Venture Further Awards 2026

The Freelancing Track celebrates solo practioners — individuals building portfolio careers around their own talent and expertise. Aligned with the MEC Freelancer Pathway and Get Freelancing programme, it spotlights Manchester’s most ambitious independent professionals. 

Whether you’re a consultant, maker or digital strategist, this track recognises outstanding independent ventures through three distinct honours. 

All applicants will automatically be considered for The Freelancer of the Year category.

• The Creative Excellence Award: For designers, writers, or media freelancers. (Award: £3,000)
• The Service Innovator Award: For those providing a unique B2B or B2C service. (Award: £3,000)
• The Freelancer of the Year: A singular, high-status title. (Award: £4,000)

• Individual Ownership: Is the venture based on your personal skills as a solo-practitioner or creative? 
• Problem & Solution: Have you identified a problem you are trying to solve? 
• Portfolio Readiness: Do you have a portfolio that can be presented to the judges to demonstrate what you do? 
• Venture Infrastructure: Have you considered (or already set up) the basics of self-employment? (e.g., professional indemnity insurance, tax registration, or a client contract template). 
• Market Demand: Can you show evidence of "client interest"? (This could be past invoices, testimonials, or a pipeline of potential projects). 
• Future Planning: Can you demonstrate your plans for the next 12-months?

Think this track resonates with you? 
Look through The Freelancing Track Support Pack for detailed guidance, pitch deck advice and application tips. 

Aligned with the MEC Social Impact Pathway and it's signature Manchester Impact Ventures accelerator programme. For ventures driving systemic change, green and circular economy innovation, and local or social solutions creating meaningful impact, this track recognises that impact is measurable, scalable and essential to modern business.

• The Community Impact Award: For local or social solutions. (Award: £5,000)
• The Sustainable Development Award: For green/eco-focused/circular economy ventures. (Award: £15,000)
• The Social Impact Venture Award: For ventures driving systemic change. (Award: £20,000)

• Core Mission Alignment: Is the primary purpose of the venture to solve a social or environmental problem? (e.g. poverty, climate change, and education access). 
• Problem & Solution: Have you identified a problem you are trying to solve? Do you have a clear mission and vision statement? 
• Community Engagement: Have you identified your target community, including the size and growth of it. 
• Impact Pathway: Do you have a clear link between your activity and the impact? Can you clearly show how your actions lead to the outcomes and impact you’re claiming? 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Have you identified all key stakeholders? 
• Impact Measurement (KPIs): Have you identified key metrics you will track? (e.g., "Tonnes of CO2 diverted" or "Number of students supported"). 
• Future Planning: Can you demonstrate your plans for the next 12-months?

Think this track resonates with you? 
Look through The Social Impact Track Support Pack for detailed guidance, pitch deck advice and application tips. 

The Research-Led Disruption Track is home for those who inhabit the “Hard Science” space – the PhDs, post-docs, and researchers who are turning complex laboratory breakthroughs into market-ready ventures. 

Aligned with the MEC Researcher Pathway and its cornerstone programmes, Researcher Launchpad and the Manchester Venture Builder, this track supports the critical transition from breakthrough research to commercialisation, helping founders translate innovation into real-world impact.

• The Deep Tech Excellence Award: For ventures solving complex engineering or scientific hurdles. (Award: £30,000)
• The Eli & Britt Harari Graphene Enterprise Award: Our most prestigious materials science prize for innovations utilising graphene or other 2D materials. (Award: £45,000)

• Intellectual Property Awareness: Has any Intellectual Property (IP) been identified? If the IP was created using University resources, have you engaged with the University of Manchester Innovation Factory? 
• Problem & Solution: Have you identified a problem you are trying to solve? Have you clearly articulated the problem and explained how your research-based solution addresses it? 
• Scientific Foundation: Is the venture based on original research, a fundamental scientific discovery, or an engineering breakthrough? 
• Technical Credibility: Can you demonstrate a concise and credible scientific application? (e.g., using graphene to increase battery conductivity, improve filtration, or enhance composite strength). 
• Defensibility: What makes your venture difficult to replicate? This could be a patent, a trade secret, or a highly specialised dataset that prevents competitors from easily copying you. 
• Material Core: For The Eli & Britt Harari Graphene Enterprise Award, does your innovation directly utilise Graphene or other 2D materials as a primary component of it's value proposition? 

