- Aimed at: Entrepreneurial projects
- Located in:
United Kingdom
Requirements
The University category is for early-stage university businesses and entrepreneurs who are preparing their go-to-market strategy and are looking to launch. If your business has a university connection but you have already launched and are UK registered, please apply for the Startup category.
Your business should:
- Be linked to a UK university (at least one team member must be a current student or employee, a graduate of the last five years (since 2021), or an entrepreneur from a university incubator, accelerator or spin-out).
- Have a minimum viable product (MVP) and be preparing to go to market
- Have a team of 2 people or more (if you are a solo founder this can include advisors/board members and/or full/part-time staff).
You can only apply for the Santander X UK Awards 2026 once, even if you have a number of businesses and/or separate businesses which match the criteria for the University, Startup or SME categories.
Please note there are three stages to the application process. If you are successful in the first stage you will be asked to complete a further application form where you will be asked additional information about your business. Please refer to the T&Cs for further information.
General information
Santander are offering University entrepreneurs from across the UK the opportunity to win up to £20,000 equity-free funding and business support through the Santander X UK Awards 2026.
All applicants will also be invited to a series of expert-led webinars for UK businesses.
3 winners will receive up to £20,000 funding and go forward to represent the UK in the Santander X Global Award, Santander's international early-stage entrepreneurship competition. In the Global Award you'll compete with entrepreneurs from countries across Europe and Latin America to win additional cash prizes, international exposure and more!
Do you have what it takes to go up against the best University entrepreneurs worldwide?
10 businesses in the University category will be made semi-finalists in July. If selected you'll have the opportunity to join a series of expert-led online pitch workshops.
All semi-finalist businesses will pitch virtually to decide the 3 finalists.
Make it to the final 3 businesses in the University category and you'll get the chance to pitch live to a panel of high-profile judges at the National Final on 18 September 2026.
Reward
Winners will receive the following cash prizes:
· 1st place: £20,000
· 2nd place: £10,000
· 3rd place: £5,000
Winners will also receive a package of business support.
Call guidelines
Collaborators
Call stages
Contact to make enquiries about this call
To resolve queries about this call, you can contact the manager of the call by writing to:
santander.universities@santander.co.uk
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