Startup Sussex competition

Source: https://student.sussex.ac.uk/careers/entrepreneurship/funding/start-up-sussex Parent: https://student.sussex.ac.uk/careers/entrepreneurship/funding

Find out how Startup Sussex can kickstart your new business.

About the competition

Startup Sussex is the University’s annual entrepreneurship competition, an opportunity for students and recent graduates to win up to £5,000 to fund your business or social enterprise idea, as well as access to business support.

It prioritises innovative ideas and viable business plans, and rewards those who want to create a better world, with additional prizes on offer for social impact and startups that address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Previous winners include Darren Tenkorang, founder of TRIM-IT, Lucy Hughes of MarinaTex, and Plastic4Change founder, Gladys Mwamba.

Startup Sussex isn’t just a funding competition – it’s also a community of entrepreneurial students and graduates, and a chance to learn and practise key entrepreneurial skills that can benefit you in Startup Sussex and beyond.

Entry into the competition is open to all current University of Sussex students, along with graduates up to 3 years after graduation. Those on a student visa are invited to apply but can only launch a venture after graduation, due to visa restrictions.

Prizes

Startup Sussex prizes are designed to support the development of innovative ideas and solutions to real-world challenges. The prizes include:

main prize – £5,000 plus business support
runner-up – £2,000 plus business support
social impact prize – £5,000 plus business support for ideas that demonstrate a clear focus on solving any of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, or look to generate a positive social impact on society
social impact runner-up – £2,000 plus business support for ideas that demonstrate a clear focus on solving any of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, or look to generate a positive social impact on society
three bonus prizes of £1,000 plus business support for ideas that promote University of Sussex’s three strategic goals – Human Flourishing, Environmental Sustainability, and Digital and Data Futures.

Competition winners will also be awarded a place on the Momentum Incubator, a year-long business launch programme offered in collaboration with Sussex Innovation Centre.

How to enter

Startup Sussex is open to you if you are a current Sussex student, or up to three years after graduation. We encourage all students with business or social enterprise ideas to apply.

Open to applications on Monday 9 February 2026 and closes Friday 20 March 2026 at midnight.

You will need to complete this simple Business Plan form along with this application form to which you’ll attach a slide deck showcasing your business idea and how the funding could help you bring your idea to life. More information below.

Shortlisted applicants will be selected to pitch in front of a select panel of judges, including alumnus founders, business owners and industry experts.

Those shortlisted will be announced in early April and will pitch at the Startup Sussex Pitch and Award Ceremony on Tuesday 21 April 2026, 2.30pm-8pm, in the Student Centre.

Apply now

Entry requirements and application links

The Startup Sussex Business Plan

To enter the competition, you’ll need to complete and submit a simple business plan which includes some key questions to ask yourself when developing your idea such as:

Who will your customer be?
What problem will you solve for your customer?
How will you reach your customer?
What kind of relationship will you have with your customer?
How will you generate revenue?
What will you need to do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to keep this operating?
What resources do you need access to?
Who will you need to collaborate with?
What will it cost to run your business?
What key assumptions have you made about why your idea will work in practice?
Have you tested your idea with customers/users to verify these assumptions? (if not, what will you do?)
How would winning Startup Sussex benefit your startup?\

Submit the Startup Sussex 2026 Business Plan

The Entrepreneurship team also provides five free workshops to support you to develop your idea(s) and sharpen your application. See the ’support and guidance‘ section below for more information.

Book for upcoming Startup Sussex support sessions.

If you miss a session you will also find the slides and speaker notes following each session on our Entrepreneurship Canvas site or you can email entrepreneurship@sussex.ac.uk to get copies. - Slide deck

When submitting your application you’ll also need to attach a slide deck which will be assessed alongside your business plan on the following aspects:

#### Hook or headline statement

A short, attention-grabbing introduction to your solution, problems you’re solving or the topic of your proposal – grab the reader’s attention.

#### Problem

A clear explanation of the key problems and pain points which you’ll be looking to solve through your solution.

#### Solution

A concise overview of your product, service or offering, and how this solves the problems previously identified.

#### Impact

An explanation of how your solution works and the benefits it provides, or impact it has for your target users. If relevant, consider linking the impact with related UN’s Sustainable Development Goals or other impact frameworks.

#### Customers

Outline and describe the identified customers/users of your service or offering; what pain points are they suffering and how does your offering resolve these?

#### Competition and landscape (growth opportunity and market)

You must present:

analysis of the potential competitors for your offering, including strengths, weaknesses, and ways in which you differentiate yourself (what makes this innovative or stand out?)
analysis of the market in which you would be operating, including realistic growth potential and forecast market share and/or revenue.\ \

#### Team and background

An introduction to the key members of the team, their role/s within the startup and relevant skills and experience.

#### Progress

Outline any progress you’ve been able to make to date in order to validate your idea, such as undertaking market research, obtaining funding, generating sales.

#### How do you plan to spend Startup Sussex money to move your idea forward?

You must explain how you plan to use the money for your idea:

you can win up to £5,000
be specific about your strategy for spending this funding in a way that will meaningfully develop your business in this early stage. Research costs to ensure they are realistic.\ \

#### Research and statistics

Applicants are also invited to include a slide showing additional research, statistics and appropriate referencing of personal or external research.

#### Presentation

You will also be evaluated based on your overall presentation (layout, format, imagery, cohesiveness):

look at an example of a good quality slide deck. Please note, the specific sections required by Startup Sussex are not all covered in this example. You can find some additional examples of pitch decks by well-known companies, and further guidance on creating a good one
your slides must include all of the sections mentioned above, in the order given
there is a maximum limit of 15 slides
if shortlisted, you will be asked to produce a condensed and refined pitch deck to use on pitching day.\

Submit your application and slide deck

Support and guidance

The Entrepreneurship team also provides five free workshops designed to support you to develop your business idea(s) and sharpen your application using the Design Thinking process. These topical workshops are highly interactive, and offer a lot of value to anyone looking to develop a viable business idea. You will learn and practice key entrepreneurial skills that can benefit you in Startup Sussex and beyond.

Startup Sussex Workshop 1: A Valuable Idea\ 17 February 2026, 5pm-6.45pm, Student Centre

Startup Sussex Workshop 2: Customers and Competitors\ 24 February 2026, 5pm-6.45pm, Student Centre

Startup Sussex Workshop 3: My Business Model\ 3 March 2026, 5pm-6.45pm, Student Centre

Startup Sussex Workshop 4: Preparing a Pitch\ 10 March 2026, 5pm-6.45pm, Student Centre

Startup Sussex Workshop 5: Pitch Practice Spotlight Session\ 17 March 2026, 5pm-7pm, Student Centre

Book for upcoming Startup Sussex support sessions.

You can join at any point and if you miss a session you will also find the slides and speaker notes following each session on our Entrepreneurship Canvas site or you can email entrepreneurship@sussex.ac.uk to get copies.

You can also book a 1-1 with a member of the Entrepreneurship team to discuss your ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and identify potential next steps. You can book either a face-to-face or an online session.

Sign up to the Entrepreneurship newsletter to stay updated about support sessions and mentoring opportunities for Startup Sussex.

If you have any questions regarding the competition, or require any additional support or assistance with your application, please drop us an email at entrepreneurship@sussex.ac.uk.