About EnterpriseTECH STAR

The EnterpriseTECH STAR experience

EnterpriseTECH STAR is designed for alumni of EnterpriseTECH who want to turn their research (or other ideas) into new business ventures that broadly align with UK Research & Innovation missions. We group these themes into ‘Earth’ and ‘Human,’ but don’t let these words limit your thinking if you have a different idea – they don’t limit ours.

It is an intense 10-week programme presented every 18-24 months for up to 20 people, either as individuals or teams. With face-to-face contact time on alternate weeks, the programme includes talks, workshops, and progressively stepped tasks. You also benefit from a series of mentoring brunches with our enthusiastic and experienced coaches, who will help you develop as an individual and as an entrepreneur.

Ultimately, the programme is designed to help you build a narrative around your business idea and flesh out the substance and details. Many of our 54 students from our first three cohorts since 2019 have gone on to do great things, and you could too. While you don’t need to have established a company, and we look for great ideas – great people come first!

The application portal and an opportunity to discuss your application opens on 17 April 2023 for Cohort IV that will run from 10 April – 14 June 2024 with an application deadline of 10 January.

Personal and business idea programme tracks

A distinguishing feature of EnterpriseTECH STAR is the personal development our students experience as they find their entrepreneurial stride. You begin the programme with a business idea, and our aim is to help you take it to the next stage, whether that’s earning a place in an incubator or accelerator, winning a competition, or attracting pre-seed funding. All of these outcomes are within the realm of possibility and have been comfortably achieved by past STAR students.

As you progress through the programme, you’ll develop along two tracks. The first is your personal track, which involves working on your presenting and pitching skills, developing your voice through professional voice coaching, honing story-telling skills and creative performance, along with confidence building, and working with leadership trainers and mind architects to prepare you for the challenges of taking your nascent venture to the next stage.

The second track is focused on developing your business idea, with modules directly relevant to the ideas and products on the cohort, as well as enriching and expanding your personal and business networks across the Cambridge-wide enterprise ecosystem. During the mentoring brunches, you’ll receive lots of individual attention from experienced and industry-specific mentors.

We guide you through accomplishing the tasks that ultimately add essential documents and materials to your entrepreneur’s tool bag or briefcase: a one-page business plan summary, a business plan, a pitch deck, a video interview, professional photos and a jobs to-do list. You’ll also receive valuable feedback on each of these from the programme team and mentors.

Benefits for participants

Overall, EnterpriseTECH STAR offers you a unique opportunity to develop both your personal and professional skills as an entrepreneur, gain valuable insights and guidance from experienced mentors and industry experts, and take the next steps towards getting your business idea off the ground.

• Personal development: You can expect to gain more confidence with business literacy, leadership skills, and increased self-awareness in the entrepreneurship space.
• Business development: You will receive guidance and support in developing your business ideas.
• Networking: You will have plenty of opportunities to meet and network with programme speakers, mentors and industry-specific experts.
• Incubator and accelerator opportunities: Successfully completing the programme brings with it quite a bit of exposure, our experience has been that you can expect to have a higher chance of earning a place in an incubator or accelerator, winning a competition, or attracting pre-seed funding.
• Exposure to a wide range of industries: The programme is open to participants from all backgrounds, and you can expect to gain exposure to a wide range of tech-based sectors, which can provide valuable insight and inspiration.
• Personal fulfilment: The programme can be an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding experience, as you will have the have the opportunity to work on something you are passionate about. This can provide a sense of purpose and fulfilment that extends beyond (and for far longer) than the scope and duration of the programme itself.

Time commitment

EnterpriseTECH STAR is packaged as a 180-hour commitment over 10 weeks. The in-person contact time runs to 100 hours, with most of the modules (2-4) running on a Friday from noon until late in the evening and a full day on Saturdays, with the exception of Module 1 which includes a Launch Evening and three full days on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and similarly for Module 5 in preparation for the Investor pitches and
Showtime!

The remaining 80 hours is an expectation of your own time spent working on developing your business idea across the duration of the programme and preparing for the tasks you are assigned during the contact time on alternate weekends.

Our alumni continued with their primary courses and research by day, taking an organised approach to the programme demands as a largely extracurricular endeavour.

Anyone in doubt about the timeliness of embarking on this programme or the impact of the time commitment on their research should get in touch with the Programme Director to discuss early on (after 17 April 2023 for Cohort IV). We expect all applicants to have the support of their primary research supervisor before accepting a place, if offered.