Think this track resonates with you? 
Look through The Research-Led Disruption Track Support Pack for detailed guidance, pitch deck advice and application tips. 

The Startup Track is the high-energy core of the competition, built for bold founders within the MEC community who have moved beyond idea stage and are actively validating, building and preparing to scale.

Closely aligned with MEC’s Startup Pathway, including Launchpad and the Manchester Venture Builder accelerator programme, it’s open to digital platforms, consumer products and scalable tech-driven ventures. This track celebrates founders who test rigorously, iterate quickly and execute with ambition.

• The Digital Innovation Award: Best app, SaaS, or software-based platform. (Award: £20,000)
• The Consumer & Product Innovation Award: Best physical product, retail, or Direct to Consumer brand. (Award: £20,000)
• The High-Growth Venture Award: The startup with the most potential for rapid growth and investment. (Award: £35,000)

• Product-Market Fit: Can you demonstrate that you have moved beyond "idea" into "validation"? 
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Status: For the Digital Innovation Award, do you have a functional prototype, wireframes, or a Beta version of your software/ app? 
• Brand Identity: For the Consumer & Product Innovation Award, do you have a clear visual identity and a physical prototype or sample of your product? 
• Scalability Potential: For the High-Growth Venture Award, can you explain how your business could grow 10x without a 10x increase in your personal time or costs? 
• Traction Evidence: Can you provide data such as user sign-ups, pre-orders, letters of intent (LOIs), or successful pilot results? 

Think this track resonates with you? 
Look through The Startup Track Support Pack for detailed guidance, pitch deck advice and application tips. 

The competition is open to current students at the University of Manchester (Undergraduate, Master's and PhD), Postdoctoral Researchers, and alumni who graduated within the last two years. If you graduated from UoM within the past two years and are now working as a Postdoctoral Researcher, you are still eligible to apply. For team applications, at least 50% of founders must meet this eligibility criteria.

Yes, you can apply. However, you must ensure you do not breach any visa conditions relating to business activity. If you are unsure, please check with the University’s International Student Team before applying.

• If you did not win a prize previously: Yes. You can submit the same proposal again (we recommend using previous feedback to strengthen it or submit an entirely new proposal). 
• If you have won any level of funding from this competition previously: No, you are not eligible to apply again. 

Your team may contain up to four co-founders (including the lead applicant). The lead applicant should be the lead business founder, and any additional team founding team members must have an active role in the business.

Yes, but they must not exceed 50% of the team. At least half of your team must be comprised of current UoM students and/or recent graduates/Post-Doctoral Researchers.

No. Solo founders are welcome in all tracks, and the Freelancing Track is specifically designed for individual practitioners. 

We welcome everything from "validated concepts" to "early-stage revenue." However, for the Research-Led track, we typically look for a minimum of TRL 3 (Proof of Concept). An “untested idea” is typically too early for this competition, but you should consider Get Started and/or Get Pitching. There is no requirement or expectation that your venture will be a registered business.

Yes. You may enter with a registered business provided you meet the other eligibility criteria.

Yes. Your business must not have been trading for more than 2 years. There is no such thing as "too advanced" as long as you fall within this two-year window.

No. You must choose the track that best fits your primary business model. Review the relevant [Track Support Guide] if you’re unsure. The Masood Entrepreneurship Centre may alter your track selection if we deem another is more suitable. Our decision is final.

If your primary goal is rapid commercial growth and market disruption, choose the Startup Track. If your venture exists primarily to solve a social or environmental problem and you measure success through impact – choose Social Impact.

Probably not. "Deep Tech" (in the Research-Led Disruption track) refers to ventures built on proprietary scientific breakthroughs or complex engineering. Most standard apps belong to the Startup Track under the "Digital Innovation" category.

All our judges sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). However, focus your pitch on what the tech does, rather than sharing specific "enabling" secrets like raw code or chemical formulas.

If your venture involves IP created at the University, you must engage with the UoM Innovation Factory. This is a requirement for the Research-Led Disruption track.

The funding is “equity-free”, but it is for the express purpose of developing your venture. You should use the funds to move your venture to the next stage – this could be prototyping, legal fees, marketing, or equipment.

The competition is the "grand reveal" of our pathways. 

• Freelancers should have completed Get Freelancing. 
• Social Impact winners often move into Manchester Impact Ventures. 
• Researchers should ideally be graduates of the Researcher Launchpad. 
• Startup Track winners are ideally suited for the Venture Builder.