ASPIRE

Win £5,000 for your Business Idea!

Enter by 20 April.

Find out more

ASPIRE:
Where Ambition
Meets Opportunity

ASPIRE at Kent Business School is your chance to transform your entrepreneurial spirit into actions and success. If you want to make your vision into a reality, ASPIRE is where you can make that happen. Good Business starts with you.

Business Start-Up Journey

Getting to work

Our ASPIRE spaces offer you a unique and exciting entrepreneurial education via informal drop-in sessions and our Business Start-up Journey, a series of practical and inspiring workshops delivering essential start-up knowledge.

All designed with you in mind to inspire and encourage creativity. APSIRE is available to all students from any course at the University of Kent, giving you the chance to expand your network and encounter new ideas.

A sustainable tomorrow

ASPIRE takes inspiration from the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. These goals show us the problems that good business can solve, and act as a framework to create more ethical and environmentally conscious businesses.  

Business Start-Up Journey

The Business Start-up Journey, an inspirational 18-week programme, provides a step-by-step guide to starting a business, ending in your chance to make a Dragon's Den style pitch. Working alongside other student entrepreneurs helps you test the strength of your idea and transform it into a rounded proposal. You'll learn how to assess risk, turn challenges into opportunities and develop leadership, communication, presentation and teamworking skills. Great skills that give you an edge in whatever field you launch your career in.

Business Start-up Journey Pitching Competition

Win £5,000 for Your Business Idea 🚀

Take part in the exciting 10th Business Start-Up Journey Pitching Finals for a chance to win £5,000.

Working with a mentor and ASPIRE’s Entrepreneurs in Residence, you will develop a professional pitch deck and the skills necessary to present your business idea to a high-profile panel of judges.

Whether you’re at the early idea stage or already developing your concept, this is your chance to take the next step in your entrepreneurial journey.

📅 Application Deadline: 20 April
💰 Prize: £5,000
📍 Pitching Finals: 20 May, Sibson Building, Canterbury

If you have any questions or would like support before submitting your application, please contact the ASPIRE team at ASPIRE@kent.ac.uk.

Submit your entry

ASPIRE Drop In sessions

If you need advice on any aspect of starting a business – from market research to finance, marketing or web design – we can help.

Drop by ASPIRE on the first floor of the Sibson building in Canterbury, or email ASPIRE@kent.ac.uk to book a meeting with one of our Entrepreneurs in Residence.

ASPIRE Labs

ASPIRE’s open-plan workspace in Sibson has been specially designed to promote a collaborative working environment. You can work quietly on a business case for a potential investor, rehearse your pitch with partners of take advantage of the resources we provide.  

Forge your own path.

Instead of a traditional Year in Industry, why not opt to run your own business instead?

Our Self-Employed Year in Industry (Selfie) option allows you to turn your business dream into a reality as part of your degree, being supported by expert staff in launching your own business. 

Former KBS Student Nadia Ewura-esi nominated for Sustainability Award
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