Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme is a two-week intensive foundation programme for new and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to gain a wider understanding of all of the aspects of starting and running a business.

The programme, which is run jointly with the Institute for Continuing Education, blends practical teaching sessions with facilitated coaching sessions supported by expert clinics and advice and support from leading entrepreneurs and innovators. It provides an unparalleled opportunity to work with other entrepreneurs from around the world to develop relevant knowledge and insight into the entrepreneurial process.

If you’re ready to take your entrepreneurial journey to the next level then joining the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme might be the key to unlocking that ambition.

Who is it for?

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme is for all new and aspiring entrepreneurs who either have an interest in starting, or may have already started, a new business but who are looking for guidance and advice on how best to take their idea forwards.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme provides a range of academics and practitioners who together deliver an interactive an practical series of seminars and workshops to enable you to assess and validate the commercial viability of your business and to provide you with a structured framework around which it can develop. 

The programme will provide a foundational set of business building skills and will enable you to work with diverse groups of like-minded entrepreneurs on highly practical projects. You will expand your network of contacts and increment your knowledge and experience with the help of highly experienced mentors and coaches.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme attracts people from all over the world; in 2018 the programme attracted 27 women and 35 men who came from 33 different countries.

The programme is for all new and aspiring entrepreneurs whatever your background who are looking to:

• expand their knowledge of business
• build a wide and diverse network of contacts
• learn and interact with entrepreneurs and academics from Cambridge
• acquire practical insight into how best to run their ventures 
• practise developing and pitching business concepts to a critical audience.

Key facts

The inaugural Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summer Programme had 62 participants from 33 countries across the world. Attendees come from a wide range of backgrounds with some still in education, some recent graduates, some who had never formally studied before as well as a few seasoned business people who came to refresh their knowledge and understanding. They came from all industry sectors including technology, fashion, construction, IT, engineering, healthcare and many more.