tl;dr The Royal Academy of Engineering has launched a new programme for aspiring engineering and technology entrepreneurs. It comes with £20k funding and a 6 month programme of business support. Ignite is running the programme in N.Ireland, and applications are open now!
The Royal Academy of Engineering is a charity that is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy. The Academy is made up of over 1500 fellows, representing the very best of the UK’s engineering talent, and uses its position to champion excellence in engineering and help inspire the next generation.
The Academy’s Enterprise Hub run a number of programmes designed to support entrepreneurial engineers, and so far they have supported more than 130 companies, who between them have gone on to raise more than £400m in investment.
This year the Academy is launching a brand new programme called Regional Talent Engines, designed to support aspiring technology and engineering entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland and the North of England.
We’re really excited to announce that Ignite has been chosen to run the programme in Northern Ireland, helping the founders to develop their idea, launch the company and raise further investment.
The programme is broken down into two phases:
Phase One is a part-time programme over three weeks to help the shortlisted founders refine their idea, and prepare a pitch for the selection committee who will pick the founders that will go through to Phase Two.
Phase Two is a 5 month programme that sees each founder receive £20k grant funding to support them and their business, business support from Ignite, mentoring from industry experts, and the oportunity to present their idea to VCs and Angels.
This is an incredible opportunity for any aspiring entrepreneurs who are building a technology or engineering based startup. If you’ve heard enough and are ready to apply then you can do so on the Academy’s website here, or if you’d like some more detail on the programme then read on.
Phase One will begin in January 2022, with Phase One starting in February 2022.
There’s two groups that can apply for the programme:
You also need to be resident in one of the four targeted regions; N.Ireland, NE England, NW England or Yorkshire & Humber.
There are 60 places on the Phase One programme (15 places in each of the four regions) and 40 places on the Phase Two programme (10 in each region). This is a lot more than most pre-accelerator/accelerator programmes so you’ve got a good chance of getting on!
Companies who are building a technology or engineering-based solution to a real world problem. This includes software companies, but is unlikely to include a mobile app or No-Code product unless there’s a significantly innovative technology idea behind it.
The ideal stage for this programme are founders who have started working on the idea, but who haven’t yet released it to the public (beyond a prototype/beta test).
No. It doesn’t matter if you already have, but if you haven’t registered yet then that’s something we can help with.
4pm on Monday 22nd November
No, there are no fees, and we do not take any equity.
You need to apply through the Royal Academy of Engineering website. The application form does require a lot of information but it’s a useful exercise for you to refine your pitch and communicate the core idea. You’ll also need to upload a copy of your CV and a 3 minute pitch video (this doesn’t need to be professional quality – mobile phone quality is absolutely fine).
