Venture Further Awards
The UK’s leading university start-up competition with a huge £100,000 total prize pot.
Important Links
- Apply Here
- Terms and Conditions
- Applicant Support Pack
What is Venture Further Awards?
The Venture Further Awards (VFA) is the UK’s leading university start-up competition with a huge £100,000 total prize pot.
Business ideas could win up to £15,000 in one of our five categories: Environment, Healthcare, Services, Social & Technology.
It doesn’t matter what stage your business is at; we are looking for startups that are driven, ambitious, and show they are serious about making it work. We want to see innovative, impactful and scalable businesses with founders who have the skills to make it a success!
- Do you have an innovative idea that solves a problem?
- Is there a clear demand or need for this idea in the market?
- Does your idea have the potential to make a significant impact?
- Do you have a well-thought-out plan to bring this idea to life?
- Do you have the passion and drive to make your idea a reality?
If the answer is yes, then start your application today!
Who can apply?
- Any current student at the University of Manchester (UG, Master’s/PGT, PGR/PhD)
- Graduates from the University of Manchester within the last 2 years (on or after 1st December 2022)
- You can submit an entry with a team of up to four people, but at least 50% of the team must be from the University of Manchester in the above categories.
- The lead applicant should be the business founder, and any additional team members must have an active role in the business.
What is the application process?
- Stage 1 – Submit a pitch deck and 1 page summary here by Monday 17th March at 12pm. Please see the support and resources section below for more information on how to do this.
- Stage 2 – If your application is successfully shortlisted, you will proceed to the final round. This will be a 10-minute pitch to a judging panel followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. The winner of each category will win £15,000 and the runner-up will win £5,000. In addition to pitching, the finalists will also record a short video about their business idea which will be shown at the award ceremony.
Which category should I enter?
Find out more about the categories below:
This category is for businesses that are involved in some meaningful way to minimise or even reverse the negative impact of themselves or others on the economy, environment or society - also known informally as profits, planet, and people. Ideas should meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Your idea may also align with one or more of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Ideas for this category may include (but are not limited to):
- Affordable and clean energy
- Clean water and sanitation
- Climate action
- Conservation (land or ocean)
- Digital circular economy solutions
- Recycling solutions
- Sustainable industrialisation and infrastructure development
- Reduction in environmental pollution
- Responsible consumption and production
- Sustainable cities and communities
- Waste prevention
The healthcare industry is a sector that provides medical goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative or palliative care. Healthcare businesses focus on the maintenance or improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people of all ages and backgrounds.
Ideas for this category may include (but are not limited to):
- Advanced care planning
- Biotechnology
- Care coordination technology
- Health diagnostics software/hardware
- Health or wellbeing products
- Life sciences tools and services
- Medical devices and equipment
- Managed healthcare (insurance)
- Pharmaceuticals
- Wellbeing initiatives and interventions.
A service business provides certain professional support to its clients. In these businesses, the product is not a tangible one, instead it's an activity that helps a third party in different areas. The business may deliver its services physically or digitally through web-based systems or apps.
Ideas in this category may include (but are not limited to):
- Advertising
- Apparel and design
- Architecture
- Cleaning and maintenance
- Communications
- Consultancy
- Creative arts and culture
- Food and beverage
- Games
- Financial services and banking
- Hospitality
- Household and personal products
- Law
- Leisure
- Luxury goods
- Marketing
- Music
- Publishing
- Real estate
- Recruitment
- Retail
- Textiles
- TV and film
A social enterprise is a business that is changing the world for the better. Like traditional businesses, social enterprises aim to make a profit applying commercial strategies to deliver products and services, however, they will reinvest or donate profits to create positive social change. Their core social values should focus on creating a positive impact, improving the lives and social wellbeing of people and communities. Social business focus on business for good - when they profit, society profits.
Each entry should detail how all / the majority of profits will be reinvested into the business or community for the purpose of achieving the social mission rather than maximising profit for shareholders and owners.
Examples of well-known Social Enterprises include The Big Issue, Co-op, Divine Chocolate, and Eden Project.
