ELIGIBILITY

1.       All applicants must be resident in the UK. Submissions can be made by individuals or groups on behalf of the business but only one submission will be considered. Multiple submissions will be rejected, and the applicant/business immediately disqualified.

2.       Employees of The Open University and NatWest Group and their families are not eligible to apply.

3.       Participants applying with an existing businesses must be registered for less than one year on 21/11/2025. Applicants must own at least 50% of the business in question.

4.       Employees of The Open University must not have a shareholding or any other interest in the business or business idea.

5.       All applicants must be at least 16 years old at the time of submission of the request for funding. The Open University is at liberty to consider applicants below this age threshold at The Open University’s absolute discretion, and whose decision shall be final and conclusive.

DATES

6.       Applications must be submitted by 21 November 2025 and all applicants, whether successful or otherwise, will be informed by 19 December 2025, unless otherwise extended by The Open University. While each application will be evaluated, grant recipients will be drawn at random from a pool of entries deemed fundable by the panel.

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION

7.       Proprietary or commercially sensitive information must not be included in submissions. The Open University will not be responsible for any proprietary or commercially sensitive information made available to use within a submission. 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

8.       All applicants are required to ensure that they own or have permission to use, any intellectual property that is or will be used by the business or as part of the business idea. Applicants will be responsible for any consequences or losses that arise as a result of the business using intellectual property without permission. The Open University will not accept responsibility for any such consequences or losses.

9.       All Open University intellectual property shall remain the property of The Open University.

CONSENT

10.   By submitting your application, applicants agree that they will participate in any associated media activities, hereby expressly consent and authorise the use of any marketing materials obtained through the submission.

 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND PERSONAL DATA

11.   While The Open University will use reasonable efforts to respect and protect any clearly labelled confidential information that is provided by the applicants, The Open University cannot guarantee to maintain confidentiality and cannot be responsible for any confidential information that is submitted. Applicants should exercise their discretion when deciding what information to provide to The Open University.

12.   Any personal data relating to the successful applicants or any other applicants will be used solely in accordance with The Open University’s use of personal data which may be found here Privacy at the OU | About The Open University and will not be disclosed to a third party without the applicant’s prior consent.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

13.   The Open University reserves the right to disqualify any submission received at any time if it is found to be in breach of any of the pre-established conditions and/or rules laid out in this document.

14.   No responsibility can be accepted for submissions that are delayed or not received by The Open University for whatever reason.

15.   The Open University does not assume any responsibility for technical problems, including but not limited to, technical malfunctions of computer systems, servers, or software, traffic congestion on the internet, or any combination thereof, which may affect the submission or receipt of entries. 

AVAILABILITY OF FUNDING

16.   The funding awarded will be made available to the successful applicant in the form of a bank transfer in the name of the successful applicant.

17.   The judges' decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

REPORTING

18.   Successful applicants are required to submit periodic reports to The Open University, detailing the use of the funds, the benefits derived and the progress of the business as a result of the funding. Such reporting shall include details as required by The Open University in relation to the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey for a period of three years after the competition closes. Successful applicants will be notified of the frequency and any further information that may be required in the award letter or subsequent notices from The Open University for purposes of reporting.

USE OF OU LOGO OR NAME

19.   The use of or reference to The Open University by applicants for commercial or promotional purposes is prohibited unless The Open University has provided prior written consent, such consent can be provided or refused at the absolute discretion of The Open University without explanation.

LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

20.   The Open University, including their officers, employees, agents, and partners, shall not be liable for any loss, injury, or damage, whether direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental, arising out of or in connection with participation in this offering or acceptance and use of any awards. 

21.   Applicants agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Open University from any claims, demands, actions, or causes of action by third parties, including, but not limited to, intellectual property infringement claims related to the applicant's submission. 

22.   Applicants are responsible for any taxes, fees, or other obligations arising from any funds granted hereby. The Open University is not responsible for any tax implications related to the receipt of funds awarded. 

MODIFICATION TO TERMS

23.   The Open University reserves the right to modify the Terms at any time during the offering for award of the funding. Applicants will be immediately informed of any changes via email.  

24.   By submitting an application, applicants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

LAW AND JURISDICTION

25.   The invitation for applications for funds and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.

DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT

By participating in this competition your data will be used by The Open University in accordance with the competition programme, structure, judging process and relevant press activities as laid out in this document.

In order to take part in the competition, you will need to sign up for SimVenture Validate, and create your entry using this platform. Simventure will hold your profile data, and competition entry. Simventure is an independent data controller, and the privacy notice for Validate is at https://app.validatestartup.com/privacy. The OU will have access to this information.

If you are an OU student, we will use some demographic data from your student record, including ethnicity and disability information, in order to carry out equality monitoring on competition entrants. After it has been linked, this data will be anonymised and aggregated.

We may contact you to invite you to complete the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction survey, this may be up to three years after the competition closes.

Our lawful bases for this processing is that it's necessary for our public task in providing Higher Education qualifications and supporting our students. Your data will be held for five years. Simventure have their own retention periods for data stored in Validate.

For more information about how the OU processes personal data, and your rights, please see the student privacy notice at www.open.ac.uk/privacy

If you have any questions about how the university processes your personal information in relation to this competition or you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Open-Business-Creators@open.ac.uk. You can also contact data-protection@open.ac.uk.