Applications closed. Please view our programmes page for other opportunities or join our newsletter to be the first to hear if we run future editions of the Incubator programme.

Do you already have a business but don’t know how to market it properly? Do you want to learn how to create a sustainable business model? Growing a business is not easy and it comes with many challenges including knowing how and where to access funding, navigating different legal issues, and how to stay true to your mission as you grow your business.

Come and join our Incubator programme to keep you accountable for your business goals. You’ll get to meet other entrepreneurs at the same stage of you and come out with clarity on how to finance your business, where to find the right support, and build meaningful connections.

 

Come and join our Incubator programme to keep you accountable for your business goals. You’ll get to meet other entrepreneurs at the same stage of you and come out with clarity on how to finance your business, where to find the right support, and build meaningful connections.

 

£5K

Graduates can apply for up to 5k of funding.

The Hatch programme provided us with confidence and a great network of mentors and potential collaborators, which is what makes this programme truly invaluable.

Headshot Naima Camara

Naima Camara

NewCo

Cohort-Based Expert-Led Session

18 hours of expert-led masterclasses on mission and vision, business strategy, product/market fit, finance, legal, partnerships, marketing and sales, and pitching

Peer Learning

18 hours of peer learning, peer coaching, and accountability groups. Gain fascinating insights, exchange ideas and swap skills with like-minded individuals.

Financial Clinic

Work through key questions about your prices, cost, overheads and sales with a financial expert, in order to make decisions about your business strategies.

Demo Day

Showcase your business to a panel of experts and get actionable feedback on how to take your business to the next level.

The programme consists of 9 workshops, 9 expert-led sessions  and a demo day. 

Kickoff:

Tues 16th May, 6pm – 8pm

1

Vision, Mission and Values:

Workshop:

Friday 19th May, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Friday 19th May, 10am – 11am

2

Branding:

Workshop:

Fri 26th May, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 26th May, 10am – 11am

3

Social Media:

Workshop:

Fri 2nd June, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 2nd June, 10am – 11am

4

Community building:

Workshop:

Fri  23rd Jun, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri  23rd Jun, 10am – 11am

5

Customer Journey Mapping:

Workshop:

Fri 30th Jun, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 30th Jun, 10am – 11am

6

PR: 

Workshop:

Fri 7th Jul, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 7th Jul, 10am – 11am

7

Value, Pricing and Revenue Stream:

Workshop:

Fri 28th Jul, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 28th Jul, 10am – 11am

8

Legal: 

Workshop:

Fri 4th Aug, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 4th Aug, 10am – 11am

9

Pitch Like A Pro:

Workshop:

Fri 11th Aug, 11am – 12:30pm

Expert-led Session:

Fri 11th Aug, 10am – 11am

10

Pitch Practice

Wed 16th Aug, 10am – 12:30pm or

Thurs 17th Aug, 10am – 12:30pm

11

Graduation:

Thurs 17th Aug, 6pm – 8pm

Apply now

Price:

£150

 This programme is valued at over £3000, participants are asked to pay £150. There are also a limited number of bursary places available.

If you have any issues filling in the linked form below, please contact programmes@hatchenterprise.org

Requirements:

  • You are based in the UK
  • You are running an early-stage business that you want to grow
  • You have started trading, or have customers or clients, and at least one part-time staff member (including yourself)
  • You want to increase your business knowledge, skills and confidence
  • You want to network and be part of a cohort of other entrepreneurs
  • You can commit to the full nine workshops and Demo Day

Next Incubator dates:

Sept 2023

 
Application deadline: TBA
Location:  Online

Join a supportive community of entrepreneurs and experts to get the support you need to launch, grow and scale your business.

Applications closed. Please view our programmes page for other opportunities or join our newsletter to be the first to hear, if we run future editions of the Incubator programme.

Frequently asked questions

Each of our programmes is designed for a different stage in your entrepreneurial journey, from idea to scaling.

Launchpads are for entrepreneurs who have a business idea or have just launched their business, understand the problem they are trying to solve, and are ready to start their entrepreneurial journey. Over twelve sessions, you will learn the basics of entrepreneurial mindset, business strategy, finance, branding, and pitching that you need to get your business off the ground.

Incubators are for entrepreneurs who have been running their business as a side hustle and gained some traction and are now looking to make the business more sustainable and have a clearer strategy. Over nine workshops you will learn the skills you need in business strategy, culture and mission, social media, legal, storytelling, PR, pricing, customer journey mapping and pitching in order to help turn your business from a side hustle to your full-time job.

Accelerators are business and leadership programmes that have been designed for entrepreneurs who are ready to scale their business and impact. Over twelve workshops, you will evaluate your personal leadership strengths and the opportunities for your business to grow, and tap into the knowledge of the other entrepreneurs on the programme to plan your path to sustainable growth.

