We are based at The Deck in the Innovation Centre on Streatham Campus. The Deck is a collaborative workspace for student entrepreneurs to work on their business ideas or to meet a member of our team for 1-2-1 appointments. The space is also used for weekly startup workshops and classes for modules.
At SETsquared Exeter we help University of Exeter students become successful entrepreneurs through numerous activities and facilitating networking and collaboration opportunities.
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Student Startups
Student Startups
Open to students and graduates from all degree disciplines
Programmes delivered in Exeter and Penryn
Student Startups Programmes
Whether you have the seed of an idea and don't know where to start, or you have an established business model and are ready to start trading, the Student Startups team are here to support your entrepreneurial ambitions.
Our entry-level Pre-Incubator programme and follow-on Incubator programme run in Terms 1 and 2, and are designed to support you from the business idea stage through to launch, through workshops, peer-to-peer network building, 1:1 advice, and access to early-stage funding.
Outside of our core programmes, we hold regular drop-in sessions, workshops and events, that are open to all in the University community.
Whether you want to launch a new app, start a social enterprise, develop an innovative new product or simply flex those entrepreneurial muscles to see how it feels, the Student Startups team would love for you to get involved.
Please find further details of our programmes below.
The Startup Pre-Incubator Programme is the first stage in building the foundations of an established business idea. Our 8-week programme includes core foundation workshops, inspirational speaker events and masterclasses. There will be demo events introducing you to the wider Exeter ecosystem. You will have the opportunity to pitch for Market Validation funding of up to £500 to test the viability of your idea.
Who can apply?
This programme is open to all students, from all disciplines, and recent graduates (up to 2 years). To join the programme you should be able to:
- Identify why you are interested in exploring an entrepreneurial pathway
- Articulate either a problem that you wish to solve through an entrepreneurial solution or an idea that you want to explore further.
Dates and deadlines:
Pre-Incubator sessions run on Wednesday afternoons 3-4.30pm in-person in Exeter and Penryn.
Applications for the Autumn 2024 Pre-Incubator programme are now open and close on Wednesday 9th October. The first session of the programme will start on Wednesday 16th October.
» Please apply to the Pre-Incubator programme here
The Startup Incubator programme is an intensive programme, designed to take you from validation to launch and to support you in building a viable and sustainable business. Successful applicants should have completed the Startup Pre-Incubator programme and will be able to clearly demonstrate a viable and sustainable business idea. Participants will have access to professional services, skills development masterclasses and 1-1 mentoring from the Startup Team. There will be demo events introducing participants to the wider Exeter ecosystem and the opportunity to pitch for Startup funding of up to £1500 to launch and develop new ventures.
On the Incubator programme, you will benefit from:
- Weekly masterclasses
- 1:1 support from the Student Startups team
- Demo event at the end of the programme to pitch for further funding of up to £1500.
Who can apply?
The Startup Incubator is open to all students from all disciplines, and recent graduates (up to 2 years out of university). To apply to the programme you should be able to:
- Demonstrate participation in the University’s Startup Pre-Incubator programme
- Demonstrate commitment and entrepreneurial ambition
- Present a viable business idea and be in the process of/have undertaken some initial market validation and analysis to demonstrate the viability of your idea
Dates and deadlines:
Incubator sessions will run on Friday mornings (10-11.30am) starting on 18th October. Sessions on 18th October, 29th November and 6th December, will take place in-person in Exeter. All other sessions will take place online.
Applications for the Autumn 2024 Incubator programme are now open and close on Monday 30th September. The first session of the programme will start on Friday 18th October.
» Please apply to the Incubator programme here
Interested in the Student Startups programmes but don't have a business idea? Introducing Idea Generation Workshops!
Join us to explore practical, creative ways to generate new start-up ideas and to meet other innovators and change-makers.
Our idea generation workshop is designed to help students explore problems and challenges they are passionate about, and devise an entrepreneurial solution to positively impact the world around them.
- Meet the Student Startups team
- Explore our startup co-working space, The Deck
- Develop a new purpose-driven idea or venture
- Become a change-maker!
New workshop dates coming soon.
Got an early-stage idea and want some advice?
