Dona Bayounguissa, Dr. Mohamed Alibashe, Ousman Touray, and Natasha Pencil have been chosen by the SBI team for their fantastic ideas and drive. Not to mention the potential impact of their respective businesses. Each of them is working in different innovative industries - Food Tech, Sustainability and Digital Health - and every day they are trying to grow, innovate and revolutionise their responsive fields.

Read on to find out more about each entrepreneur.

Dona Bayounguissa, Founder of Blue Spiral Motion

As an eDiscovery lawyer and data analyst in the financial sector, Dona Bayounguissa developed a passion for data visualisation, technology, and artificial intelligence. Dona's life purpose and passion has always been about empowering individuals to make positive shifts in their lives. She founded the impact coaching business, Blue Spiral Motion, aiming to promote mental and spiritual well-being whilst also democratising personal development.

On top of her law degrees, Dona is also an author, an app designer, a certified yoga teacher, an elite life coach, and has served as an ambassador for the World Consciousness Forum. Dona draws her inspiration and approaches from ancient wisdom as well as African, Eastern, and Western Philosophies to inform her impact coaching.

"I believe that personal development is global development - and that means that people's wellbeing and insecurities have impact on our Societies." - Dona Bayounguissa

Every person can have an impact that is greater than their own. Impact coaching is what Blue Spiral Motion does - working with those who feel undervalued, neglected, and "outsiders" who are actually the crucial people who can make a bigger difference on this planet.

Find out more about Blue Spiral Motion and Dona Bayounguissa's work through her interview.

Dr. Mohamed Alibashe, Founder of HealthMe

Digestive surgeon and scientist, Dr. Mohamed Alibashe, has developed an app to help doctors offer the best care possible to their patients. His skills and expertise helped him to drive impactful healthcare innovations that aim to change the lives of thousands.

Dr Mohamed describes HealthMe as a developing AI-powered platform that automatically generates medical reports, tackles the burden of medical documentation and reduces doctors' burnout.

Read more about HealthMe and Dr. Mohamed Alibashe's work in our interview.

Ousman Touray, Founder of Phioneers

Ousman Touray is a civil engineer with a long history of engineering project management. He currently leads a portfolio of thousands of telecoms infrastructure projects across Africa.

Ousman's passion for sustainable development, eco-friendly technology, and empowerment led to his founding Phioneers. They are visionary engineers who aspire to improve people's lives through intelligent architecture. They strive to build in an environmentally friendly way, combining three fundamentals: environmental, economic, and social sustainability.  

Ousman and Phioneers worked with our Sustainable Innovation (SI) programme to research best practices for constructing eco-friendly buildings in Ghambia, using local materials.

Read Ousman comment about his journey as a Black Entrepreneur here.

Natasha Pencil, Founder of Taino

Natasha Pencil and her family had trouble finding free-from food products to enjoy. Not being the person who backs down, Natasha started experimenting in the kitchen finding ways to make Caribbean food that everyone can enjoy. This is how Taino was born.

Taino condiments are vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free, making them adaptable to unique dietary demands - snacking and mealtimes enjoyable for everyone. They include no artificial additives or preservatives and are manufactured entirely of natural components.

While collaborating with SBI's LAFIC programme, Taino had an opportunity to host a food stall at Borough Market, go through HAACP review and launch new products for her SME.  

Read more about Natasha's and Taino's journey in her interview.

Are you looking for support as you start your business, launch a new product, or add features to an existing product? South Bank Innovation is increasing access to expertise for entrepreneurs across London - and we want to hear your ideas. Find out more at www.sbi.business.