Lucie Macleod, founder and chief government of Hair Syrup, has unveiled The Hair Syrup Honey Pot, a contest providing one UK entrepreneur £5,000 in money alongside 4 hours of personalised, one-to-one mentoring.
The award comes with no fairness connected and no business strings, with the purpose of offering sensible assist on the earliest phases of constructing a enterprise.
The initiative invitations UK-based founders aged 18 and over to submit a brief pitch video on TikTok or Instagram outlining their enterprise thought. Entrants should tag @hairsyrup, use the hashtag #thehairsyruphoneypot and full a web-based utility type. A shortlist of candidates will then be invited to pitch in particular person, with one winner chosen to obtain the funding and mentoring classes.
Macleod mentioned the scheme was impressed by her personal expertise of rejection and self-funded development. “One 12 months in the past I appeared on Dragon’s Den and was rejected on nationwide TV,” she mentioned. “That second grew to become the most effective issues that ever occurred to me as a result of it pushed me to imagine in myself, join with our neighborhood and construct one thing actual. I understand how arduous it feels to start out with nothing, so that is my approach of giving again.”
Hair Syrup started as a student-kitchen experiment earlier than discovering speedy traction on TikTok, the place Macleod shared her personal hair transformation story. A single viral video helped catapult the model into nationwide consideration, driving robust natural development and a fast-growing social following. The enterprise has since expanded quickly into retail, fuelled by neighborhood demand fairly than exterior funding.
In 2025, Macleod was named Younger Founding father of the 12 months at The Sunday Instances 100 Awards, recognised for constructing one of many UK’s fastest-growing magnificence manufacturers from a grassroots begin.
The Honey Pot initiative displays a rising development of founder-to-founder assist, providing early-stage entrepreneurs each capital and hands-on steering at a degree the place entry to funding and mentorship could be restricted.
The competitors is open to UK residents aged 18 and over, with phrases and situations making use of.
