Have a business idea? Want to launch a product?
ABVentures is the University of Aberdeen’s support programme for student and recent graduate entrepreneurs — whether you’re just exploring an idea or ready to launch.
We empower our students and recent graduates (within the last two years) to build entrepreneurial skills and launch successful ventures.
Through ABVentures, you can:
- Get 1:1 tailored business support advice
- Learn how to pitch your idea and get feedback from professionals
- Apply for funding to kick-start your business – over £40,000 funding opportunities available annually
- Attend workshops on ideation, business development, branding, and more
- Join a network of like-minded aspirational students and recent graduates
No business degree or experience required – just ambition and passion for the problem you want to solve.
Ready to get started? Get in touch or explore our upcoming events, workshops, and success stories from past students.
Be the Spark.
Partners
As one of the 75 Santander Universities, the University of Aberdeen receives funding from Santander to support Education, Employability and Enterprise activities. The funding provided for Enterprise support our student/graduate businesses and is awarded through our ABVentures Microfinance Fund.
Other Santander-supported opportunities available to all University of Aberdeen students and graduates include:
- National programmes including Student Prize Draws, Brighter Future Grants
- Global programmes and unlimited on-demand courses on Santander Open Academy
- Santander X programmes including the Santander X UK Awards
- Santander Scholars Programme
- Santander’s toolkit for people looking to start a new side-hustle.
Converge provides input to our workshops, Lightbulb Ideas competition and advice.
Working in partnership with Scotland’s world-class universities to create high-growth companies based on university innovation and promote an entrepreneurial mindset within the academic communities.
Their Converge Challenge competition is a prestigious competition that helps staff, students and recent graduates of Scotland’s universities turn their ideas into businesses.
Building a tech start-up is hard, but it’s easier if you don’t do it alone.
Codebase, the UK’s largest Technology Incubator, helps people build better tech start-ups and scaleups by providing space, community and education programmes designed to make it easier to start and scale their business.
They want to make start-ups accessible to everyone. Whichever aspect of start-up life interests you, no matter what stage you’re at, we can help you to navigate your journey.
The Eagle Labs Academy: Barclays Eagle Labs have recently launched a free learning platform for founders at: 1) ideation 2) startup 3) scaleup stages of business growth which provides founders with:
- curated learning experiences – online resources for startup and scale founders to access self-paced and on demand learning.
- pre and post accelerator programme information
- useful founder frameworks – a variety of practical and downloadable templates for founders and entrepreneurs.
The platform is freely accessible across all devices, inclusive of: Android, and Apple mobiles, iPads, Kindles and other platforms.
Users can customise their learning experience and align it to their specific growth journey.