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Competition

Open Business Creators Fund for Disabled Entrepreneurs

Open Business Creators Fund for Disabled Entrepreneurs

About this competition

  • 8 hours study
  • Level 3: Advanced

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You can start learning at any time. By signing up and enrolling you can track your progress and earn a Statement of Participation upon completion, all for free.

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    • Welcome to the Open Business Creators Fund for Disabled Entrepreneurs

      Part of our mission with Open Business Creators at The Open University is to reduce inequalities in the entrepreneurial landscape by providing equitable access to support and funding and championing under-represented and under-estimated founders.

      Disabled entrepreneurs are an essential part of the UK economy, with disabled-owned small businesses accounting for 8.6 percent of the turnover of all UK businesses. According to a report by Access2Funding, investors are missing out on £500m in annual returns by not investing in disabled entrepreneurs. That's why The Open University are launching the Open Business Creators Fund for Disabled Entrepreneurs to encourage early-stage entrepreneurs to share their ideas and access support and funding.

      Logo for Scope, the disability equality charity

      We are working with Scope, the disability equality charity, to support disabled entrepreneurs on their entrepreneurial journey. With total funding of £25k provided by The Open University, this opportunity is designed to support any disabled person in the UK or Republic of Ireland who is at the idea or very early stage of starting up a business.

      We will be selecting 5 early-stage business to provide £2500 each and 10 ideas to provide £1250 each. This fund is open to anyone resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland with lived experience with a disability. We adhere to the social model of disability where disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. If this resonates with you, then you are welcome to participate. 

      To identify grant recipients, our panel will ask applicants to use a platform called Validate to explain their business ideas and present a portfolio. Applicants will have the months of September and October to develop and test their business models in the Validate platform and judges will review their portfolios in November. The submission deadline is 25 October 2024. Entries will be selected based on how well they convey their business or idea to the panel through their Validate portfolio. 

      You can read about how to enter and the terms and conditions of the fund by visiting the "Competition content" tab at the top of this page. 

      Applicants with lived experience of a disability are eligible to enter if they are resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland and over the age of 16 on 30/11/2024. Employees of The Open University are not eligible to enter. If you have any questions or need the materials provided here in alternative formats, please get in touch with us at Open-Business-Creators@open.ac.uk

      You're also welcome to leave us feedback via our form
  • This competition is part of a collection

    This competition is part of a collection

    This competition is part of a collection of competitions called Open Business Creators. There are 2 competitions in this collection so you may find other competitions here that maybe of interest to you.

    See this collection

  • Competition learning outcomes

    The goals of this opportunity are:

    • To provide individuals with disabilities the knowledge and resources they need to start their own businesses.
    • To boost confidence among participants, enabling them to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas.
    • To connect participants with additional business support resources and networks.
    • To enable participants to present their business idea to a panel of judges (potential investors).

  • Course dates:

    First Published 08/07/2024.

    Updated 12/09/2024

Competition content

Below is the competition content. You can click on any section here and it will take you through to this section of the competition.

About this competition

  • 8 hours study
  • Level 3: Advanced

Sign up to get more

You can start learning at any time. By signing up and enrolling you can track your progress and earn a Statement of Participation upon completion, all for free.

View this competition

Sign up to get more