Brand Growth Heroes selects 2026’s ‘Mini MBA’ cohort

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BGH cohort 2025

Graduates from the Brand Growth Heroes 2025 Mini MBA

Brand Growth Heroes has selected the latest cohort of challenger brands for the third year of its ‘Mini MBA’.

The accelerator enrolled 14 brands to this year’s programme after receiving applications from more than 170 hopeful food & drink businesses.

Backed by financial services firm Alantra, the Brand Growth Heroes MBA is now in its third year and is aimed at giving founders and management teams skills and strategies to navigate industry challenges.

Regenerative farming innovator Wildfarmed secured its place on the MBA as part of its prize for taking home the silver award at last year’s Future of Food competition.

Mixtons Cocktails, James Chocolates, Denzel’s Pet Treats and social enterprise House of Cinn have been awarded fully funded places by Alantra.

All Dressed Up, Saida’s Kitchen, Double-Barrelled Brewery and Omega Pressery will have 50% of the costs of the course funded by commercial law firm Joelson and global analytics firm NielsenIQ, which both partnered with Brand Growth Heroes for the MBA last year.

Aagrah, HeyLO!, Holos Kombucha, Wildthingz and Woolf’s Kitchen complete the 2026 cohort.

Brand Growth Heroes founder Fiona Fitzpatrick runs the BGH Mini MBA, with support from Charles Lanceley, Alantra head of UK food & beverage.

This year’s 12-week programme starts in April and features ten ‘Mini MBA Challenges’, covering business, brand & category strategy, financial leadership and operational scale-up, as well as online modules, group workshops, personalised mentoring and fireside chats with industry leaders, alongside direct engagement with Alantra, NielsenIQ and Joelson

“Most founders want the same thing – to build a brand that creates its market, not fight for scraps, and to feel genuinely confident about how they’re going to scale without constant firefighting,” Fitzpatrick said.

“But that’s incredibly tough when your roadmap isn’t automatically clear, and you’re making big calls without full confidence. That’s why I built the Brand Growth Heroes Mini MBA.”

Lanceley added: “We’re proud to power the Brand Growth Heroes Mini MBA for the third year. Fiona’s deep sector expertise, paired with the ambition of the founders who join this programme, creates something exceptional. We’re excited to mentor the next cohort and help shape the future leaders of the consumer sector.”

Since 2021, accelerator schemes at Brand Growth Heroes have supported more than 150 scaling consumer brands.

Graduates of the Mini MBA so far have included Bold Bean Co, Fearne & Rosie, The Black Farmer, Better Nature and Mighty Slice.

Joelson managing partner Phil Hails-Smith said: “We love working with high-growth challenger brands, and supporting the Brand Growth Heroes Mini MBA allows us to help founders build the commercial and legal foundations they need to scale. We’re delighted to partner again in 2026.”

Rachel Havers, UK small and medium business team manager at NielsenIQ, added: “When NielsenIQ’s market intelligence meets Brand Growth Heroes’ strategic vision, founders gain more than insights; they gain the confidence and clarity to transform their categories and unlock extraordinary growth. We can’t wait to champion the 2026 cohort on this journey.”

The 2026 cohort for the BGH Mini MBA: