# Proof of concept fund

**Source**: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/enterprise/proof-concept/
**Parent**: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/enterprise/

The Proof of concept fund gives you the chance to receive up to £500 to put towards working on your business idea.

The fund provides financial assistance in the early-stage development of projects that show commercial potential. Awards are made from £250 up to £500. You will also get detailed feedback on your business idea and suggestions for how to improve it.

Successful applications will have a clear idea for a commercial or social enterprise, as well as having a plan for how the funding will help test the concept.

[Apply via Handshake](https://york.joinhandshake.co.uk/edu/surveys/6616)

Applications will be judged by an external board of assessors. To maximise your chances, we advise you to [book an Enterprise appointment](https://york.joinhandshake.co.uk/appointments) to review your application before submitting it.

You can apply any time during the semester. The deadlines for submissions are the end of Week 11.

## What sort of ideas get funded?

We have funded a range of applications ranging from vending machine businesses to digital products. Your idea needn't be fully developed; the fund can help towards collecting customer feedback, researching further into the identified problem or engaging a first client to demonstrate your business.

Here are some examples of the recent uses of our fund:

- Lab equipment to develop mushroom cultivation
- Creation of healthy food boxes for isolating students
- Vegan chocolate bar branding
- Sports data aggregator to help teams compare individual player statistics
- Recycled clothing web store
- One-off hand drawn maps for gamers
- Demonstrating marketing ability to first client
- Two drinking games!

## Previous success of the fund

Lakechia, founder of Girls in Science, explains how the Proof of Concept Fund helped her business get off the ground.

<https://youtu.be/vSujzWKD5z0>