Participating
Universities
Programme led by
In partnership with
The UK’s first national university network for women entrepreneurs
WE Innovate National is a national programme that brings together a consortium of six universities – Imperial College London, Queen’s University Belfast, Swansea University, the University of Glasgow, Durham University, and Loughborough University – supporting 175 women-led teams annually across all four nations of the UK.
A national network
Explore WE Innovate National's partners, chosen for a combination of proven entrepreneurial infrastructure, research intensity, and geographic reach, ensuring every one of the UK's four nations has a founder-facing hub.
Imperial College London
WE Innovate was launched by Imperial College London in 2014 and has supported over 500 women-led teams since its inception.
Swansea University
A research‑led, world‑class institution committed to developing transformative ideas and supporting entrepreneurial talent.
Durham University
A globally recognised research-intensive institution with a strong commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship, and societal impact.
Loughborough University
A dynamic innovation ecosystem that sparks student curiosity, develops world-changing research breakthroughs, and works with graduates, staff and partners to support start-ups.
Queen's University Belfast
One of the UK’s leading research-intensive institutions, with over 99% of its research environment rated world-leading or internationally excellent.
University of Glasgow
Innovation and entrepreneurship are at the heart of its strategy, translating world-class research into economic and societal impact.
More about the consortium
Coverage across all four corners of the UK
- Founders have a route to entrepreneurship wherever they’re based, not just in London and the South East.
- The national network also expands opportunities for women founders to connect with start-ups, mentors, investors, and industry leaders from across the UK, strengthening pathways from university research to scalable, innovation-led companies.
Each partner is a research-intensive university with existing entrepreneurship infrastructure
- This includes existing divisions of the university focused on this, other entrepreneurial programmes and investor networks that WE Innovate builds on.
A deliberate response to the access gap that WE Innovate National exists to close
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- Entrepreneurial networks, capital and training have historically clustered around London, and this consortium is built to put that infrastructure within reach of founders in every nation instead.
Bridging regions: A successful pilot
with Queen’s University Belfast
In 2025, WE Innovate National welcomed Queen’s University Belfast for its first pilot, where 25 teams joined the programme to compete for a share of each university’s £30k award – a combined £60k prize fund.
The pilot was a resounding success and served as a powerful platform for knowledge exchange, enabling regional programmes to benefit from Imperial’s proven methodologies.
Participants from both South East England
and Northern Ireland expanded their professional networks, shared expertise, and built lasting connections across regions.
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