The move follows a membership census, which found that only 32% of its 140-strong membership pool were solely women-owned. This is in line with UK-wide stats that suggest only one in three entrepreneurs are women.
“Street food is for everyone, and gender shouldn’t be a barrier. KERB+ is breaking down the street food gender gap with the first-ever women-owned inKERBator, representing the incredible talent across London,” says Claudia Bovey, senior markets manager for KERB+.
The seven businesses are Mama’s Ktchn (vegan soul food); Mezzo (Italian); Emerald Eats (hot chicken fillet rolls); Banzai Kitchen (Japanese fried chicken); Hanoi Cà Phê (Vietnamese); Latin Soul (South American home-style cooking); and Poke Nom.
Billed as a one-of-a-kind programme built for early-stage food businesses, inKERBator comprises three weeks in the classroom at KERB HQ ahead of a six-week residency at a KERB market.
The programme is free and runs four cohorts a year. To date, there have been 111 successful graduates of the inKERBator.
The seven new inKERBator businesses are set to become fully-fledged KERB members on 6 March, just ahead of International Women’s Day (8 March) at the KERB+ Cowcross Yards lunch market.