Social enterprise funding contest opens for entries from UK universities
Howard Lake | 9 July 2025 | News
Ignite, the Ford Family Foundation’s flagship event, is returning for a second year and entries are invited to be in with a chance of winning funding for a start-up business.
Ignite, which takes a Dragon’s Den-style pitching content format, is looking for social entrepreneurs emerging from UK universities. They could be recent graduates or still students at university.
Last year entries were received from 33 universities across the UK. The six finalists pitched to a judging panel and over 100 guests, and shared a £50,000 prize pot on the night, with a further £280,000 in funding awarded post-event by the Ford Family Foundation.
Advertisement
Ignite 2024 finalist Giselle Gonzales is the founder and CEO of EQUALReach, a global employment platform that connects refugee professionals with meaningful, skilled digital work to quickly secure vital income. Since the Ignite final, EQUALReach has secured a UK/international enterprise pilot with a Fortune 500 company, led a Bosch-funded private sector advocacy and has featured in the Jobtech Alliance’s 2025 Digital Employment Report.
Giselle Gonzales commented:
“Ignite was one of the most genuinely supportive entrepreneurial programmes that I’ve been part of. When they say they back founders, they mean it. The coaching was practical, the feedback actionable, and their network of support is top-tier. I’d wholeheartedly recommend Ignite to any changemaker who is merging profit and purpose to build something that matters.”
Ignite 2025
This year’s event will be hosted at Barclays Innovation Hub powered by Eagle Labs in Shoreditch on the evening of Tuesday 21st October 2025. The five social venture finalists will each receive pitching and bespoke accelerator support from Ignite innovation partner Barclays Eagle Labs, as well as access to digital resources.
Ford Family Foundation founder and philanthropist Tony Ford said the Foundatation had donated over £1 million in the past three years, proving that business can be the greatest force for social good”.
He added:
“We’ve already seen tremendous results by working with last year’s Ignite finalists, and I strongly urge other philanthropists, businesses and educational institutes to consider the catalytic potential of supporting this year’s competition. By using entrepreneurial solutions to tackle deeply entrenched societal issues, social enterprises combine mission-driven impact with the agility and sustainability of trading models. They can scale, innovate and respond rapidly, all while generating revenue. This means any financial support drives impact directly to change lives and reshape the future.”
Applying to Ignite 2025
To apply for Ignite 2025 social enterprise founders will need to submit a 1,500 word business plan or seven page pitch deck by Sunday 17th August. Full details are available from Ignite.
- New funding competion offers £20k impact accelerator grant to scale up a social enterprise (7 June 2024)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.