On Wednesday morning we hosted our latest open webinar — a free, informal session open to anyone with an interest in the Innovator Founder Visa route. The session was attended by both visa holders and aspiring founders who are not yet on the Innovator International programme but are sitting in the wings, preparing their applications and working through their proposals. It was a packed hour, and we are glad to see so many of you joined us.
These open sessions are intentionally unstructured. There is no set agenda. They are designed to be an opportunity to bring your questions, introduce yourself, gather information and begin a conversation with members of our core team - an open door designed and led by you rather than a formal presentation.
What Came Up During the Session
The questions ranged widely, which reflects just how many moving parts there are with the Innovator Founder Visa. Our goal is to demystify the route and to clarify the requirements to support you to build successful businesses in the UK.
Here is a summary of the key areas we covered:
Pre-application support and what we can offer
One of the first questions raised was around what kind of direct support applicants can access before submitting. It is a fair question, and one we recognise is widely asked. As an endorsing body, we are required by the Home Office to remain impartial throughout the assessment process, but there are also limitations on the direct feedback we can provide. That means we are unable to review individual business plans or provide direct feedback on pre-application materials. This is not a choice we make — it is a condition of our role.
However, what we can do is provide a wide range of resources and guides to help you. These contain all of the information you need and are published on innovatorinternational.com. These include our Business Planning Guide, our Application Pack, our Same Business Guide, and our ILR Settlement Guide — all freely available and designed to help you understand what a strong application looks like.
Intellectual property
Questions came up around IP and how it fits into the business or application. Your business must be innovative. Our consistent advice here is that if IP is relevant to your business — whether that is a trademark, patent, or other protection — you should engage with a qualified IP specialist to identify how to protect your ideas. This is a specialist area and one where good professional advice early on can make a significant difference. The research element of any IP is important for a future ILR application and once you have been endorsed, we advise seeking support from a specialist at Innovator International to understand this goal in more detail.
Building your team and bringing on a co-founder
Several attendees asked about growing their team as part of their business plan, and about whether bringing on a co-founder was possible or advisable. These are entirely valid considerations, and the structure of your team and leadership is something worth thinking through carefully as you develop your proposal. If a co-founder will be applying for a future endorsement, it is important they are a part of the idea from it’s initial discussions and concept.
Financials and how to present them
Financial projections came up as a common area of uncertainty. Questions ranged from how to structure financial forecasts to how to present them credibly. This is one of the areas covered in our Business Planning Guide, which we would encourage you to work through carefully.
In our supplier network, you will find contacts to HSBC who can help you open your personal and business bank accounts, along with Accountants who can provide you with financial support and advice:
Richard Harrison
Using a personal bank account
A practical question came up around using a personal bank account in the early stages of the business, before a business account is accessible. This is a common situation for founders in the early stages, and it was helpful to be able to address it openly. It may be necessary to begin with a personal bank account ahead of being able to secure a business one, however as Karen mentioned you should keep any personal spending separate from the business spends following business good practice, so a different bank account specifically for your business spending. Arrange to open your business bank account as soon as you can - our preferred banking partner HSBC can help you here:
Innovator International
Innovator International
Understanding innovation
The concept of innovation and what actually counts is one of the most frequently misunderstood parts of this visa route. We discussed this at length and pointed attendees towards two resources we have published that address it directly:
- What IS Innovation? — a written guide to how innovation is defined in the context of the Innovator Founder Visa
- RECAP || 21 Apr 2026: What is Innovation? — a recap of our recent webinar dedicated to unpacking this topic
The short version: innovation does not mean inventing something that has never existed before. It means doing something genuinely different, for a market that wants it, in a way that is commercially viable and capable of growth. If you have not read these two pieces yet, we would strongly recommend starting there.
These Sessions Are Here to Stay
We will be running these open webinars on the first Wednesday of every month. They are available open to everyone whether you are at the very beginning of exploring this route or deep into your preparation / journey. There is no agenda, no pressure, and no requirement to have everything figured out before you attend.
Bring your questions. We will do our best to answer as many as possible during the session itself.
If you would like to be notified of upcoming sessions, make sure you are registered to receive Innovator Pulse newsletters, and keep an eye on our Events section for dates and registration links.
We look forward to seeing you next month!
