STEAMhouse Pre-Incubator

The STEAMhouse Pre-Incubator is a dedicated facility for students and graduates to develop their enterprise and entrepreneurship skills, offering valuable space, enlightening workshops, exciting programmes and long-term support.

A new space to build your skills 

The STEAMhouse Pre-Incubator will provide the University’s student and recent graduate cohort (home or international) with the opportunity to develop key skills and business concepts, as well as accessing valuable programmes, lectures, workshops and facilities.

The space, located in BCU’s Millennium Point building on the First Floor, will provide a supportive environment for you to launch a business venture, as well as foster fresh opportunities for new partnerships and exciting collaborations.

Tailored support at every step

The STEAMhouse Pre-Incubator has been mapped out to provide support at every stage of the journey, from the moment you begin your studies to after you graduate.

• First and second-year students will have access to hands-on workshops, lectures, enterprise programmes, tailored advice and the Pre-Incubator’s facilities.
• Third-year, Master’s, PhD students and recent graduates will be able to book desk space, attend various invaluable events, network with professionals and gain key guidance from our business support experts.

Furthermore, third year, Master’s and PhD students – as well as recent graduates – will be applicable for some of the University’s most exciting programmes, all of which offer huge benefits to those looking to develop a business:

• Start-Up Visa, which enables international students to stay or return to the UK for up to two years in order to set up and run a business here.

All students and graduates will also have access to The Birmingham Skills for Enterprise and Employability Network (BSEEN), which offers students and graduates a package of intensive startup support for new ventures.

The start of your STEAMhouse journey 

The Pre-Incubator forms part of BCU’s STEAM offering, which encompasses a number of exciting facilities and support programmes.

For example, BCU graduates could progress from the Pre-Incubator to the STEAM Incubator, a business startup service located in the University’s new STEAMhouse innovation centre.

Graduates will also find themselves invited to exciting events with plenty of opportunities for networking, as well as paid-for desk space to build their business and the chance to join STEAMhouse Create, a 12-month ERDF funded programme for resource-poor businesses to make their new product, project, or service ideas a reality.

“The STEAMhouse Pre-Incubator will be the home of enterprise and entrepreneurship for our students and graduates,” says Joe Margetts, Enterprise Manager at BCU.

“It’s an all-encompassing space for them to receive all the help they need to make their business dreams come true."

“Any students or graduates are welcome and there is tailored support for every level of learner. It’ll be a relaxed vibe that will provide our hopeful entrepreneurs with the resources and support they need to get their idea off the ground.”

Joe is also pleased that there is now a vital first step on the STEAMhouse ladder for budding entrepreneurs.

“The Pre-Incubator will give them the time, space and resources to grow before they progress to the Incubator, and, moving forwards, hopefully becoming full-time members of STEAMhouse.”