CATALYST AI ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME

Catalyst is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Start-Up Accelerator programme at Oxford Brookes University for growing start-ups wanting to use the power of AI. It is powered by  The Institute for Ethical AI and  Santander Universities. Running over eight weeks, the programme will give access to AI experts, investors and mentors to guide the start-ups on planning for AI deployment, learning best practice for writing grant proposals for Innovate UK funding and understand how to get investment ready. To qualify for entry, the start-ups must be incorporated, owned and managed by either Brookes students, alumni or staff, or a member of the community and ready to trade or ideally having started trading. If you are interested in applying please complete the application form below. Applications are currently open and the deadline is May 18th at 12pm (midday). 

Vision

The programme will start on June 8th 2020 and run for eight weeks. The start-ups will receive weekly support to prepare a proposal for Innovate UK funding and they will meet virtually with entrepreneurs and investors who work in the AI sector. 

Each Monday morning the start-ups will attend a live webinar with a guest speaker followed by a discussion with specialist mentors to guide them in how to write their grant proposal with individual feedback There will be other resources available each week and stored on the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) that start-ups can access and use in their own time and a forum to provide a platform for the start-ups to connect with others on the programme. 

Prior to the programme starting, each start-up will have identified which AI solution they'd like to deploy so that they can write their grant proposal with the intention to win funding to build that AI product.  

At the end of the eight-week long programme, the start-ups will pitch their proposal to the Catalyst team for a chance to win one of the four £10,000 prizes sponsored by  The Institute for Ethical AI. 

Important Dates

• Date 18th May 2020, 12 noon Catalyst application deadline
• Date 05th June 2020, Programme Induction.
• Week 1 Monday, 08th June 2020  
  10:00 - 10:45 Webinar session with Guest Speaker and Q&A session
  11:00 - 11:30 weekly Q&A between mentors and start-ups
• Week 2 Monday, 15th June 2020  
  10:00 - 10:45 Webinar session with Guest Speaker and Q&A session
  11:00 - 11:30 weekly Q&A between mentors and start-ups
• Week 3 Monday, 22nd June 2020  
  10:00 - 10:45 Webinar session with Guest Speaker and Q&A session
  11:00 - 11:30 weekly Q&A between mentors and start-ups
• Week 4 Monday, 29th June 2020  
  10:00 - 10:45 Webinar session with Guest Speaker and Q&A session
  11:00 - 11:30 weekly Q&A between mentors and start-ups
• Week 5 Monday, 06th July 2020  
  10:00 - 10:45 Webinar session with Guest Speaker and Q&A session
  11:00 - 11:30 weekly Q&A between mentors and start-ups
• Week 6, 7 and 8 July -August 2020
  At the end of the first five weeks, the start-ups will have completed their application for grant funding. They will spend the following three weeks focusing on refining their proposal ahead of pitching it to the Catalyst team for a chance to win one of the four £10,000 prizes. During that time, they will have access to experts from the industry exclusively available for this programme. The schedule for these three weeks will be personalised for each start-up and it will be agreed during the course of the programme. 
• September-October 2020 (date TBC), Backed by Brookes showcase
  
  

Funding

There are four prizes of £10,000 to win for start-ups on the Catalyst programme, while they are expected to submit an application for government funding of their choice since they will have worked towards writing a grant proposal on the programme The teams selected to win these prizes will be announced in week 8 at the end of July. The funding will be released in two stages for each start-up, with a first payment of £6,000 upon winning the prize and the remaining £4,000 after having attended the Backed by Brookes showcase in the Autumn. 

Beyond Catalyst

Start-ups participating in Catalyst are highly encouraged to continue using the co-working spaces available for entrepreneurs at our Headington and Wheatley campuses. In these spaces, they will continue to receive support and guidance from mentors and they will be part of a collaborative network of entrepreneurs. We also encourage them to continue receiving support from The Institute for Ethical AI and Brookes Enterprise Support.