Find funding for your business or idea
Access grants, funding and financial resources to help develop, launch, and grow your enterprise.
The Cube Scale Up Fund
Up to £5,000 to grow, develop, or expand your business.
The Cube Scale Up Fund offers up to £5,000 to support early-stage start-ups of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» students or recent graduates (within the last three years).
This fund is designed for ventures that are formally registered with HMRC or Companies House, and are now ready to:
• Grow their operations
• Develop new products or services
• Expand into new markets.
• Develop new products or services
• Expand into new markets.
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What’s included:
Alongside financial support, successful applicants will receive dedicated mentoring from The Cube team, helping you grow your business with clarity, strategy, and confidence.
How it works:
1. Application form.
Submit an online application outlining your business, goals, and how you plan to use the funding with .
2. Supporting pitch (five minutes)
Submit an online application outlining your business, goals, and how you plan to use the funding with .
2. Supporting pitch (five minutes)
Submit a five-minute video pitch outlining;
• What your business does
• The problem it solves
• Why this funding matters
• What impact will the funding have?
Send your video to: thecube@plymouth.ac.uk. Ensure the subject line is: [Your Last Name] – The Cube Funding Video.
• The problem it solves
• Why this funding matters
• What impact will the funding have?
Send your video to: thecube@plymouth.ac.uk. Ensure the subject line is: [Your Last Name] – The Cube Funding Video.
Please note: Applications will not be processed without a supporting video.
3. Final Pitch (Live Panel)
Selected finalists will deliver a refined virtual live pitch to a panel of business experts who will assess the proposal and make funding decisions.
Key dates
Application deadline: Wednesday 22 April at midnight
Live final pitch event: Thursday 7 May 2026 – Times to be advised (individual time slots will be provided for selected finalists).
If you’re laying the foundations of a venture and ready to scale, The Cube Scale Up Fund is here to support your next chapter.
Overseas students can access support from The Cube to develop a business idea and gain knowledge and experience. Still, they cannot launch their business while studying on a Tier 4 Visa or access any of The Cube’s funding opportunities.
Live final pitch event: Thursday 7 May 2026 – Times to be advised (individual time slots will be provided for selected finalists).
If you’re laying the foundations of a venture and ready to scale, The Cube Scale Up Fund is here to support your next chapter.
Overseas students can access support from The Cube to develop a business idea and gain knowledge and experience. Still, they cannot launch their business while studying on a Tier 4 Visa or access any of The Cube’s funding opportunities.
For support with your application or to discuss your eligibility, please contact The Cube Team.
Funded by
Funded by
The Cube Kickstart Fund
Up to £250 to explore and test your business idea.
The Cube Kickstart Fund provides up to £250 to support Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» students or recent graduates (within the past three years) who are in the early stages of developing a business or freelance idea.
Whether you're testing out a product, shaping a creative service, or exploring a social enterprise, this fund is designed to give you the boost you need to start validating your concept.
Overseas students can access support from The Cube to develop a business idea and gain knowledge and experience, but they cannot launch their business while studying on a Student Visa or access any of The Cube’s funding opportunities.
Ideal for:
- Exploring your first business idea
- Testing or prototyping a product or service
- Researching customer demand or competitor markets
- Building a minimum viable product (MVP)
- Gaining professional feedback to improve your offer
How it works:
1. Online Application
Submit an online application outlining your idea, what you plan to explore, and how you will use the funding... .
Submit an online application outlining your idea, what you plan to explore, and how you will use the funding... .
2. Recorded business pitch
Record a 5-minute video pitch explaining:
- Your idea
- How the funding will be used
- The impact it could have on your next steps
Send your video to: thecube@plymouth.ac.uk. Ensure the subject line is: [Your Last Name] – The Cube Funding Video.
Please note:
Please note:
- Applications will not be processed without a supporting video.
- This fund is offered through to 30 June 2026, however once the funds are depleted the offer will no longer be available.
If you’ve got a business idea and need a little fuel to get it off the ground, the Kickstart Fund is your chance to take that first step.
