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University programme · London, United Kingdom

Imperial Venture Catalyst Challenge

Three-month equity-free accelerator for Imperial College London student, researcher and recent-graduate teams, ending in a grand final with a £100,000 prize fund.

Closed Run by Imperial Enterprise Lab, Imperial College London

Visit the programme's site

Verified 18 October 2026 · From the programme's own pages

Terms

Funding
not published £100,000 prize fund:£20,000 grand final prize, five £10,000 track prizes, and £10,000 each for the Moonshot, Impact and Tech for Good prizes
Instrument
Prize
Equity taken
None (equity-free)
Programme fee
not published
Duration
12 weeks
Cohort size
25 companies
Cohorts
1 a year
Delivery
In person
Stages
Idea, pre-seed
Sectors
AI, Consumer, Fintech, Climate, Health tech
Open to founders from
not published
Perks
not published

Five tracks: AI and robotics, creative and consumer, digital and finance, energy and environment, health and wellbeing.

Application dates

ClosedVCC 2026

Usual timing: Registration of interest for VCC 2027 is open; 2027 dates are not published.

Who can apply

  • Team lead is a current Imperial student or early career researcher, or graduated in 2023 or later
  • Other team members can be students, alumni or external
  • Teams that have raised more than £100,000 in non-grant funding are not eligible
  • Stage: idea, pre-seed

What founders should check

  1. The programme says it takes no equity. Still read the agreement for warrants, revenue shares or rights in a later round.
  2. It does not publish a fee. Ask whether you pay for desks, services or the programme itself.
  3. It runs in person in London. Plan to be there for the length of the programme.
  4. The last window we track closed on 14 June 2026. Registration of interest for VCC 2027 is open; 2027 dates are not published.

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