The Hub for Innovation and Enterprise is celebrating another successful year of supporting University staff, students and graduates with their business ventures.
Launched in 2010, the Hub relocated to the Canterbury Innovation Centre on the University’s Canterbury campus in August 2015. Since its relocation, it has conducted 142 business advice sessions and helped 166 students take their business ideas to competitions in the UK and abroad. Most recently, it supported two first year students from Kent who won the People’s Choice Award at the Virginia Tech Knowledgeworks Global Student Entrepreneurship Challenge.
Formerly known as the Kent Enterprise Hub, the Hub for Innovation & Enterprise is the University’s dedicated support unit for student enterprise and start-up guidance; providing support to students, staff and graduates wishing to start a business.
Its activities are open to all students at the University and include:
• Free 1-1 business advice
• Business start-up workshops
• Business mentors
• Online business start-up modules
• Competitions for students
• Workspace facilities
Since 2010, innovation & enterprise at the University has helped 98 companies become established and created 156 jobs in the community.
During 2015-16, the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce has supported the Hub and carried out a series of business start-up workshops. These workshops covered a range of business skills, including sales and marketing, finance and funding and ideas generation.
The Hub’s activities for the 2016-17 academic year include growing the number of students across the University taking part in creative ideas to generation, leading to increasing the number of start-ups. The Hub is also developing international links ensuring students benefit from a global environment.
Anyone interested in learning more about or working with Hub for Innovation & Enterprise should contact enterprise@kent.ac.uk