Young Entrepreneurs

Applications for round 2 open 7 May 2024!

The first cohort of Young Entrepreneurs at West Ham football stadium for the Go! London Pitch Day 2024.
The first cohort of entrepreneurs at London Stadium for the ‘Dragons Den’ style Pitch Day in 2024

The Young Entrepreneurs Fund is for Londoners aged 16-24 who want to start and grow sports and physical activity-based enterprises that make a difference to young people in their community.

If you’re a London organisation keen to promote the Young Entrepreneurs Programme, or a young Londoner looking to apply, explore further details below.

Find out more & apply

Eligibility

Every year, this programme will provide 20 young people with ‘ideas incubation’ support to develop their venture proposals. 10 will receive up to £15,000 over a year to develop their social enterprise ideas, alongside mentoring, action-learning sets, and development support.

Eligibility Criteria
  • Between the ages of 16 and 24 and have the right to work in the UK
  • Want to (or already have) set up a business or project that makes a difference to their community (social purpose business/sole trader)
  • The idea has sport and physical activity at its heart
  • At an early stage, either new or less than two years old and have an income of under £30,000, (though there may be some exceptions if for example a business has been set up, but left dormant)
    Mainly working with (young) people living in London.

About the pillar

Our Young Entrepreneurs pillar focuses on nurturing the talents and innovative thinking of young Londoners. We want to encourage their creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and community engagement by supporting their ideas and aspirations. We firmly believe in their potential which drives our commitment to providing the resources and opportunities to turn their visions into reality and help them succeed.

We will offer grants of up to £15,000 to a cohort of young entrepreneurs aged 16-24. These grants are designed to support the development of social enterprise ideas, with a focus on ventures in the sports and physical activity sector. This could encompass a wide range of initiatives, from sports-for-change enterprises and activewear businesses to sport tech startups and behaviour change programmes that prioritise social impact. In our first year of funding, we aim to prioritise early-stage ideas. To further empower our grantees, we have teamed up with the School of Social Entrepreneurs and Bayes Business School to provide mentorship, networking opportunities, training, and more!

We aim to recruit a diverse cohort of young people, supporting young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds and those with disabilities.

Find out more about cohort 1

Grant Timelines

This programme will support 3 cohorts of Young Entrepreneurs across 3 years. See below for cohort timelines.

Engage & IncubateDedicated follow-on support
Cohort 1October 2023 – February 2024March 2024 – February 2025
Cohort 2May 2024 – October 2024November 2024 – October 2025
Cohort 3January 2025 – June 2025July 2025 – June 2026