View examples of Greater Manchester Social Enterprises.
Please note: this category is NOT for social media platform development based ideas.
This category is for businesses that apply new and emerging technologies to generate new experiences, innovative business opportunities or provide potentially radical and disruptive solutions to real-world problems.
Ideas may revolve around the manufacturing of electronics, the creation of software, computers or products and services relating to information technology. Alternatively, they may address significant industrial challenges and technological advancements arising from new knowledge or the innovative application of existing knowledge, taking the form of new products, materials, processes.
Ideas in the category may include (but are not limited to):
- Aerospace and defence
- Artificial intelligence
- App development
- Blockchain
- Chemical manufacturing
- Construction and engineering
- Cybersecurity
- Data and analytics
- Digital economy
- Fintech
- IT consulting
- IT infrastructure
- Internet of things
- Logistics
- Manufacturing
- Software development
- Semiconductors
- Software as a service
- Technology hardware and equipment
- Transportation technologies
- Utilities improvements
- Virtual reality
Key Dates
The key dates for the Venture Further Awards 2025 are as follows:
| Activity | Deadline |
| Applications Open | Monday, 7th October 2024 |
| Applicant Support Session 1 |
Tuesday, 19th November 2024, 13:00-14:30 Enterprise Zone (2.039 AMBS) |
| Drop-in Day 1 | Wednesday, 12th February 2025, 10:00-16:00 AMBS Reception |
| Applicant Support Session 2 | Wednesday, 19th February 2025, 13:00-14:30 Enterprise Zone (2.039 AMBS) |
| Drop-in Day 2 | Thursday, 13th March 2025, 10:00-16:00 AMBS Reception |
| Application deadline | MONDAY, 17th MARCH 2025, 12:00 MIDDAY |
| Eligibility Checks Carried Out | Tuesday, 18th March 2025 & Wednesday, 19th March 2025 |
| Applications Sent to Judges | Thursday, 20th March 2025 |
| Judges to Shortlist Applications | Thursday, 20th March 2025 - Monday, 31st March 2025 |
| Finalists Informed of Result | Wednesday, 2nd April 2025 |
| Pitching Workshop | Tuesday, 29th April 2025, 10:00-12:00 Enterprise Zone (2.039 AMBS) |
| Filming of Finalists | Monday, 5th May 2025 - Wednesday, 7th May 2025, Enterprise Zone (2.039 AMBS) |
| Pitching Week | Monday, 12th May 2025 - Friday, 16th May 2025 |
| Venture Further Awards Dinner | Wednesday, 11th June 2025 |
Support and resources
- Application support pack
- VFA Terms and Conditions
- Support Sessions – Come along to the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre for a brief presentation about the competition with some top tips from the organisers and plenty of time for Q&A. The sessions will also be available online.
Tuesday 19th November, 13:00-14:30, Online & The Enterprise Zone, 2nd Floor of AMBS
Wednesday 19th February, 13:00-14:30, Online & The Enterprise Zone, 2nd Floor of AMBS
- Drop-in Days – Come and chat to a member of our team if you have any questions about the competition or application:
Wednesday 12th February 10-4 in AMBS reception
Thursday 13th March 10-4 in AMBS reception
FAQ
Yes, you are eligible to participate in the competition, but you must ensure that you do not breach any visa restrictions surrounding engaging in business activity.
Yes. If you meet the eligibility criteria you may enter VFA with a registered business. However, the business must not have been trading for more than 2 years.
If you did not win a prize previously, you can submit the same proposal again but utilise feedback on your previous entry to strengthen your application to this year’s competition. Alternatively, you can submit an entirely new proposal. If you have won any level of funding from VFA previously, you may not apply.
Your team may contain up to four people, but at least 50% of the team must be current students and/or recent graduates. The lead applicant should be the business founder, and any additional team members must have an active role in the business.
Yes, but they must not exceed 50% of the team.
Your business can still be at the idea stage, but we need to see the real intention that you want to take it forward after the competition. There is no such thing as ‘too advanced’, but your business cannot have been trading longer than 2 years.