Every company requires money to run its business, and sometimes it is impossible to continue business without an injection of cash from time to time.
There are different ways to collect money and keep the business running. Sometimes, a loan from banks and other financial institutions, or they can also take funds from investors in the form of share capital. Retained profits are also utilised for this purpose. No matter what way they use for to collect money, it can be done either by funding or financing.
Generally, funding and financing are interchangeably used in the financial world, but there is a difference between these two terms.
Funding
Funding is actually the money provided by companies or by a government sector for a specific purpose, whereas, financing is a process of receiving capital or money for business purpose, and it is usually provided by financial institutions, such as, banks or other lending agencies.
Funding is an amount of money provided by the organization or government on the basis of an agreement. It is usually free of charge.
There may be certain contractual requirements in that agreement, but there are no requirements to pay back the capital. The most common facilitators that normally fulfil the funding needs of an organisation are the donations made by governments, or philanthropists.
Financing
Financing, on the other hand, is an amount of capital or the sum of money provided to an organisation with the expectation to repay, and organizations are liable to pay back the capital amount along with a certain percentage of interest. Therefore, the repayment also includes an interest component. It is usually provided by financial institutions like banks, or investors like venture capitalists, business angels, shareholders, etc.
We have finance expert 1:1 appointments available to discuss finance and funding – please contact thecube@plymouth.ac.uk to book an appointment.
SWIG Finance is an official delivery partner for Start Up Loans UK, which offers an affordable source of finance to help new and early-stage business owners bring their plans to life.
Start Up Loans are available to individuals over the age of 18 who have a viable business idea but no access to finance. This includes businesses that are yet to launch, as well as those that have been trading for up to 60 months.
The programme operates with a fixed interest rate of 7.5% per annum and the ability to borrow between £500 and £25,000 per co-founder over a 1–5 year period.
Once you’ve submitted your application, a member of the SWIG Finance team will be in touch to take you through the next steps.
Representative Example: For a Start Up Loan of £10,000 repayable over 5 years. 60 monthly payments of £200.45. Rate of interest 7.5% per annum fixed. Representative APR 7.78%. The total amount of credit is £10,000. Total interest payable £2,027. The total cost of credit £2,027. The total amount payable is £12,027.
SWIG Finance is here to guide you through the application process, including advice on creating a business plan and cashflow forecast.
Start Up Loans are available to individuals over the age of 18 who have a viable business idea but no access to finance. This includes businesses that are yet to launch, as well as those that have been trading for up to 60 months.
The programme operates with a fixed interest rate of 7.5% per annum and the ability to borrow between £500 and £25,000 per co-founder over a 1–5 year period.
Once you’ve submitted your application, a member of the SWIG Finance team will be in touch to take you through the next steps.
Representative Example: For a Start Up Loan of £10,000 repayable over 5 years. 60 monthly payments of £200.45. Rate of interest 7.5% per annum fixed. Representative APR 7.78%. The total amount of credit is £10,000. Total interest payable £2,027. The total cost of credit £2,027. The total amount payable is £12,027.
SWIG Finance is here to guide you through the application process, including advice on creating a business plan and cashflow forecast.
Select the apply now button below to start your application.
Find out more and apply for a start-up loan
The FounderCatalyst platform quickly and professionally creates all of the legal paperwork and helps manage investor engagement.
Your business journey mapped out.
Starting and running your own business can be both challenging and exciting. You focus and work hard to grow your business, then before you know it you're looking for that all-important funding to catapult you to the next level.
FounderCatalyst was borne out of a desire to help founders with the legal stage of the funding journey, to be a partner you can trust. Our aim is to make your journey as simple and easy as possible; to save you time and money without any compromise on quality. Ultimately, it's about making you stand out from the crowd and boosting your chances of success.
For free you can get:
- your own professional tailored company term sheet
- a secure data room to upload supporting material, such as your pitch-deck, business plan and financial models
- the ability to invite investors to access your documents and term sheet in your data room in a safe and secure way
- non-disclosure agreements signed by investors before they view your company information
- watermarked versions of your legal documents which you can check before you commit to pay.