Deadline: May 6, 2025

Regional Talent Engines was launched in 2022 and is proud to have invested training and mentoring into early-stage founders with potential startup ideas in engineering and technology. It is a unique 6-month programme designed to help early-stage engineering and technology entrepreneurs based in Northern England, Northern Ireland, and Wales build the foundations for a successful start-up. You’ll receive expert mentoring, practical training to support your progress.

The programme includes training held in central locations in Belfast, Swansea, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle. By the end of the programme, you will be ready and equipped to seek further support for your new startup  or pitch for your first investment to bring your innovation to market.

Benefits

A place on the programme includes:

• An equity-free grant of £20,000 towards living costs
• Training workshops, roundtables and speaker events in a location close to you: Belfast, Swansea, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle
• One-to-one business coaching and mentoring
• Free lifetime access to our co-working spaces across the UK
• A ready-made community of ambitious founders and innovators

Eligibility

Applicant

• You must be resident in the region that you are applying to take part in the programme, or based in a nearby area, and able to attend training sessions in one of the stated locations within a reasonable travel distance. We cannot accept applicants from the Midlands, the South of England or Scotland for this programme.
• You must have technical understanding in the area of your innovation.
• You must have the right to live and work in the UK​ and be based in the UK full-time.
• You should normally be an experienced engineer or tech professional (experienced engineer is defined as mid-late career or someone with at least 5 years’ experience working in an engineering or technology environment).
• You must be able to commit time to taking part in the programme full-time from October 2025.
• You must be at least 18 to apply.
• You cannot be in full-time study or employment if accepted into the programme.
• Previous experience of commercialisation or enterprise is not required.

Innovation

• You must have an innovative engineering or technology-based solution to an identified problem or market need​ that you have been involved in the development of
• Your innovation should be beyond the invention stage (Technology Readiness Level 2 or above) with a practical application identified, the concept formulated and the desire to develop a business proposition. If you already have a Minimum Viable Product, then you are likely too advanced for this programme
• Your startup should have the potential to be self-sustaining and scalable
• If you have already registered a new business, the innovation should not currently be available to the market other than as a prototype with limited sales
• You must be committed to establishing your new startup in the region where you are applying to take part in the programme​ or your nearby area
• You should not normally have raised substantial amounts of funding for your innovation, as you will be too advanced for this programme
• They cannot accept applications from individuals wishing to start a consultancy business​
• They cannot accept ideas for mobile apps, websites or pure software-based creations unless they are underpinned by an innovative technology, such as AI or machine learning, which you are directly contributing to developing.

Application

• One person per application​
• Only one application can be submitted by each individual ​
• Only individuals can apply to the programme
• Applicants can only re-apply once with the same innovation

For more information, visit

To apply, click here