Marking the tenth year of the NatWest Accelerator, NatWest is announcing its plan to expand its support to UK businesses by offering 10,000 entrepreneurs the chance to join its Accelerator community in 2025, while setting out a long-term strategy to “support the UK’s growth goals through new university partnerships.”
As the UK’s business bank, NatWest’s Accelerator is reportedly recognized “as a entrepreneurial network for businesses across the UK.”
Since the program was founded in Birmingham in 2015, the bank “has grown its accelerator hubs to 12 sites across the UK.”
These hubs have supported 9,737 businesses since 2015, “raising over £684 million in investment and creating over 12,000 jobs.”
In the next stage of its expansion, NatWest will be partnering with up to 10 UK universities to “open new business accelerators in the next three years.”
This investment in the bank’s accelerator program will “support thousands more entrepreneurs from across the UK to run and grow their businesses.”
This is not the first time NatWest has partnered with a UK university to open an accelerator hub – the bank has run “an accelerator program at the University of Warwick since 2021.”
Universities have become a key focus for the Government’s industrial strategy, which recognizes “that R&D-led and innovation-centered concepts have a significant role to play in accelerating economic growth.”
This investment by NatWest in the UK’s university ecosystem will support entrepreneurs to commercialize their ideas, “bringing the bank’s expertise in funding, selling and leading to bear upon their journeys to growth.”
Through these partnerships, NatWest aims to support high growth businesses who, with the “correct support, could experience rapid expansion in their market share, revenue or workforce over a sustained period.”
The bank wants to target businesses in the ‘innovation economy’ in particular, in sectors such as Technology, Healthcare Tech, Life Sciences and Fintech, as these sectors offer considerable potential to the growth of the UK economy.
To mark 10 years of its Accelerator program, NatWest is also launching a new £1 million pitching competition “to reward big ideas and accelerate UK small business growth.”
With a series of competitions running throughout 2025 and beyond, and with each final “offering an individual prize pot of £100,000, entrepreneurs are invited to pitch their business concept and plans for growth. Judges will select five finalists to attend the first live final in Manchester in July 2025.”
Robert Begbie, CEO of NatWest’s Commercial & Institutional franchise, said:
“The next stage of the Accelerator’s expansion will involve partnering with more UK universities, combining our strengths to help entrepreneurs commercialise their ideas and kickstart economic growth.”
As NatWest marks ten years of its free Accelerator, the bank is launching NatWest Accelerator Pitch – a “£1 million competition offering small business owners and entrepreneurs the chance to win a share of funding to fuel their growth.”
To be in with a chance of winning, NatWest is inviting small business owners from across the UK to submit a “60 second video pitch explaining how funding would help them grow their business.”
Entrepreneurs who apply are asked to tell NatWest “about their track record of setting and achieving goals in business and present their strongest illustration of how the funding will help their business to grow.”
The best submissions will be selected to compete in live final events – with the first in Manchester and London later in the year – where “five finalists will give a 10 minute ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch in front of a panel of judges.”
The top three pitches at each final will share “a £100,000 in funding, with the overall winner scooping £70,000 for their business.”
The NatWest Accelerator, which has supported nearly 10,000 small businesses since 2015, is also encouraging “more entrepreneurs to access its practical tools, expert support, and likeminded community through its new digital network.”
Darren Pirie, Head of the NatWest Accelerator, said:
“This competition is a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas, telling us about their successes and milestones to date and how they’ll use the funding to grow to the next level.”
The first live final will “take place in Manchester in July, where finalists will pitch their businesses and answer questions from a panel of industry experts.”
They will be judged “on their business models, innovative growth strategies, and the impact the prize money will have on their future success.”
A competition in London will also “take place in 2025 with the bank rolling out other finals across the UK next year.”
Each regional competition will reportedly award “£100,000 in funding, divided between first, second and third place.”
