Capital Enterprise

Capital Enterprise is a UK-based non-profit membership network dedicated to accelerating early-stage tech start-ups. It brings together investors, universities, incubators, local authorities and enterprise agencies to deliver support programmes, mentorship and funding readiness, with a particular focus on helping founders from under-represented groups scale up their ventures.

In particular, Capital Enterprise helps empower those business founders from diverse backgrounds so as to create a fairer and more equitable innovation ecosystem.

By 2030, Capital Enterprise aims to:

• Drive investment throughout the UK, closing the gap between ‘Golden Triangle’ (the geographic cluster of universities and research institutions located between the UK cities of London, Cambridge and Oxford) and other UK regions.
• Create opportunities for minority-led start-ups with a more equitable fundraising landscape.
• Support more ‘deep tech’ spinouts with a special focus on female leaders.
• Educate the next generation of founders and lay the foundation for more inclusivity.
• Advocate for policies that benefit the innovation sector, raising the voices of UK start-ups at the highest levels.

Capital Enterprise work with other founder support programmes, such as Eagle Labs and Amplify Venture. The aim is quite simple: to propel business start-ups and help them reach their full potential.

In addition to its ties with Eagle Labs and Amplify Venture, Capital Enterprise is partnered with the Cancer Tech Accelerator. This accelerator programme runs for 9 months and works with researchers, academics, entrepreneurs and clinicians working on ideas and technology to improve the lives of cancer patients. Notably, this includes support for innovative technologies that can advance the early detection, diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of cancer. Founders are supported to compete for funding, develop a commercial proposition, form a business start-up and gain the necessary tools bring their innovations to market.

Capital Enterprise is also in partnership with ‘Ascend’, which supports 35 businesses with high growth potential each year by helping them secure funding and connections to scale their operations and to realise their full potential.

The Ascend programme focuses on investment readiness, business and funding advice, investment relationship brokerage and aftercare support. The aim is to identify women and non-binary led businesses that are at a fast-growth stage and require funding to scale.

SH&P supports Capital Enterprise by delivering intellectual property assistance to its members and providing patent expertise.

For more information about Capital Enterprise, you can visit their website here, which also includes links to their partners.