Quercus Corporate Finance is delighted to announce that it is partnering with Zero Gravity, a UK educational charity which supports talented students from low-income backgrounds into top universities and careers.

 Quercus is the first corporate partner to make such a pledge to the charity, which was founded by Joe Seddon, a 24-year-old social entrepreneur. Seddon started the organisation from his hometown bedroom in West Yorkshire with the last £200 of his student loan, and since then Zero Gravity has grown into one of the UK’s leading social mobility organisations.

 Zero Gravity identifies talented students from low-income backgrounds and then mentors them into the UK’s leading universities through its proprietary digital platform. In 2020, Zero Gravity supported 1000+ low-income students into Russell Group universities, including 250+ students into Oxford and Cambridge since its launch. Zero Gravity has been recognised with a social impact award by the Prime Minister and has recently won three European Brand Awards.

Under the newly announced partnership Quercus will donate 1% of its annual revenue to Zero Gravity to fund scholarships to talented students from low-income backgrounds who receive offers from top universities. The funding will be used by students to support their academic and career development so they can realise their full potential and become the leaders of the future.

 Nick Standen, Quercus chairman, said:

 “We are committed to giving something back and we wanted to work with a charity focused on tackling inequality. Zero Gravity is doing important work which will improve educational access to low income students and we are very proud to be associated with its goal of raising social mobility across the UK.”

 Joe Seddon, founder of Zero Gravity, added:

 “We are very excited to announce this partnership with Quercus. Their 1% revenue pledge will support Zero Gravity to level the playing field for students from low-income backgrounds and ensure that those with talent are able to succeed - no matter their background. Quercus are the first corporate partner to make a revenue pledge to Zero Gravity and have put down a marker for other top organisations to follow.”