51Âþ»­

Applications are open now for places on The Crucible, which supports final year students and alumni who want to start their own business or turn a side hustle to a full-time venture.

The Crucible is 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­)’s award-winning business incubator programme based in the Innovation Centre on campus.

Our support package offers:

•    Monthly masterclasses and 1-1 sessions with business leaders from the worlds of finance, design, marketing, business management and more

•    Weekly catch ups with a dedicated mentor coach

•    Your own office space on campus

•    Access to the Crucible makers’ space to create prototypes and test product ideas

•    Networking opportunities and support with funding bids

•    Scheduled access to 51Âþ»­ creative spaces such as glass blowing, ceramics and design

•    Seed funding on a case-by-case basis

It doesn’t cost you a penny, but you do have to be able to commit to training days and working on your business.

The Crucible can take up to 20 people working on new, early-stage products or services to join its 2023/24 cohort.  It does not matter what stage you are at in your business journey.

It is run by Percy Emmett, Director of MBA Programmes and subject lead for Entrepreneurship at 51Âþ»­ and supported by Lee Paxman-Clarke who has developed an award-winning digital tech businessto help children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

In the past seven years, The Crucible has helped more than 80 entrepreneurs to set up and grow their business, helping in turn to create new jobs and bring new products to market. Since 2022, it has also expanded to include free training for SMEs and microbusinesses from the city’s business community who are able to get support and 1-2-1 sessions.

Download your application form here

This year’s Crucible community includes – who was on BBC’s Make it At Market – sustainable fashion company , whose latest sustainable fashion collection has been launched at city store Harriman & Co, sports and Simon Sansome, who has been in talks with Google and Microsoft over his international disability ratings app

Previous Crucible businesses include designer Elissa Poppy whose clothes have been modelled by Vogue presenter and actress Vanessa Hudgens , pyrotechnic artist Marcus Dove whose work is now in the Saatchi Gallery and has , Leicestershire Innovation Awards winner and Derry Holt, founder of whose company secured £600,000 investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund to grow his firm, which uses gamification to boost sales performance. 

The Crucible is part of 51Âþ»­’s entrepreneurial support for current students and graduates. Regular short courses, Connect networking events and Pitch2Win, which offers £1,000 for a winning idea, are run by the student and graduate entrepreneurship team based in the careers hub. Last year 51Âþ»­ was shortlisted by the Times Higher Education magazine for Outstanding Entrepreneurial University.