges for this award will be looking for a team that has gone above and beyond to support their customers and colleagues while delivering on projects over the past 12 months.