Program guide
How to apply to Venture Scientist 100 (Spring 2027 cohort)
Free, equity-free, part-time 9-month venture-building fellowship (March–November) for about 100 PhD researchers in the UK and Europe turning research into startups: 18 co-building sessions, coaching and access to up to £300k equity investment via partners.
Step by step
- Check that you are eligibleThe published rules: Open to founders, researchers, students; Registered PhD students at a UK or European university (exceptional recent PhD graduates, postdocs and early-career researchers considered) with research-based technology; about 65 hours over 9 months; mostly online with 3 mandatory in-person events.
- Gather the materialsYou will need: Application form answers.
- Write the answersSay what the company does in one plain sentence at the top; if a reviewer can't repeat it, the rest is read less closely.
- Submit on the official pageApply through the official page (Fillout) before 6 December 2026, and keep the confirmation.
- Follow upNote when results are due. If the organiser invites questions, ask once, briefly, after the date has passed.
Timeline
- By 15 November 2026Update deck and numbersRefresh the deck, key metrics and the one-sentence description of the company.
- By 22 November 2026Draft the answersAnswer every question plainly, with numbers you can verify.
- By 29 November 2026Record and reviewRecord the video if one is asked for, and have someone outside the team read the answers.
- By 4 December 2026SubmitSubmit early; some programs review applications as they arrive.
Questions you will meet, answered honestly
Describe what your company does in one sentence.
Who it is for and what it does for them, without adjectives. “Payroll software for restaurants with under 50 staff” beats “a revolutionary platform”.
Why now, and why your team?
Point to something that changed (a regulation, a technology, a cost) and to what each founder has done that fits the problem. Don't claim expertise you can't show.
What reviewers of accelerators look for
- Say what the company does in one plain sentence at the top; if a reviewer can't repeat it, the rest is read less closely.
- Show progress with numbers you can verify (users, revenue, pilots, retention) and when they changed.
- Check the terms first: the equity taken, the amount invested and any relocation requirement are on the program's own page.
How Onward Scout helps
This one is submitted on the organiser's own site, behind your login. Onward Scout prepares every answer and file in the form's order with one-tap copy, so submitting takes minutes; you mark it submitted when you're done.
Let Onward Scout prepare your Venture Scientist 100 (Spring 2027 cohort) application
Get a pitch deck and a one-pager for this programme, drafted from what you already have in about two minutes. Free to start, no account needed. Every answer is drafted from your own documents with sources, and nothing is submitted without your tap.
Nothing is submitted without your tap. Logins, CAPTCHAs, payments and interviews stay with you.