NatWest’s Bristol Accelerator Hub has celebrated its tenth anniversary with an event to mark the milestone occasion and launch the next phase of its long-term strategy to support innovation and growth in the region.
NatWest is offering 10,000 UK entrepreneurs the opportunity to join its Accelerator community in 2025 and aims to partner with up to 10 UK universities to open new business accelerators over the next three years.
As part of this initiative the UK’s biggest business bank has donated £20,000 sponsorship to the University of the West of England which will provide a boost for students and the innovation ecosystem.
Since NatWest’s Bristol Accelerator hub opened more than 650 businesses have been supported, raising over £46 million in investment and creating over 600 jobs.
These include local businesses True Start Coffee, Kostüme and Nubyem, who have seen fast growth and significant scale up since taking part in previous NatWest Accelerator programmes.
As part of the birthday celebrations five of Bristol’s budding entrepreneurs were invited to pitch their business concept and plans for growth for the chance to win a share of £5,000. Former University of the West of England student Ben Tivadar won £3000 for his business idea Oddogo, an app which connects donors with charities doing great work in the places they care about.
Gluten-free coach and mentor Ali Walsh also won £2000 for her venture Life on a Rice Cake which offers advice and support for people living with coeliac disease and IBS.
Pam Sheemar, NatWest’s Regional Accelerator Director, said, “We recognise that today’s students are the business leaders of tomorrow, and are keen to work with colleges and universities to help them develop and commercialise their ideas, by bringing the bank’s expertise in funding, selling and leading to facilitate their journeys to growth.
“The South West is a thriving region for innovation and start ups driven by passion, purpose and a dedication for bringing the best to market. We’ve seen so many talented and determined entrepreneurs coming to us over the last decade and it’s been an honour to support them and see them scaling up and succeed. It’s also been fantastic to meet the pitch contestants and hear their fantastic ideas and ambitions, we really struggled to choose a winner.”
NatWest’s Accelerator is recognised as a leading entrepreneurial network for businesses across the UK. Since the programme was founded in Birmingham in 2015, the bank has grown its accelerator hubs to 12 sites across the UK. These hubs have supported 9,737 businesses since 2015, raising over £684 million in investment and creating over 12,000 jobs2.
NatWest is holding a national £1 million pitching competition to reward big ideas and accelerate UK small business growth throughout 2025 and beyond³. Entrepreneurs are invited to pitch with each final offering an individual prize pot of £100,000.
