Applicant criteria
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You must be resident in either Northern Ireland, Wales or northern England (North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber) and able to attend training sessions in one of the stated locations within a reasonable travel distance. We cannot accept applicants from the Midlands, the South of England or Scotland for this programme.
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You must have technical understanding in the area of your innovation.
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You must have the right to live and work in the UK and be based in the UK full-time.
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You should normally be an experienced engineer or tech professional (experienced engineer is defined as mid-late career or someone with at least 5 years’ professional experience working in an engineering or technology environment with technical responsibilities). If you do not have 5 years’ experience in a technical role, but have 5 years’ experience within the field of your innovation, then you may be eligible if you have a technical cofounder working alongside you as part of the company team (we cannot accept subcontractors). However, you must consider whether your cofounder might be more suited to applying.
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You must be able to commit time to taking part in the programme full-time from September.
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You must be at least 18 to apply.
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You cannot be in full-time study or employment if accepted onto the programme.
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Previous experience of commercialisation or enterprise is not required.
Innovation criteria
- You must have an innovative engineering or technology-based solution to an identified problem, or market need, that you have been involved in the development of
- Your innovation should be beyond invention stage (Technology Readiness Level 2 or above) with a practical application identified, the concept formulated and the desire to develop a business proposition. If you already have a Minimum Viable Product then you are likely too advanced for this programme
- Your startup should have the potential to be self-sustaining and scalable
- If you have already registered a new business, the innovation should not currently be available to the market other than as a prototype with limited sales
- You must be committed to establishing your new startup in the region where you are applying to take part in the programme or your nearby area
- You should not normally have raised substantial amounts of funding for your innovation, as you will be too advanced for this programme
- We cannot accept applications from individuals wishing to start a consultancy business
- We cannot accept ideas for mobile apps, websites or pure software-based creations unless they are underpinned by an innovative technology, such as AI or machine learning, which you are directly contributing to developing, and is protectable.
Application criteria
- One person per application
- Only one application can be submitted by each individual
- Only individuals can apply to the programme
- Applicants can only re-apply once with the same innovation
Please note, recent university degree graduates (graduated with their first degree since 1 January 2021) or university spinouts are not eligible for this programme and should apply instead to the Enterprise Fellowships programme.
