Runway Funding and Competitions
The Runway programme has been generously provided with funding by Bristol alumni and friends since 2020 to help support entrepreneurship and the impact it can have on wider society. There are four main ways that the funding is disbursed. The Runway Awards, the Innovation Fund, Runway Bursaries and Seed grants. Awards are made in the form of grants with no expectation of equity or return on the funding. Winners will be expected to report on how they have used the funds and what they have gained during the process. Whilst there is no obligation, we expect that winners will want to contribute to developing a community that supports and encourages future founders to the extent that they are able once their ventures start properly rewarding their efforts.
The Runway Awards
Runway awards is a pitching competition held annually, which is open to ambitious early-stage businesses run by current students (including PGR students) and graduates who have graduated within 2 years of the application deadline. Entries are now open and the judging takes place on 8 April 2025, at the Watershed, pitching live to a panel of external judges and an audience of maybe 100 people .
Deadline: Monday 17th March at 1200
This year £75,000 will be awarded in total, shared between successful applicants. The key judging criteria are as follows:
Scaling Potential. We are very keen to encourage entrepreneurs to focus their efforts on projects that will make a difference in the world and are capable of scaling. We also want to raise the ambition of our entrepreneurs beyond the “Student Bubble” to think about products that will benefit communities well beyond those that students and recent graduates are familiar with.
Proof of Traction. We also recognise that the benefits of innovation only accrue when their intended beneficiaries use the new product or process that the innovator has created. To demonstrate this, we are looking for proof that there is appetite to adopt the product or service and that the design has been informed by evidence from the intended user community.
Compelling Communication. There is mounting evidence that great products fail to meet their potential because users and customers simply don’t understand their benefits. Having high growth products that customers love is not enough on its own unless founders can clearly articulate the power of their ideas.
The judges are not just looking at the maturity of the business. Clearly, start-ups that have been operating longer will be better placed to demonstrate the criteria above. But we also want to encourage ambitious entrepreneurs at earlier stages to develop great ideas. For this reason, between 1/2 and 2/3 of the fund will be awarded to enterprises that can prove traction and scaling with real customers adopting their product, while the remainder of the funding can be awarded to enterprises at an earlier stage that can demonstrate at least the intention of customers to adopt based on feedback from prototyping / other primary research and / or the willingness of partners to invest resources in the idea because they see its potential.
Apply: by 17th March 1200
Entrants will need to submit a 10-minute video pitch. It is important that you make the file viewable/unlocked if you are sending a link rather than a direct file!. Email to: startup-runway@bristol.ac.uk
Finalists will be asked to pitch and answer questions in person at the Runway Showcase as in the timeline above.
To apply or if you have any questions please e-mail startup-runway@bristol.ac.uk with “Runway Award Application” in the headline. Please ensure that you make files shareable if you send a link or we will be unable to view them.
Support for creating and presenting a pitch deck is available with a competition briefing event (date tbc) in the CFIE. Have a look at this video in our learning section to get tips on a good pitch. An internal team will shortlist the pitches and final judging will be by a panel of alumni venture capitalists.
The Jim and Peggy Wilkinson Innovation Awards
The innovation fund will operate like other grant funding applications in that applicants can bid for funding to cover specific projects that will advance their capability to tackle problems that are worth solving. The next awards round will be on 18 February 2025 and entries are open. A briefing and Q&A session will be held on Monday 3 February 1300-1345 on Teams. Join here:
Deadline: Monday 10 February at 1200
£75,000 will be awarded in 3 funding rounds per year. It will be competitive to the extent that it is likely that more projects will apply than there is funding available. The key criteria for the award of funding is Return on Investment. While funding takes the form of non-repayable grants, the judges will be looking for which projects will deliver the highest impact from the funding available. Impact can be social as well as financial.
To evidence this we will be looking for one page executive summary that demonstrates:
Potential. Highlight the benefit to society of the capability that the project will deliver and why this capability is better than existing alternatives. In short, explain why the project is worth doing
Plan. Include details of the project that demonstrates that it will be well executed and is likely to achieve its intended outcomes. It does not matter if the outcome highlights fatal flaws that could not have been predicted without the project. Tell us a little about you and why you are likely to succeed with your venture and don’t forget to say how much funding you are looking for.
Value. Show why this particular project is worth investing in above all others. Remember that it is competitive and if you can show a multiplier (for example that £5,000 investment unlocks over £20,000 of value), it will make the case more compelling.
Communication. Although not explicitly judged, the ability to communicate the benefits of the project in a concise and compelling way will influence your chances of being awarded funding.
To give earlier-stage businesses more of a chance, the awards will be split between Start and Scale awards. Up to £10,000 is available for Start applicants with a maximum award of £3500. The remainder will be shared among Scale applicants. Remember to state on the application which award you are applying for.
Please e-mail applications or any queries on the competition to startup-runway@bristol.ac.uk with “Jim and Peggy Wilkinson Award” in the headline. If you have not applied before, it is worth attending the briefing event for guidance as the standard is high.
Deadline: February 2025 at 1200.
Late applications will not be considered.
Briefing event details on Monday 10 February 1300-1345
If you intend to attend the event, please copy the above details to your calendar as we do not have the ability to send invites or reminders.