Essential Information

Venture Builder Incubator is designed for ambitious postgraduate students, early career researchers and academics who are looking to transform their deep tech or data-driven research into a viable business.   

We welcome applications from individuals or founding teams at any Scottish university who are passionate about creating innovative deep tech or data-driven solutions to address real-world challenges.

Your idea should be deep-tech driven and ready to develop. 

Note that thanks to our ongoing partnership with Cancer Research Horizons, we offer tailored support for research staff and academics working on oncology-related innovations from universities and hospitals across the UK. You do not have to be funded by Cancer Research UK to apply.

Discover more about Cancer Research Horizons. 

The application form is hosted on Salesforce and asks for some basic information about you (and your team, if applicable) and your venture.

We want to understand why you are the best person or team  to tackle this particular problem. What sets you apart from the competition? Why is your solution better than what already exists? We're also looking to understand the market potential of your idea.

If this is your first time registering as an external user, you'll receive a verification code by email to complete the process - so make sure you remember which email you used!

To apply for the programme, you or your team must meet the following requirements:

Team Size

• Solo founder or founding team
• Teams of fewer than 5 people

Background

• We welcome applications from postgraduate students and research staff from any university in Scotland.  
• Recent graduates of the University of Edinburgh are also eligible.  
• We are keen to support innovative ideas so please apply if you are an undergraduate student but think the programme will help you.
• Your focus should be on transforming deep tech or data-driven research into a viable business. 

Funding Raised

• No prior grants/funding is required.
• However, you must not have raised more than £100,000 in investments to remain eligible.

Stage of Development

Your project should be at one of the following stages:

• Proof of concept or proof of value
• Minimum viable product (MVP)
• First commercial success
• Early revenue growth

Note that you do not have to be a registered company to apply and can be early stage. 

We welcome applications from teams and individual founders from any Scottish university and so you do not have to be associated with the University of Edinburgh to apply. 

As part of our ongoing partnership with Cancer Research Horizons, we also offer tailored support for research staff and academics working on oncology-related innovations from universities and hospitals across the UK. You do not have to be funded by Cancer Research UK to apply as part of this partnership.

Discover more about Cancer Research Horizons. 

We welcome applications from every sector including those underpinned by robotics and autonomous systems.

Through our ongoing partnership with Cancer Research Horizons, we offer tailored support for research staff and academics working on deep-tech oncology-related innovations from universities and hospitals across the UK.

Discover more about Cancer Research Horizons. 

Yes, as long your data-driven solution is novel and has associated intellectual property (IP), you're eligible to apply.

Venture Builder Incubator runs over five months, from late October to March, with a break in December. It’s designed to be flexible and fit alongside your academic commitments, requiring around 12 hours of commitment per month.

Through a mix of interactive online workshops and in-person events, you'll learn to navigate the startup world with confidence. 

• Online workshops: Take place twice a week via Zoom - every Tuesday and Thursday from 16:00 to 17:30 - totaling 3 hours per week.
• In Person Events: The programme hosts 3 in person event for participants including a welcome day, a team day and our cumulative programme showcase. 

See the top of this page for further information about key dates.