📣 Manchester Venture Builder applications are now open!

​📣 Manchester Venture Builder applications are now open - apply here!

​Manchester Venture Builder is a hands-on accelerator designed to help students, graduates, and researchers turn early-stage ideas into validated, market-ready startups.

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​Over a structured 12-week of support, founders test assumptions, build MVPs and gain real customer traction. The most promising teams then progress into a selective 8-week extended support phase, receiving deeper 1-2-1 mentoring and preparing to pitch at Demo Day. 

​Participation in our Manchester Venture Builder Programme is based on verified applications to take part in our 2026 cohort apply here. The application deadline is Sunday 1st March 2026.

​Venture Builder 2026 – Key Dates 📅

• ​Applications open: Monday 22nd December 2025 

• ​Applications close: Sunday 1st March 2026 

• ​Interviews: Week commencing 9th March 2026 

• ​Outcome notifications: Tuesday 17th March 2026 

• ​Programme start: Tuesday 24th March 2026 

​An information session will be hosted on the 17th February to help answer any questions and provide application support.

​Sign up here: Manchester Venture Builder Information Session

​During our first programme launch of Venture Builder in 2025: 

• ​28 student founders joined the 12-week programme 

• ​100% validated their ideas through live experimentation 

• ​11 teams pitched at Demo Day to investors and ecosystem partners

​Ready to build, test, and grow your startup? 🚀 Apply today and join Manchester’s next generation of founders.

​As a participant of Venture Builder, you’ll also receive lots of perks including:

• ​Hands-on mentoring - Structured 1-2-1 support and expert-led sessions, Venture Builder mentors act as sparring partners, not lecturers. 

• ​Equity-free funding - Access of up to £140K funding pool. Our funding is released as small grants to support testing, prototyping and early go-to-market activity. 

• ​£100K+ in software & tech perks - We have lots of technology perks to support you will be developing your startup, including Google Cloud, Notion, GitHub, Miro, Mixpanel and more. 

• ​Hybrid founder community & workspace - Access to the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre co-working space (known as the Enterprise Zone) plus an active Slack community for ongoing peer support. 

• ​Investor access & Demo Day - Pitch at Demo Day and access a curated database of 400+ investors

​Our Offering - Software Perks 💻

​How the Programme Works 🛠️

​Our Venture Builder programme is a sprint-based accelerator focused on learning by doing. 

​During the VB Journey you will: 

• ​Run customer discovery and test assumptions 

• ​Design and execute real experiments 

• ​Build and iterate early MVPs 

• ​Build traction and learning 

​Alongside this, you’ll gain practical skills in: 

• ​Financial planning and revenue models 

• ​Legal and compliance basics 

• ​Fundraising strategy and early investor outreach 

​By Week 12, every team will have validated (or invalidated!) their idea and built the foundations needed for investor-ready conversations. 

​How to apply to our Venture Builder 2026 Cohort 🖊️

​Applications for the Venture Builder 2026 Cohort open on Monday 22nd December 2025. 

​To apply, you will need to complete the online application form, linked here. As part of the application, you will be required to submit: 

• ​A pitch deck 

• ​A short video 

​Applications close on Sunday 1st March 2026. 

​Apply for Manchester Venture Builder

​After applications close, a shortlisted group of applicants will be invited to interview. Interviews will take place week commencing 9th March 2026. 

​All applicants will be notified of the outcome by Tuesday 17th March 2026. The Venture Builder programme will begin on Tuesday 24th March 2026. 

​Hear from our 2024/25 Cohort: