Heropreneurs, the charity that helps Service leavers, Armed Forces veterans and their families achieve their entrepreneurial potential, is excited to announce that it has invested in wedding and events animation business Zing Ping…

Serving Submariner Gus Mason and his wife Helen run the burgeoning company, which offers a mobile animation studio for hen and stag do experiences, wedding animation and stop motion animation booths for events.

"I had always dreamed of owning my own business and being my own boss but I felt that the energy and time required to achieve this would be hard to gather, especially with the demands of being deployed at irregular intervals," explains Gus Mason.

"My wife Helen agreed to help me grow the business while I completed my service and she introduced me to Heropreneurs, who said they would be able to help with the demands of setting up a new company," he adds.

Heropreneurs, which is honoured to help create the pride of business from the UK Armed Forces, set up a number of initial meetings to work out exactly how it could provide assistance.

"From the very first meeting Heropreneurs understood the challenges and concerns facing us in this totally new venture," explains Gus Mason. "They were on hand to meet with us and offer advice and guidance on the basics of business structure, as well as putting us in touch with subject matter experts when required. Having that level of expertise in your corner was a real help and a great confidence booster," he adds.

Heropreneurs has taken its mentoring of the business one step further by investing in Zing Ping, after the charity’s founders saw great potential in the pioneering business.

"We are delighted to have invested in Zing Ping," explains Peter Mountford, one of the founders and Chairman of Heropreneurs. "Helen and Gus Mason joined our Mentoring Programme about six months ago and we have been seriously impressed with their commitment to the new business. By investing in Zing Ping we are demonstrating the support that Heropreneurs will give to Helen and Gus in helping them to start their new business and create something really special from it," he adds.

Heropreneurs has also stated that any profits achieved by charity from this investment will be used to fund the organisation and invest in new opportunities created by people that have served in the Armed Forces.