How YES benefits skills, the economy, research and business - an at-a-glance overview of our impact
Your Entrepreneurs Scheme
YES is an innovative global competition developed to raise awareness among Master and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and technicians how ideas can be commercialised.
This is the 29th year of the competition and in that time over 6,500 have taken part.
By taking part, you will have the opportunity to hear from leading industry experts about the ways they go about making a business work. This competition has been devised for you to further understand the processes involved in bringing a service/product to market.
Teams, working in four or five, are given the task of developing a hypothetical business, and as part of the exercise, you are asked to pitch to demonstrate that the business could be investable and ultimately successful.
Benefits of taking part Your business idea
Plans for the 2024 competition
YES24 will be delivered in three parts starting this September and concluding with a showcase event in January 2025.
Starting in September, online training sessions will give participants the know-how on all aspects of starting a new business.
Mentors will be online to answer questions, give advice and provide a focus for ideas throughout October and November with oral business plan pitches being delivered in November and December at one of four industry innovation centres.
The best pitches from each session will be invited to showcase in January and compete for a prize fund of £10k. All involved in YES24 will be welcome at the showcase hosted in London.
Key dates Virtual awareness sessions