Startup Support in...Sheffield
by Startacus Admin
Sheffield based early-stage startups and entrepreneurs take note - here's the lowdown on key startup support and help available where you are...
Away from the established startup hubs like London, the support for setting up a business isn’t always so clear. It’s not a lack of support, just a quieter ecosystem that takes a little more work to unearth. We want to help with this by highlighting what some cities, which might not spring immediately to mind at the mention of ‘startups’, have to offer.
We did say this would be fairly random, and sure enough after startup support in Cardiff, we’re skipping back over the border once again and up to Sheffield, the home of steel...
Co-Working space
Union St workspace comes in the form of hot desking, fixed desks, or dedicated offices, both of the former within the same open-plan, friendly space. The price for a 
12-month contract is £150 per month and includes free access to meeting rooms and event space, frequent social activities, a different independant street vendor serving lunch each day, and - this one’s huge - an on-site barista. Move to Sheffield immediately.
Omnia Offices have recently opened a co-working space at Courtwood House, with additional serviced offices. Everything is refurbished and bright and new, and it includes the usual reception services, free tea and coffee, daily cleaning, and meeting rooms.
Sheffield Technology Parks offers flexible working space and office space in a brought and roomy lounge, and includes the usual free refreshments. It also offers a 6-month residency programme for startups.
Studio One offers co-working space for creatives in the the 1920s Abbeydale Picture House. There are 10 desks available and access is only Monday to Friday, which must be taken into consideration, but this is beautiful and historically rich location to work from.
Finances
In partnership with Sheffield Enterprise Agency, Virgin StartUp provides £500-25,000 in funding, as well as a personal mentor for 12 months. This is available only to startups who are pre-trading or within their first 12 months of trading.
This could easily go in the ‘programmes’ section, but Ready For Business, delivered by Barclays is a startup programme with the aim of improving your business’s chance of securing funding. This is a bespoke package of services, but only those considered eligible after a free one-day introductory event will continue to the next stage.
For SMEs in all of South Yorkshire, the South Yorkshire Investment Fund offers seedcorn finance of £50k-500k and equity-based investment of £100k-2.5m, as well as loans.
Angel CoFund is a Sheffield-based venture capital investment fund for early-stage businesses. Their typical investment is £100k-1m in almost any sector.
The startup ecosystem and programmes
Delivered by Business Sheffield, Launchpad is a business support service for startups and early-stage businesses under 2 years old. It offers free access to a range of services, from business support and advice, to mentoring, to workshops and training events.
Dotforge is a tech-for-good accelerator based in 3 cities, including Sheffield. Like any good accelerator, it offers workshops, mentors, and investment. Because they are 
partnered with a number of well-respected brands - such as the National Lottery, Tech North, and the NHS - they also provide access to an important network.
The Y Accelerator is an intensive 3-month programme of advice, mentors, workshops, market research, 1-to-1 support, and more. The conclusion of the programme is a pitch event to investors.
For Sheffield’s digital sector, Sheffield.digital is a community/network with newsletter, events and opportunities, and podcast.
As always, this is not an exhaustive list, so feel free to let us know at editorial@startacus.net if you think there is a particularly deserving entity in any of these categories.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Coronavirus. How do you survive as a business owner with minimal or no business at all? Consider the following tips...
Crowdcube launches campaign and calls on the government to take action to protect Britain's entrepreneurial future...
A UK-based social enterprise Lanterne, has developed, and is soon to launch, Keep Your Distance, a free app that will help us observe social distancing.
Bring! is a digital grocery tool that simplifies grocery shopping for you and anyone you are shopping for.
In a bid to help brands during the current pandemic, the GreenJinn grocery app makes some rapid changes to its service
Coronavirus & furloughing employees. Nichola Hailes of Payfit looks to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the job retention scheme.
For startups entering the food industry, here's why accurate labelling on ready-to-eat food products is important.
Whether you’re looking to create a frugal startup, or it’s already up and running, here are 4 tips to reduce costs while keeping the work environment pleasant.
The Belfast-based startup that provides a fully managed 24/7 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for securely storing and sharing assets, packages and containers.
The insolvency technology startup secures funding to help support the UK's most vulnerable consumers to avoid bankruptcy
Published on: 20th December 2018
.png)
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Save Our Startups campaign launched 5th Apr 2020 Crowdcube launches campaign and calls on the government to take action to protect Britain's entrepreneurial future...
- Cerebreon the Irish deep learning startup raises £1.5m in seed funding 31st Mar 2020 The insolvency technology startup secures funding to help support the UK's most vulnerable consumers to avoid bankruptcy
- Chivas Venture divides this year's $1m Venture Fund between 26 global Startups 23rd Mar 2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chivas Divides its $1m No-Strings Venture Fund Between 26 Startups
- The open-source design of emergency ventilators for COVID-19 patients 20th Mar 2020 World Wide Community of over 500 designers engineers & medics finalising prototypes for safe scalable manufacture & rapid field deployment..
