Positive feedback from alumni entrepreneurs places Imperial's startup ecosystem among Europe's best.
Not one but two startup hubs from Imperial's ecosystem have placed high in a pan-European ranking compiled for The Financial Times. Imperial Enterprise Lab and The Greenhouse are both in the top 70 of the list, which is largely determined by feedback from alumni entrepreneurs.
This vote of confidence from startup founders who have passed through the Imperial ecosystem validates our focus on delivering the strongest founder experience. Dr Simon Hepworth Director of Enterprise at Imperial
"This vote of confidence from startup founders who have passed through the Imperial ecosystem validates our focus on delivering the strongest founder experience," says Dr Simon Hepworth, Director of Enterprise at Imperial.
"Having two leading European startup hubs listed in a single institution is testament to the strength and depth of Imperial's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and, most importantly, the high regard it is held in by our diverse community of alumni and founders," adds Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Entrepreneurship at Imperial.
"This is really good news," says Dr Jim Shaikh, head of The Greenhouse. "It's great that the Greenhouse has been recognised in the rankings, especially as we are one of the very few accelerators that do not take a slice of equity from the startups."
The ranking was compiled from a pool of more than 2000 startup hubs across Europe, such as incubators and accelerators. These candidates were invited to canvas alumni on their overall performance, and in six distinct areas of activity: mentoring and training; infrastructure; legal assistance; funding; networking; and business development advice.
This feedback was supplemented with views from external experts, such as investors, entrepreneurs and academics, and an assessment of the most successful startups emerging from each hub, to produce a single score.
The final ranking includes the best 125 hubs, with UnternehmerTUM at the Technical University of Munich in first place. The Imperial Enterprise Lab is at 49th place, while The Greenhouse appears in 64th place.
An open door for future entrepreneurs
The Imperial Enterprise Lab is a dedicated support service for students, staff and alumni who want to develop their entrepreneurial mindset, skills, and networks. Central to its offer is the Venture Catalyst Challenge, a three-month programme of one-to-one coaching, meetings with experts, workshops and pitch training for teams hoping to turn an idea into commercial reality.
The Enterprise Lab also runs WE Innovate, a six-month programme aimed at female-led teams of founders, and offers services such as idea surgeries, venture mentoring, and support to help teams become investment-ready.
"We're really proud that the Enterprise Lab has achieved this ranking based primarily on the feedback of the founders who have benefitted from our support," says Mr Mumby-Croft. "The Enterprise Lab prides itself on offering unconflicted, idea-agnostic support, completely free of charge to any student, staff or alumni of Imperial who walks through our door."
