Build It Prize Fund

Application Form

Build Itawards are generously sponsored by Queen Mary University and Santander

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be registered QMUL students or have graduated within the last two years.
  • Applicants must own the IP (intellectual property) of their idea.
  • Applicants must be living in the UK during the period that theaward money is spent.
  • Groups and partnerships are eligible to apply but must supply a lead contact name.
  • Funding is available up to £10,000. Applicants may request funding for any amount up to this total, according to their needs.Funds awarded may only be used to covercosts itemised on the application form. Any changes in how funds are used must be cleared with Queen Mary in advance.
  • Eligible costs for a Build Itawardare wide-ranging, but must result in the development of a product or prototype of a product (either software or hardware)that can be presented to Santander and Queen Mary Careers & Enterprise at the end of the 6 month award period.

Application Process

Application must be completed electronically using this form and emailed as an attachment to . You are encouraged to book an Enterprise Appointment (call 020 7882 8533) at the QM Careers Centre for feedback on your draft before submission. You are welcome to ask for help at an Enterprise Appointment on any aspect of this application. All Enterprise Appointments are confidential.

Applicants are also required to submit a 2-minute video pitch as part of their application. Use your video to introduce your idea to the selection panel. Your video need not be hi-tech – e.g. use of a smartphone is fine. Upload your video to a hosting service such as YouTube or Vimeo and send a link with your form. Have a look at crowd sourced funding websites (such as for ideas to inspire your video.

Approval Process

Applications (form plus video pitch) will be assessed by a panel drawn from Queen Mary Senior Executives, Queen Mary Careers and Enterprise Centre and Queen Mary Innovation Ltd. Applications will be shortlisted and invited to an interview should they be successful.

Conditions of Funding

All recipients of funding will be required to enter into a written agreement. This will include requirements to:

  • Ensure that business activity undertaken is legal and ethical.
  • Provide a report on progress made after three and six months and supply receipts for expenditure.
  • Present their product to a panel at the end of the 6 month award period.
  • Participate in promotional activity where appropriate.
  • Spend the funding on the item(s) listed in the application. QMUL reserves the right to request

re-payment of the grant if there is significant deviation from the listed expenditure without

prior approval from the funding panel.

Application Form

Your name
Your address
Your e-mail address
Your telephone number
Your course and year of study
Are other QMUL students applying for this award with you? If so, please state names and email addresses.
How much money are you applying for from the Build It Fund? You can apply for any sum up to £10,000.
Are you applying for funding from any other source?
Have you received enterprise prize money from QMUL before?
Date of application
Summary of your idea: what product would you like to build, and why? (100 words max)
What is the unmet market need and opportunity for this product?(State who your target customersare, how many of them there are, why you think they will buy your product/service and who your competitors are – 500 words max.)
How will your product address the market need identified above? (200 words max).
What will your route to market be once you’ve built your prototype? (200 words max).
Provide a breakdown of the items on which you would spend your award. You must add in a cost per item.
(Please note, these costs should all relate to building and testing the prototype, not marketing and distribution of the product).
If you are successful in this application, what areyour goalsover the next two years, and how will this funding help you to reach them? (Provide a timeline that includes the steps in creating your product, testing your product, taking it to market, and raising further finance if required).
Financial potential: please give an indication of how much your product will cost to build (including a unit cost if appropriate), how many users you expect to have in the first two years of going to market, and how much each user will spend on the product.
(You may find it useful to attach an excel spreadsheet separately with your forecasts).
Risk assessment: What are the risks to the success of your idea andhow are you addressing these risks?(200 words max).
Using brief examples from your experience, demonstrate that you/you and your team have the skills andcommitmentto build your product (200 words max).
If there is any further information you would like to supply to support your application, please include it here and/or please tell us about other support you would find useful from Queen Mary in developing your product(100 words max).

Please submit your completed application form, together with your video pitch, to by the next available deadine advertised on the funding page of You can also send any queries you have about the application process to this email address.

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