Five universities, led by Imperial College London, are joining forces to form the WE Innovate National network. This initiative will support 150 women-led teams annually across the participating institutions. The network is based on Imperial's WE Innovate programme, a six-month competition for women entrepreneurs involving students, recent alumni, and Early Career Researchers.
The programme provides various forms of support to women founders, including masterclasses, business coaching, expert advice, and peer mentoring. The top five teams will compete for a share of a £30,000 prize fund.
Swansea University joins Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Glasgow, and Durham University in collaborating with Imperial College London to establish this network. Swansea University's Pro-Vice-Chancellors for Research and Innovation and Education stated that joining the network aligns with their Enterprise Strategy and offers opportunities to support female entrepreneurs.
Professor Mary Ryan from Imperial highlighted the benefits of targeted support through WE Innovate in accelerating women-led ventures. She emphasized that expanding opportunities for women in entrepreneurship is essential for diversifying innovation and promoting sustainable growth.
The universities will collaborate to adapt the WE Innovate National programme to suit each region's specific needs. A national Demo Day will be held annually at different universities where winning teams present their projects to peers, investors, and industry representatives.
Additionally, these universities aim to develop the WE Network—a national platform facilitating connections among women founders, startup teams, mentors, investors, and industry professionals across the UK.
WE Innovate was launched at Imperial in 2014 to tackle challenges faced by women-led businesses at early development stages.
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