You can see all the programmes we’re currently offering on our programmes page: www.hatchenterprise.org/our-programmes

Hatch programmes are for entrepreneurs based in the UK. Every programme we run has different application criteria that allows us to best tailor our support. Some of our programmes are reserved for or prioritise founders from groups that are underrepresented in entrepreneurship, including women and other marginalised genders, or Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic founders, founders who are working on a social or environmental impact business, or founders from a specific geographic region.


You can find out more about each programme’s eligibility criteria on the programme page.

You can express your interest in one of our programmes using the application form. Try to answer the questions in as  much detail as possible, as we don’t ask applicants to submit a business plan or model.

After the deadline for the programme applications have passed, a Hatch team member will be in touch  to let you know if you are invited to an interview. Depending on when you apply, this may take a few days to a few weeks. During the interview, we will ask questions about yourself and your business to see if you are a good fit for the programme. In some instances, an interview may not be required.

After the interview, we’ll let you know if you have been selected to take part in the programme. We aim to get back to you within 1- 4 weeks with a decision. Some programmes may have additional criteria which we use to assess your suitability. For example, some are for women only, others may require that you have a social or environmental impact and some are based on your turnover. 

In each of our programmes you will get access to

  • Expert-led workshops
  • Facilitated group sessions with other entrepreneurs
  • 1-2-1 mentoring and coaching
  • Support developing and practising your pitch
  • Access to our additional community events + networking opportunities

We aim to make our programmes as accessible as possible. If you need any accessibility accommodations for your interview (such as live captioning or sharing the questions in advance),  please let us know in the application form.

Once on one of our programmes, where possible we offer tailored accessibility support according to participant needs. This may include live captioning, printed worksheets, advanced access to session content and more.

If you have any issues with our forms or questions about accessibility, please email programmes@hatchenterprise.org.

All of our programmes take place online, either via Zoom, Butter or other online meeting software.

Thanks to our incredible corporate partners, we are able to offer our programmes at a reduced rate to participants, and in some cases for no cost. You can find the prices for each programme on the programme application page.

Hatch Enterprise’s operates a trust-based self-referral system, when it comes to bursaries. It is our policy to offer bursaries to anyone who:

  • Is unemployed or underemployed.
  • Is eligible for government assistance, including Universal Credit or benefits.
  • Would risk their ability to meet their basic needs (eg. buy food, pay childcare, pay rent or make debt payments) by paying to join one of our programmes. This includes the needs of anyone who you may have a responsibility to as a carer.
  • Would reduce their ability to afford things like public transport or fuel, or their ability to commute to work by paying to join one of our programmes.
  • Anyone who has an unstable housing situation, and/or anyone who has very limited expendable income or savings.
  • Anyone who would negatively affect their ability to run or grow their business by paying to join one of our programmes.

Through our ongoing partnerships with Parallel Lifestyle and Evenbreak, we are able to offer optional free places to any disabled people who would like to accept a bursary.

Additional partnerships also enable us to offer free places to residents of the following housing associations: Peabody, The Guinness Partnership

If the cost of the programme is a barrier, you can indicate that you would like to be considered for a bursary in the application form to reduce or remove the programme cost.

No. Hatch’s programmes provide support to entrepreneurs, but we don’t take any equity or stake in your business.

Like most early-stage programmes, Hatch doesn’t sign an NDA with participants, but we never share any confidential information from the application process or programmes.

Hatch’s programmes are part-time and designed to fit around your business and your life. Most programmes will have a maximum of 8 hours of workshops a month and we ask all participants to attend all programme events unless they have communicated with the Programme Manager beforehand.  Some programmes offer additional support opportunities via 1-2-1 mentoring, extra optional events or a set of recommended tasks to complete outside of your 8 hours of monthly workshops. All content is designed for Founders to follow at their own pace whilst on the programme.

When you graduate from the programme, you will become part of the Hatch community. You can continue to build connections with other Hatch founders, access exclusive events, masterclasses, perks, and share and receive news and opportunities.

We ask that there is one primary founder who takes part in the programme and attends the workshops and 121 support. Co-founders or business partners who are not on programmes are welcome to attend 121 support alongside the main founder. There may be additional opportunities for participation, but this would be detailed to you by the programme manager.

Once you have graduated from a Hatch programme you may be eligible to apply to the Hatch Grant Fund. We will inform you of the eligibility criteria and how much funding you can apply for when applications open. We are working with our grant-making partner, Groundwork, to administer this fund.  Please note: The total maximum amount may not be awarded, and the grant fund is competitive, so not all applicants will be successful.

Most of our programmes have between 12-18 participants in a cohort. Sometimes we
run multiple cohorts at a time, so some of your sessions may have multiple cohorts brought together for particular sessions giving you even more opportunity to network with like minded founders on a similar journey to you!

Hatch is open to all business models, sectors and industries. So whether you are creating a product, service or marketplace, selling to individual consumers or businesses, seeking funding or bootstrapping – our programmes can help you and your business.