A boost for Brighton graduate start-ups

A total of £25,000 has been provided by Santander, which is available to current students or alumni who graduated in the past five years. 10 businesses this summer have already benefited from the grant scheme, turning their dreams into a reality.

Now, just over £16,000 is up for grabs, with each grant worth between £500 and £1,000. The programme, which is a collaboration between Santander Universities and the university’s entrepreneurship service beepurple, can be used by students or alumni who graduated as far back as 2015.

The grants can be used to start a business, develop an existing venture or support current trading, providing vital support for entrepreneurs who require assistance with aspects like product and technical development, intellectual property protection and marketing.

Santander grant award

Clare Griffiths, Business Development Manager, said: “I am constantly impressed with the creative, motivated and ethical minds of our student entrepreneurs.

“The Santander Start-Up Grants will support the graduates to start and develop their own ventures - ranging from online language schools to innovative cushion designs, from children's toys made out of rescued wood (based in Costa Rica) to sustainable children's clothing (based in India).

“I look forward to seeing their businesses develop over the next few months and supporting them via our beepurple entrepreneurship support service.”

Matt Hutnell, Director of Santander Universities, said: “Santander is committed to supporting higher education as well as local communities across the UK so we’re pleased that our funding is able to be make a difference at this critical time.

“Universities, such as Brighton, are doing some fantastic work to contribute to the UK’s effort to combat the impact of COVID-19, particularly in supporting students and graduates.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with our university partners in a way which increases their response effort and look forward to continuing to work with them on supporting both students and the broader higher education community with further initiatives over the coming months.”

Applications are open until 20 September 2020. Find out more about how to apply.