If you were on this week's Open Q&A, you'll know exactly why we're still buzzing about it. It was one of the best attended sessions we've run, and this time we tried something new, grouping the questions coming in through chat and live by theme rather than working through them as they landed. Firstly lots on the financial aspects of the application, then Founders, co-founders and project managers, plus other innovation, viability and working with universities made for a genuinely brilliant session.
The founder and co-founder questions were some of the most thoughtful we've had. We talked through what it means to have a non-technical co-founder on an AI product, what we actually want to see on paper when it comes to proving someone is a founder and not just an employee, and why the visa's own name is the clue, this route is built around founders and co-founders, not staff.
Finance took up a huge part of the session, and rightly so. Questions came in on what counts towards the £50,000 spend, whether founder capital counts as external funding at ILR, how to evidence funds when you can't yet trade, what realistic revenue figures look like without raising red flags, and whether a lean, bootstrapped MVP can still be considered viable. Our team worked through as much detail as we could, though a few answers can only ever be guidance rather than a guarantee, and we're still waiting on the Home Office for full clarity on pivots before we can go further there.
If you weren't able to join or want to revisit anything covered, our online resource library is there whenever you need it, and our Facebook group has quickly become a brilliant place to keep the conversation going between sessions. Between the group, WhatsApp and our regular webinars, there's always a way to reach us with whatever's on your mind.
Here are some links to the key things you need!
Innovator International
Richard Harrison
... and our new Facebook group:
Whilst on the subject of finance...
This week we ran with two separate articles which we pulled out of the archives and freshened up a little bit:
Do grants enable or stifle innovation?
Richard originally wrote it back in 2015, and we've dusted it off and brought it up to date, because the question of where funding fits into a growth journey hasn't really changed, even if the funding landscape around it has.
The short version is that the businesses who need funding least tend to be the ones who innovate best, and grants work best as a way to learn rather than simply a way to buy something. Richard draws on his own experience helping secure Innovate UK Smart grants versus smaller pots like ERDF funding, and why the difference between the two often comes down to what you walk away with once the money's spent. Well worth a read if funding is anywhere on your radar right now.
Richard Harrison
Should the UK taxpayer support YOUR innovation?
If our article on grants left you with more questions than answers, this follow up article should help. Richard picks up exactly where he left off, turning the lens onto the public purse itself, and asking whether taxpayer funded innovation support actually delivers the return it promises, or whether it's time for a rethink in how it's targeted.
It's a piece we'd genuinely encourage you to read alongside the first, the two were written to sit together.
Richard Harrison
Congratulations, Ravi!
Big news from Ravi at Finexer this week. Alongside the well-deserved buzz around his recent Founder Story, Ravi has just had his Settlement (Indefinite Leave to Remain) application approved.
It's a milestone that speaks to everything his journey has represented so far: building serious infrastructure in a regulated space, staying patient through the invisible early work, and putting down real roots in the UK along the way. Ravi has shown what it looks like to build for the long term, and now that commitment to the UK has a new chapter of its own.
Congratulations, Ravi, we're proud to have been part of your journey. You can read his full story here:
Harriet Fuller
A note that made our week
We received some wonderful feedback recently from Duke Saputra who has been attending our recent Q&A based webinars, bringing some really key questions to our team, and it felt too good not to share.
Duke told us he has spent a lot of time researching endorsing bodies, and that Innovator International stood out to him for not treating the relationship as purely transactional. He pointed to the webinars and resources we share as evidence that the team genuinely believes in helping international entrepreneurs prosper in the UK.
He also gave a special mention to Karen, thanking her for making sure everyone felt heard and answered, even when sessions ran over. As Duke put it, in an uncertain immigration environment, having a team that acts as a net positive makes a real difference to the ambitious goals he and so many other founders are working towards.
Thank you, Duke, for taking the time to share this. Feedback like this is exactly why the team does what it does.
See you next week!
