University businesses and local start-ups have the chance of receiving up to £25,000 in funding

New businesses linked to the University of Portsmouth and local Portsmouth start-ups can now apply for the Santander X UK Awards 2023 for the chance of winning up to £25,000.

The Santander X UK Awards 2023 is now open for applications with local start-ups and University-linked businesses having the chance of taking home 12 cash prizes of up to £25,000. This year’s competition has two categories: University, which is for University-linked new businesses looking to launch, and Startup, which targets growing businesses ready to scale up. 

In previous years the competition has only been open for University entrepreneurs, but this year applications in the Startup category have been extended to include all UK businesses. 100 businesses will be shortlisted by 20 October. 

These businesses will join a two-day business Bootcamp with expert-led sessions, networking, and pitch support. Following the boot camp, all 100 candidates will pitch their business during Global Entrepreneurship Week (13 – 17 November), where 12 finalists will be selected. The finalists will then pitch live at the National Final in London in December to a high-profile panel of judges, including Mike Regnier, Santander UK Chief Executive and William Vereker, Santander UK Chairman.  

There will be six winners overall (3 per category), who will win up to £25,000 in funding and automatically progress to the Santander X Global Award, the bank’s international entrepreneurship competition where they will have the opportunity to compete against the best early-stage startups from across Europe and Latin America in Spring 2024