- Applications open for 2018 Launchpad Competition
- Equity-free no strings attached funding of £15,000 from the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub
Applications for the 2018/19 Launchpad Competition at the Royal Academy’s Enterprise Hub are now open to engineering entrepreneurs. The winner will receive an individual award of £15,000 plus the training required to help them develop the skills to turn their engineering innovation into a business.
The Launchpad Competition winner will gain membership to the Academy’s Enterprise Hub where they will also receive mentoring and advice from a network of experts.
Applications to the programme are sought from budding engineers from across the UK. Entries for the November intake must be submitted by 16.00 on Monday 10 September 2018 via the Academy’s online grant system:
Last year’s winner Nick Schweitzer, founder of Klydo, the AI-powered research assistant, said:
“Winning the Launchpad Competition was a fantastic validation of our technology and idea. Succeeding in the Launchpad competition and gaining membership to the Enterprise Hub has given our team a vital financial boost going into future funding, as well as the mentorship and the expertise to accelerate our business. Having the right skills and contacts are central to starting a successful business, particularly for young entrepreneurs, so we feel privileged to have access to a network of world-class engineers and business leaders.”
Ana Avaliani, Head of Enterprise at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said:
"The Launchpad Competition has been supporting young engineering entrepreneurs with the most impactful ideas to build their businesses from the ground up. We have helped bring varied innovations to market, from mobile incubators to music education tech. We are proud to support the next generation of engineering entrepreneurs at this crucial early stage of their careers and look forward to seeing the innovations that will be pitched this year.”
The winner of the Launchpad Competition receives the JC Gammon award, which is supported by the Gammon family in memory of their father, who was able to succeed in civil engineering having won a scholarship and bursary to fund his initial education.
Further information about the Launchpad Competition
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How to apply for the Launchpad Competition
Apply by 10 September 2018 to join the Launchpad Competition in November.
All applications must be submitted via the Academy’s online grant system.
Applicants must be UK-based and between the ages of 18-25 on the application closing date (10 September 2018). Applicants must not expect to be in full-time education from March 2019 onwards, as we expect awardees to be able to dedicate themselves to fulfilling the aims of the award.
Applications are invited from individuals or small teams demonstrating entrepreneurial promise, however the award will be made to the lead individual, and only they will receive the training and mentoring on offer.
If you have any questions concerning the application or the online grant system, please contact the Enterprise team at [email protected].
Press contact:
For further media information please contact the Enterprise Hub press office at Good Relations on [email protected]
About the Royal Academy of Engineering and Enterprise Hub
Enterprise Hub - The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub is a national resource for the UK’s most promising engineering entrepreneurs. The Hub forms part of the Academy’s commitment to stimulate excellence and promote creativity and innovation in engineering. The Hub does this by making awards to exemplars of excellence and innovation in engineering who will be the founders and leaders of tomorrow’s high-tech companies. The awards include provision of money-can’t-buy bespoke support and one-to-one mentoring from its Fellowship, which comprises many of the country’s most successful engineers from across academia and industry, including prominent entrepreneurs and business leaders such as Mike Lynch OBE FREng, Sir Robin Saxby FREng, Anne Glover CBE HonFREng and Ian Shott CBE FREng. The Royal Academy of Engineering opened the Taylor Centre – a physical home for the Enterprise Hub with meeting and networking facilities for its Members – in February 2017. Since 2013, the Enterprise Hub has supported over 73 entrepreneurs with £4.5 million of seed funding, helping to develop ideas into investable, high-growth companies. These Hub members have since raised over £64 million in further funding and employ over 350 staff.
Royal Academy of Engineering - As the UK’s national academy for engineering and technology, we bring together the most successful and talented engineers from academia and business – our Fellows – to advance and promote excellence in engineering for the benefit of society.
We harness their experience and expertise to provide independent advice to government, to deliver programmes that help exceptional engineering researchers and innovators realise their potential, to engage the public with engineering and to provide leadership for the profession.
We have three strategic priorities:
- Make the UK the leading nation for engineering innovation and businesses
- Address the engineering skills and diversity challenge
- Position engineering at the heart of society
We bring together engineers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, academics, educators and the public in pursuit of these goals.
Engineering is a global profession, so we work with partners across the world to advance engineering’s contribution to society on an international, as well as a national scale.