The Enterprise Directorate comprises UK based programmes, the Enterprise Hub and international programmes, the Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF).

The Enterprise Hub was formally launched in April 2013 and celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. Its main purpose is to support some of the best and brightest engineering and technology entrepreneurs who are solving some of today’s most complex economic and social challenges.

Over the last decade, it has supported more than 350 researchers, recent graduates, and SME leaders to startup and scale up businesses that can give practical application to their inventions. It’s awarded over £11 million in grant funding, and the Hub Members have gone on to raise over £1.3 billion in additional funding and create almost 6,000 jobs.

The Enterprise Hub’s mentors are drawn from Fellows of the Academy and the network of engineers in industry and academia, across all sectors of engineering. The Hub Mentors play a key role in the Hub ecosystems and support each of the programme’s entrepreneurs with personalised training and mentorship.

The LIF programme also celebrates its 10th programme this year and has to date supported 1,345 innovators from 19 countries who have created more than 7,000 jobs and raised more than £150 million in funding.

“The combination of tailored support, training, mentoring, and coaching as well as access to a global network is really what makes us stand out from all the other accelerator and innovation programmes,” said Ana Avaliani, Director of Enterprise, Royal Academy of Engineering.

And best of all, thanks to its charitable status, so it doesn’t take equity, fees, or IP!

Programme breakdown

The Academy works with individuals who have IP-rich innovations, so deeptech is very much their speciality. “We’ve got a rich portfolio of deeptech innovations that are addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” notes Avaliani.

All the programmes are highly competitive and Emily Mattiussi, Programme Manager, International Entrepreneurship highlights that they’re really looking for individuals “with innovative technology itself or innovative use of an existing technology” to create the impact the Academy is looking for.

“We’re [also] looking at the potential of the business to become sustainable,” notes Avaliani. “And then, of course, there’s the team. So, all of our programmes are very much focused on the individual and their skills development, but the team is hugely important. We need to be assured that there is a strong team in place.”

The Academy runs four programmes at multiple stages, from ideation to scaleup, with support for entrepreneurial engineers at different career points:

The international portfolio is the Leaders in Innovation Fellowships which runs programmes at TRL4 and above for commercialisation training, a scaling accelerator programme (LIF Advance), and works with the alumni community to support the ongoing entrepreneurship journey.

The Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) programme supports talented entrepreneurs from around the globe to turn their engineering innovation into impactful, sustainable businesses.

LIF programmes are designed to nurture bold, scalable innovations from all areas of engineering and technology.

LIF Global is the flagship entry-point programme that supports entrepreneurs with a technology prototype to create an entrepreneurial mindset.

The Advance Programme takes entrepreneurs working on a customer validated product through rapid scaleup and growth. This programme focuses on relationship-building and business growth activities.

A place on the programmes include:

• Tailored mentoring from highly accomplished entrepreneurs and business leaders
• A network of peers in the UK and internationally
• Ongoing support from the Academy’s global network and unique convening power

The Enterprise Hub comprises:

Enterprise Fellowships

Enterprise Fellowships is a twelve-month accelerator programme for engineering startups and spinouts.

A place on the programme includes:

• Up to £75,000 equity-free funding to cover your salary and business costs
• 75 hours of hybrid training in business fundamentals
• 1:1 business coaching and mentoring by Academy Fellows and accomplished business experts
• Access to the network of tech entrepreneurs, experts, and advisors

The programme is for:

• University researchers wishing to spinout
• Recent graduate startup founders
• Non-UK nationals who are about to complete or have recently completed their PhD at a UK university

Regional Talent Engines

Regional Talent Engines is a six-month pre-accelerator programme for early-stage founders in Northern England, Northern Ireland, and Wales to transform great ideas into new engineering startups. The programme is designed to provide participants with the practical support needed to help refine their innovation and bring their vision to life.

A place on the programme includes:

• An equity-free grant of £20,000 towards living costs
• Hybrid training workshops, roundtables and speaker events in Belfast, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, and Newcastle
• One-to-one business coaching and mentoring

The programme is for:

• Experienced engineers or skilled tech professionals
• Want to set up their own business in Northern England, Northern Ireland, or Wales

Shott Scale Up Accelerator

The Shott Scaleup Accelerator is a 12 month programme that develops, nurtures, and strengthens the leadership capabilities of senior decision-makers in high-growth engineering and tech SMEs to scale their business to the next level.

A place on the programme includes:

• 35-hour growth training programme with their cohort of tech leaders
• 1:1 leadership coaching and mentoring from the network
• £10k training grant to pay for leadership courses anywhere in the world
• Travel and accommodation expenses covered

This programme is for:

• Senior leaders (e.g., CEO, CTO, CFO, head of department)
• UK-based engineering or technology SME

A high-growth company that has raised at least £1m in equity investment, or turnover in the last financial year (or a combination of both). If operating in medtech, grants will also count towards total investment raised

By the end of the programmes, entrepreneurs will be investable. They will have a network that can support them and a clear roadmap to commercialisation with knowledge of how to scale their business.

Graduates of all our programmes benefit from lifetime membership of our exclusive opportunities and network of experts and investors, as well as lifelong access to our co-working spaces in London and Belfast.

This article originally appeared in the November/December issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe