Techstart and Creator Fund Challenge
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Techstart and Creator Fund Challenge
Are you a student, academic or recent graduate at Ulster University or QUB?
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Do you have an innovative business idea?​
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Looking to kickstart your business idea and develop your MVP?
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Find out more at our Competition Launch Event on 24th March at 5pm GMT​
Entries Close: Friday 30th April 2021
What Is The Techstart And Creator Fund Challenge?
We're on the hunt for Northern Ireland's most exciting university start-ups
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Win up to £35k of grant funding
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Receive mentorship and training sessions
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Pitch in front of investors from across the UK
10 of Northern Ireland's best university entrepreneurs will deliver a virtual pitch on 9th June 2021 to the Creator Fund and TechStart investors, alongside guest judge Paul Taylor (Founder & CEO of Thought Machine).
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3 Winners will be selected: 1 overall winner and 2 runners-up!
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Up for the Challenge? Submit a 1 minute video pitch by midnight on Monday 26th April 2021 to enter.
About Creator Fund
Creator Fund are Europe's leading investors in university-based startups. Based on the US Dorm Room Fund, CF has teams across 28 campuses and invests up to £150k in student and academic founders. It has been backed by Schmidt Futures, Founders Factory, and 40+ investors and entrepreneurs.
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Entering The Competition
Why Should I Enter?
The winning pitch is guaranteed a £35k grant from Techstart and hands-on support tailored to your business from The Creator Fund. The 2 runners-up will receive £10k grants from Techstart.
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Need funding to get your business underway? Use the Techstart and Creator Fund Challenge to win the cash you need.
Who Can Enter?
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We are looking for students - or those who have graduated in the past two years - and academics from either Ulster University or Queens University Belfast creating technology enabled, scalable businesses. Technological innovation should be at the core of the startup. We have a preference for entrepreneurs using expertise gained from their degrees to build their businesses.
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We expect most startups to be pre-revenue. Applicants could be pre-prototype stage with a well thought-through concept, could have developed a minimal viable product, a prototype, or at least advanced plans for a future product.
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No applicants who have already received a Techstart Proof of Concept Grant
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No applicants which have already received investment from Techstart or Creator Fund
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No startup that has received more than £100,000 of private funding to date
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Applicants/Founding Team must include at least one Academic, PhD, Masters or Undergraduate student at Ulster University or Queen's University Belfast.
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Startup idea needs to be correlated with eligibility criteria of Techstart and Creator Fund to allow for possible future investment
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Exploring viability and commercial potential of a novel and innovative concept​
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Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company
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Resident in Northern Ireland (if Company, must be registered in Northern Ireland)
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SEIS-eligible
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Please refer to techstartgrants.com for further eligibility criteria
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How Do I Enter?
Applications to the competition will go live on the website on Thursday 25th March. To enter, all you need to do is submit a 1 minute video pitch. From there, we will whittle the entrants down 10 finalists. The deadline for entries is midnight on Monday 26th April.
About Techstart
Techstart Ventures is an early-stage technology Venture Capital Fund and is one of the most active seed stage investors in the UK, managing Funds throughout Northern Ireland and Scotland. Techstart is a trusted investment partner to ambitious founders on their journey to success. In Northern Ireland, Techstart also provide a £4.5m Proof of Concept Grant Fund. On a competitive basis, this grant fund supports entrepreneurs with grants to explore the viability and commercial potential of an innovative concept on the road to making the important decision to start a company.
2
NI Universities
1
Overall Winner
£55k
of funding available
CONTACT US
Have any questions? Contact us and we'll help you out.