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About - Apply - Event - Society Venture Partners - Society Success Stories - Innovation Board
About
To realise the step change in Enterprise Society development and growth, we will introduce an Enterprise Society Innovation Fund that will match-fund society initiatives with the objective of rewarding entrepreneurial ambition to help launch new societies and innovative new projects in over 100 Universities in England. This is the first year of a three-year project with funding from BIS.
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Categories
Catalyst Awards
These are awards of up to £1,000 that are intended to help create and launch a new society. This may be a new society or re-launch of a failed society. Around 10 societies will receive this award during the 2012/13 academic year.
Innovation Award
These are awards of up to £3,000 and are intended to help develop and launch an innovative new project or initiative which helps ensure sustainability within or around the society. Around 48 societies will receive this award during the 2012/13 academic year.
Societies entering this award will create a 2 minute video of their society and the project they would like to fund. This will be backed up by a business plan of at least 2 pages.
New Frontier Award
These are awards of up to £8,000 and are a limited award available to societies needing larger investments for pioneering investment-intensive projects e.g. setting up a seed accelerator, society incubator, or revenue generating project. Around 2 societies will receive this award during the 2012/13 academic year.
Societies will submit a 2 minute video and business plan of no more than 6 pages using the template provided in the terms and conditions. Six societies will be invited to pitch at our event on the 15th November. We will invite match funders to the event who are interested in supporting the enterprise society in the match funding.
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Eligibility
To apply you must:
- Be an affiliated NACUE society or a member of a NACUE society within England.
- The lead person should be a UK/EU national and able to work in the UK.
- Have a UK Bank Account.
Timings
The 2012/2013 timings are as follows:
- Application deadline 10th November 2012
- Shortlist announced 12th November 2012
- Innovation Day Pitching 15th November 2012
- All winners will be announced during the day
- 4th and 5th May 2013 – Poster & Presentation Campaign to show progress at NLTC 2013
FAQs
Q) How much money was awarded to Enterprise Societies on the day?
A) NACUE awarded £103,000 to 34 societies on the day. The grants ranged between £1,000, £3,000 and £8,000.
Q) What is the £3,000 Innovation Award for?
A) With grants of up to £3,000 available, the Innovation Award supports societies in setting up an income generating project. For instance, Imperial Entrepreneurs, who won one of the £3,000 grants, are looking to set up a tutoring company with the money. Likewise, Brunel Entrepreneurs are hoping to startup a loyalty card system.
Q) What did societies have to do to enter the (up to) £3,000 Innovation Award?
A) Societies entering the award had to create a 2-minute video of their society and the project they would like to fund. This was backed up by at least a two page business plan. The videos were be made public on the 15th November. The societies will be able to draw out the money as soon as they have been accepted.
Q) How many £8,000 pitches were there on the day – and who won?
A) There were seven £8,000 pitches on the day and two winners – UCL Entrepreneurs and Muddy Wellies (RAC).
Q) When did the Match Funding for the Innovation Fund need to have been received?
A) The funding should be promised at the point of application. The money should be received during the first six months of the project.
Q) Where can the match funding come from?
A) The match funding can come from any source. However, it will be favourable for it to come from businesses and partnerships outside of the academic institution.
Q) Can the match funding part of our application have been awarded to the society prior to the launch of the Innovation Fund?
A) Yes, match funding secured prior to the launch of the Innovation Fund can be used as part of your application.
Q) We’re applying for the £1,000 Award to set up our society but don’t have a business structure yet. What template should we use to fill in our application?
A) The £1,000 Catalyst Awards can be applied for using the business plan template (see our terms and conditions). Once you have applied we will look at getting a video of the application to promote the creation of the society.
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