Help for startups

Nesta believes that entrepreneurs are vital agents of innovation.

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We want to see more innovative firms start and scale. On this page, you will find links to practical tools and advice to help you do this.

Resources for starting

To decide what is the best type of venture for your idea, try our toolkit for setting up a venture.
To learn more about starting creative enterprises, see our Creative Enterprise Toolkit.
To clarify your business model, try out the Business Model Canvas
To test your idea, collect feedback and improve your idea, see our prototype toolkit.
To find physical resources for prototyping, see our directory of UK Makerspaces.
To find an incubator or accelerator, see our directory of UK accelerators & incubators.
To find other external advice, see the Government's Business is Great website.

Resources for scaling

To understand your mindset and why it matters for growth, read Motivations to Scale.
To understand the options for scaling-up social enterprises, read Making it Big.
To learn what type of funding is most suitable for you, read our finance guide, Paths to Scale.
To gain inspiration from real-life examples, see our scaleup case studies.
To find local scale-up support in your area, see the Scaleup Institute's directory of programmes.
To scale through collaboration, see our SEP project, especially our reports Winning Together, Scaling Together and our Tools for Better Collaboration with Corporates.

Incubation and Acceleration

Nesta does not directly incubate or accelerate startups, but has supported external programmes which do this, such as Bethnal Green Ventures, Seedcamp and Techstars.

If you are looking to find an incubator or accelerator, please see our directory of UK accelerator and incubator programmes. If you are not sure what an incubator or an accelerator is, or want to know how they compare with other types of startup support, see our Accelerating Startups research workstream.

Funding

Nesta invests in organisations with a high potential for social impact. For more information, see Nesta Investments and the FAQs about impact investing. Note that Nesta no longer provides direct grants to startups, except through targeted calls like our Inventor Prize and Longitude Explorer Prize. (Additionally, our procurement calls and tenders are here). Our website also contains information about crowdfunding, initial coin offerings, and other funding mechanisms.