Ford Family Foundation: Ignite - Impact Accelerator Fund

Overview

Who are Ignite

Backed by the Ford Family Foundation, Ignite is the UK’s flagship social enterprise competition for student and graduate entrepreneurs ready to scale solutions that tackle the world’s toughest problems.

Founded in 2024, Ignite has already awarded over £50,000 in early-stage funding and generated over £280,000 in follow-on investment across sectors including education, public health, refugee support, climate, and mental health.

They exist to unlock the potential of social entrepreneurs emerging from UK universities by providing catalytic capital, expert mentorship, and a prestigious national platform to pitch for change.

About the competition

Ignite is a unique pitching event designed exclusively for the social entrepreneur.

They are looking for the next social impact trailblazers emerging from UK universities to come and pitch their social enterprise for the opportunity to win a share of our incredible £50,000 Impact Accelerator Fund.

With a top prize of £20,000 and a tailored support package up for grabs, this is your chance to ignite your impact.

Funding

The winner will receive a £20,000 grant, expert mentoring and networking opportunities to help them scale up their social enterprise.

A further £30,000 will be shared between four other finalists.

What are they looking for

Ignite backs student and graduate-led ventures tackling social and environmental problems with scalable, entrepreneurial solutions.

They’re open to all models – as long as you’re building something with:

• Clear purpose demonstrating measurable impact
• Potential for long term sustainability
• An ambitious founding team ready to lead change
• A plan to generate 50%+ of income from trading 

Who should apply

If you’re a student or recent graduate building a venture with social or environmental purpose — Ignite is for you. Whether you’re a for-profit startup, a CIC, or a charity, they’re looking for bold founders with sustainable business models, lived insight, and a drive to create real change. If your enterprise is early-stage, impact-driven, and ready to grow — apply now.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Ignite is a competition for the rising stars in social enterprise and they want to make sure their funding provides opportunity where it will be of most value and make the biggest impact.

To ensure fairness, transparency and to verify applicants as social enterprises, we’ve outlined specific criteria for participation. Please ensure you meet this prior to application:

• Have at least one founder who is a current student or recent graduate (past 3 years) of a UK university
• Be a registered organisation
• Operate with a legal structure that supports a social mission (e.g., reinvesting profits, asset lock, community benefit clauses)
• Show evidence of demonstratable social and/or environmental impact
• Have early traction with revenue, users or pilots, etc
• Be generating or planning to generate at least 50% of income through trading
• Have turnover or investment to date under £100,000
• Must be available for a live pitching final in October based in London

Application Guidance

You’ll need to upload:

• A 5–7 page pitch deck or 1,500-word business plan
• A 5-minute video pitch introducing your team and solution
• A 12-month cashflow forecast

The three key things they will be looking for at all times are 

• demonstrable impact
• the potential for a sustainable business
• the founders ambition and capability of executing on this