Become an Ignite funding partner

Partner with the Ignite programme

We work with a range of companies and institutions from across the globe who support places as part of their mission to foster entrepreneurship and innovation.

Get in touch

Ignite funding partners.

Become a funding partner

Are you interested in funding delegate places at Ignite?

1. If you have your own innovation hub or entrepreneurship support programme you can send your delegates to Ignite.

This will help them to lift their venture off the ground and give them knowledge, tools and connections that will help them to get a good structure and to accelerate their venture faster.

2. You can sponsor a place on Ignite as a prize to the winners of the competition that you organise.

The experience of participating in a one-week international entrepreneurship programme in Cambridge, world-leading hub for cutting-edge research and innovation, attending teaching sessions delivered by leading academics and serial entrepreneurs and emerging in the “Silicon Fen” entrepreneurship ecosystem and network will become unforgettable for your delegates. The value they receive from the programme will be much greater than the face value of the delegate fee.

3. If you have funding available and are looking for entrepreneurship teaching and support providers, we will be happy to design a tailored programme for your delegates.


Our current funding partners

Innovate UK logo.

Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK’s world-class research base.

We connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth.

We fund business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment into R&D. Our support is available to businesses across all economic sectors, value chains and UK regions.

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government.

Innovate UK is supporting businesses involved in the Energy Catalyst programme with opportunities for business up-skilling in partnership with Cambridge Judge Business School through the Ignite 2019 programme.

Visit the Innovate UK website

CaixaBank logo.

CaixaBank

CaixaBank is the leading retail bank in Spain and has promoted the Entrepreneur XXI Awards since 2007. This prestigious national competition aims to identify, recognise and promote the growth of the best young, innovative companies in Spain and in Portugal. Since its creation, 289 companies have received economic awards, international networking and training activities. CaixaBank has provided financial support for up to 20 places on the Ignite programme on an annual basis. The places are awarded as part of a package of prizes and incentives to the regional winners of this Spanish and Portuguese entrepreneurial competition on the basis of their fit with the programme as well as the innovativeness and growth potential of their enterprise ideas.

Visit the CaixaBank website

Visit the EntrepreneurXXI website

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council logo.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a ‘Not-for-Profit Company’ of the Government of India, and has been set up as Department of Biotechnology’s interface agency, which serves as a single window for the emerging biotech industries. The primary focus of BIRAC is to foster entrepreneurship, support innovative start-ups, SMEs and catalyse affordable product development in the biotechnology realm of India. BIRAC is a new industry-academia interface and it implements its mandate through a wide range of impact initiatives, be it providing access to risk capital through targeted funding, technology transfer, IP management and hand-holding schemes that help bring innovation excellence to the biotech firms and make them globally competitive.

Visit the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) website

Postdoc Academy logo.

The Postdoc Academy is the lead organisation within the University of Cambridge with a focus on the postdoc community. Our mission is to enable Cambridge postdocs to realise their potential.

We work towards this aim through four pillars of activity:
• Information – bringing postdocs the information they need, when they need it.
• Community – fostering a sense of belonging for all postdocs.
• Advocacy – working with the community to solve issues.
• Professional Development – helping postdocs develop for their current role and beyond.

Visit the Postdoc Academy website

Postdocs 2 Innovators Consortium logo.

The Postdoctoral Academy (PdA) leads the postdocs 2 innovators (p2i) consortium, which consists of five European Higher Education Institutes and four global businesses. The consortium offers opportunities for postdocs from the p2i partners to connect and engage in programmes to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and gain key skills they can use to pursue careers that will be personally and professionally meaningful both within and outside of academia.

The European consortium offers an international dimension – postdocs are a highly mobile workforce and these collaborations bring cohorts together from different countries, providing a flavour of different entrepreneurial ecosystems. p2i supports the participation of a number of postdocs from across the partnership in Cambridge Judge Business School’s Ignite programme as well as the School’s Venture Creation.

Visit the Postdocs 2 Innovators (p2i) website

PEAK Enterprise and Innovation Programme (PEAK).

PEAK Enterprise and Innovation Programme (PEAK) is a four-year project funded by UK Aid from the United Kingdom Government and implemented by DAI, an international development company operating in over 80 countries.

PEAK works with startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia to guide them in transforming their ideas and products into viable businesses, or in scaling their existing businesses nationally and to regional and international markets.

PEAK offers high-quality business development and advisory services and acceleration and other programmes, virtually and in physical business innovation centres, which aim to increase the innovation and growth capacity of startups and MSMEs.  PEAK additionally supports its startup and MSME clients to raise finance from local financial institutions or local and international investors.

PEAK additionally provides a range of business advisory services to MSMEs, in topics ranging from business registration, business strategy and planning, marketing and sales, finance and investment, and quality management, among others.

PEAK’s ultimate goal is to sustain and create jobs, apply good and innovative business practices, and create life-changing opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

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