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Venture Further Awards: Annual business start-up competition is back

21 Oct 2022

Our University is leading the way to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across campus, reopening its annual start-up competition

Venture Further Awards 2023

The Masood Entrepreneurship Centre’s Venture Further Awards (VFA’s), is the UK’s primary university-led start-up competition for student and graduate entrepreneurs.

Now open for applications, the VFA’s develop and launch entrepreneurial students and graduates’ ideas. Enabling innovative hopefuls from all backgrounds to enter the competition, across five categories: Environment, Healthcare, Services, Social and Technology. No matter what School or Faculty a student or graduate is from, they should find a suitable category for their idea.

With an increased prize fund for 2023 of £100,000, the VFA’s will fund ten new business propositions and open the door to a world of support programmes, workshops, mentors, networks, and follow-on funding.

Mohammed El Hajj, winner of the Technology category in 2021 and founder of Bright Biotech, raised £3.5M in investment last year and was one of the nine teams selected for Innovate UK’s competitive 2022 Global Incubator Programme - Gateway to Asia. With its game changing technology, Bright Biotech provides innovative solutions to the biggest agricultural challenges in the world.

Entries to the competition should be viable and credible business proposals with real potential to succeed. Applications close on Thursday, 23 February 2023 after which, up to twenty finalists will pitch their business to a panel of expert judges for a chance to win one of the cash prizes. MEC are also offering support sessions between October 2022 and the competition finals in March 2023, to all aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter.

Last year’s competition was a tremendous success, with the long-awaited return to an in-person awards ceremony in the prestigious Whitworth Hall.

Ellie Buckley, Venture Further Awards Manager said: “Celebrating its twentieth year, the Venture Further Awards have created over one hundred businesses and between them have gone on to secure over £20m worth of investment. I am sure this year will continue that tradition to produce phenomenal start-ups which will benefit the region and wider UK economy.”

If you are an aspiring start-up founder who wants to launch or scale a successful business, then get in touch with MEC to apply to the competition. Be your own boss, venture further…