Support for young entrepreneurs
Attending this week’s launch of The Entrepreneurs Network report, Ambition Unlimited, I was delighted to enter a room filled with young founders who, as the report implied, had heaps of ambition. I met early-stage entrepreneurs launching everything from apps to accelerators and their optimism was palpable.
Also present were young enterprise advocates and Ambassadors including the one and only Oli Barrett who has been on the side of young entrepreneurs since he was one, starting his first venture whilst at Leeds University, and going on to launch programmes to support the next generation including Tenner and StartUp Britain.
I thought therefore this week’s edition could be a round-up of support for young entrepreneurs. It’s in compiling lists that you see what we are doing but also the gaps. Organisations that have been and gone include Gazelle Group which in the early 2010’s bought together Higher Education institutes who wanted to excel in enterprise, and NACUE that delivered the same for Universities. I can’t help thinking what they were working to achieve should be re-activated.
If you are a young start-up, I hope the links are helpful and, if you know a budding entrepreneur, please forward on!
Young Enterprise – working via primary and secondary schools to deliver finance and enterprise education.
Founders for Schools – connecting schools to volunteer business role models.
Careers & Enterprise Company – oversees a national network of enterprise advisers who visit schools to inspire young people with real-life business experience.
Enterprise Skills – launched by Paddy Maguire – delivering simulated business learning in 80+ schools and offering virtual work-experience.
Tomorrow’s Enterprise – offering 8 week enterprise programmes with project-based learning for students.
Barclays LifeSkills for enterprise – a suite of curriculum-linked resources aimed at developing an enterprising mindset and transferable skills.
The Kickstart House – a new hacker home designed to bring ambitious young founders under one roof. With mentors including Deliveroo’s CBO and serial entrepreneur Alex Macdonald, The House aims to accelerate the real-world impact of the next generation of innovators. (Peter, pictured top of this article, is one of the entrepreneurs behind this)
Tata Varsity Pitch – the longest-running inter-university business pitching competition in the UK – open to current students and those who graduated in last 5 years.
Enterprise Educators UK – a resource for those who are delivering business and enterprise education.
StartUp Loans – when first launched, StartUp Loans were for 18-24 year olds so the start-out intention was to fund young people; the scheme has since expanded to people of all ages. With a loan, you also get a mentor.
The King’s Trust Enterprise programme – a free programme for 18 to 30 year olds that has already supported more than 90,000 young people to launch.
Youth Business International – supporting youth led businesses across the globe through dedicated programmes and support.
LaunchIt – a charity delivering space and support to young founders.
Office of Small Business Commissioner – I’m biased but this resource is a must! We want all new ventures to start with prompt payment in-built ie intention to pay your own suppliers on time but also for founders to know their rights when it comes to requesting payment from others. You will find the content and guides on our site to do that.
In an exciting development for young founders, a new King’s Award for Enterprise category will recognise and celebrate the businesses of young entrepreneurs. The Award will open for applications in May 2026, with the first recipients announced in May 2027.
The final element of support, not included here, is the large number of online influencers who are supporting the next generation to be their own boss including Simon Squibb and Timothy Armoo. Maybe that’s a post for the future!
Please add your own sources of support to the comments.