The Student Startups team host weekly drop-in Q&A sessions via Microsoft Teams for students or graduates to pop in and chat with us about their business idea. Anyone can join a drop-in session, regardless of whether you are currently enrolled on a Student Startups programme.
Drop-ins run every Tuesday from 2-3pm. Please contact the Student Startup team to request a link to access the session.
The Student Startup Inspiration Talks are curated to bring together a diverse line-up of entrepreneurs from across different sectors and at different stages in their journey. Each event will centre around a specific theme and we will invite guest speakers to give a brief talk about their startup story and then follow-up with a moderated panel-style discussion around the theme of that talk. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions and dig deeper into individual stories and it’s a great opportunity to be inspired by a wide range of different founders and ventures.
Who can attend?
Inspiration Talks are open to all in the University of Exeter’s community– students, graduates, staff. You don’t have to be in one of our core programmes to join a talk and it’s a great place to dive in and get a flavour of who we are and what we do.
Upcoming events:
Our next Inspiration Talk will take place on Wednesday 2nd October at 3-4.30pm, in Exeter and Penryn. Please save the date; speakers and further details will be announced soon.
The Summer Startup Bootcamp is designed to support you in taking the next steps in your entrepreneurial journey.
The Summer Startup Bootcamp is an intensive 3 days, packed with valuable workshops, activities and opportunities for networking and collaboration. We will work with you to further explore and develop your entrepreneurial ideas and equip you with the skills and resources required to go from idea to launch and to build a viable and sustainable new business’. There will be opportunity to work with other like-minded people, to explore topics such as customer discovery and market validation; to discuss the pros and cons of different business models and to develop valuable pitching and presentation skills. You will end the Bootcamp more confident in being able to articulate your start-up idea to others, equipped with new skills and experience and with a clear plan of next steps on your start-up journey.
This Bootcamp is open to all students, from all disciplines and recent graduates of up to 3 years. We welcome all ideas and experience and can’t wait to work with you and help you bring your ventures to life.
Dates and deadlines:
The next Summer Startup Bootcamp will take place on 28th-30th May 2025.
Additional opportunities
Below are details of other opportunities available to you on your Startup journey, through a range of partners we work with.
Have an idea for a new innovation or technology? Or already working on a project which could have positive impact on the world and generate revenue? This competition is designed for you!
Pitch your business idea to our expert panel at the start of March for a share of a £3000 prize, plus the opportunity to pitch at the national Engineers in Business Competition (£11,000 in prizes) in Autumn 2025.
How it works:
- Applicants are accepted into the competition, then work to develop and refine their business ideas.
- They prepare a 6-minute pitch communicating their idea and how they would use funding to take their ideas forward.
- Teams rehearse and refine their pitches and then pitch their business ideas to a panel of entrepreneurial judges.
- Prizes up to £3,000
- Idea development and pitch training included
- Minimum of 1 UoE Engineering or Computing/Computer Science student per team or solo pitch application.
Key Dates:
The next Elevate competition will take place in March 2025.
If you have any queries regarding the competition, please contact EntrepreneurialEngineers@exeter.ac.uk
Enactus is Exeter University’s Social Enterprise society; just one of a larger network of student societies spread across Universities all over the world.
Enactus create projects that tackle global issues such as poverty, waste or homelessness. Enactus Local and International projects see a problem, use entrepreneurial action to find a solution and improve the lives of the individuals and communities that we work with.
Enactus society use The Deck space on a weekly basis and have launched numerous sustainable business projects including Urban Mushroom Co, Biosmart and Altr.d clothing.
Exeter Entrepreneurs is the University of Exeter's society for people that are business minded with an interest in entrepreneurial skills. Events run by the society give you the opportunity to network with top entrepreneurs and employers and develop a startup idea through skills workshops, mentoring, hackathons and pitch events.
Exeter's international Technology Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (TEB) provides an opportunity for innovators and creative thinkers to experience developing & launching a business.
In 5 days you’ll form a team, develop, launch and pitch your start-up to real investors, alongside Exeter’s leading engineers, entrepreneurs and technologists!
Learn from Gigi Wang, UC Berkeley Industry Fellow, the Silicon Valley expert who mentored Uber!
The next TEB will run in Summer 2025.