A friend of mine phoned me last week, asking me if i knew the different funding and investment options in the UK, i quickly wrote the ones i remembered quickly from the top of my head and decided to do a bit of research to see if i was missing any other investment firm or funds.

Now you have no excuse -This is the list, Hope you find it useful.

Funding

UNLTD – (http://www.unltd.org.uk/)
BIG CHALLENGE -(http://www.bigchallenge.org.uk/)
MEDIA BOX- (http://www.media-box.co.uk/)
IDEAS TAP (http://www.ideastap.com)
BIG LOTTERY FUND (http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/funding-uk)
PRINCES TRUST – (http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/)
SHELL LIVEWIRE – (http://www.shell-livewire.org)
BREAK THROUGH FUND (http://www.breakthroughfund.org.uk/)
THE SOCIAL INVESTMENT BUSINESS – (http://www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org/)
FIT 4 FUNDING – (http://www.fit4funding.org.uk/)
SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS – (http://www.sse.org.uk/)
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AMBASSADORS – (http://www.socialenterpriseambassadors.org.uk/)
KICKSTARTER (http://www.Kickstarter.com)
The Carbon Trust (http://www.carbontrust.co.uk)
NESTA (http://www.nesta.org.uk)

Seed Investments

SEEDCAMP – (http://www.Seedcamp.com)
SPRINGBOARD – (http://www.Springboard.com)
The Difference engine- (http://www.thedifferenceengine.eu/)
Astia – (http://www.astia.org)

VC

MMC Ventures (http://www.mmcventures.com)
Dawn Capital (http://dawncapital.co.uk/Home.aspx)
Eden Ventures (www.edenventures.co.uk)
Spark Ventures (www.sparkventures.com)
YFM Group (www.yfmgroup.co.uk)
London Technology Fund (www.londontechnologyfund.com)
Solon Ventures (http://www.solonventures.com/)
Pro-Founder Capital (http://www.profounderscapital.com/)
Bridge Ventures (http://www.bridgesventures.com/)
Albion Ventures (http://www.albion-ventures.co.uk/)
Ariadne Capital (http://www.ariadnecapital.com/)
Index ventures (http://www.indexventures.com/)
Besport ventures (http://www.bestport.co.uk/index.htm)

Angel Networks

British Business Angels Association – (http://www.bbaa.org.uk)
OION – (http://www.oion.co.uk/)
Cambridge Angels (http://cambridgeangels.angelgroups.net/)
Envestors (http://www.envestors.co.uk)
London Business Angels (http://www.lbangels.co.uk/)
Angels Den – (http://www.angelsden.co.uk/)
Advantage Business Angels – (http://www.advantagebusinessangels.com/)

Let me know if i have missed any of the list on the comment section so i can add them to the list.

Jessica Grosvenor is a 25 year old British entrepreneur, who, on the 13th October won the much coveted Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010. After a gruelling day in front of the judges, who included Duncan Bannatyne (from Dragons Den), the young entrepreneur from Wolverhampton picked up a prize of £10,000 to put toward her company, Freelance Training and Consultancy.

Having only started the business in April of this year, she has come a long way very quickly. She has so far managed to secure contracts worth a massive £1.46million. She is looking to use the £10,000 prize to start up hairdressing and healthcare academies.

Jessica started Freelance Training and Consultancy to help people who’ve been made redundant, in the recent economic downturn, retrain to find a new job. Her company now offers training and courses aimed at helping 16-18 year olds gain access to education and jobs by offering government-funded NVQs and technical certificates.

The company also offers courses in skills like Maths, English and ICT. This is in addition to training for teacher development qualifications and much more. The company is expanding quickly and always looking to offer more services.

The industry right now is booming and Jessica spotted an opportunity and took it with both hands.

I think it is great to see young entrepreneurs being recognised and supported at an early stage as they are the ones that can boost our economy, and with the recent announcement about an increase in university tuition fees, it could be that many more of the next generation turn to entrepreneurship straight out of school.

Follow me on Twitter.

If you’re aged 16-30 and have been running your own business for more than 3 months but less than 18 months, this annual competition could see you walk away with a £10,000 cash injection plus support from top PR agency Blue Rubicon at the Shell LiveWIRE LIVE! award final taking place in London on 13th October 2010.

So, if you think you’ve got what it takes to be our Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010, Click here and apply

Deadline for entries is 5pm on 6th September 2010.

These are the five websites that i believe that help any university student get the right information, network, advice, expertise, funding or backing in taking their idea and turning it into becoming a business.

Cmypitch.com (Nacueventures)

Cmypitch gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to connect with investors directly, All you do is upload your own video pitch,and that gets put out to lots of investors(The likes of james caan, Doug Richard) on the network.
Check it out to find more about it.

Smarta

Smarta gives you a platform for resources, advices for starting and running your startup, They have loads of top entrepreneurs on the site that provide support to entrepreneurs, It also gives you the opportunity to showcase your business.

Enterprise UK

Enterprise Uk are connected to almost every entrepreneur in the uk and also connect them to the right people that can help them improve their business, they also have tons of competitions to help startup with business expenses or exposure.

Shell Livewire

Shell livewire have tons of competitions in which they run to give entrepreneurs/startups the required support and exposure, check out their pitching videos section.

FlyingStartonline

They offer a lot of training and workshop to entrepreneur to help them enhance their skills.

Shell LiveWIRE in Scotland
In association with
Scotish Enterprise

17th September 2009
Apex Waterloo Place Hotel
23-27 Waterloo Place
Edinburgh EH1 3BH (map)
Time: 10am-6pm (lunch is included)
Cost: Free (tickets are limited so if you wish to attend RSVP ASAP to anna.lt@shell-livewire.org)

The event will feature an ‘elevator pitch’ style competition with a first prize of £1,000 and second prize of £500, plus inspirational guest speakers including;
Mike Southon (Author of ‘The Beermat Entrepreneur’) – international business speaker and weekly columnist for the Financial Times, Mike will be our keynote speaker for the day and will also be judging our ‘elevator pitch’ competition.

Melanie Harris (The Training Tree) will be running her excellent workshop “Flirting For Success” to get you all in the mood for networking.

Mike Welch (Black Circles – former Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2003 winner will be hosting a session on “How To Boost Your Sales”.

Nicky Gray (Kiki’s Kabin / TEDCO) – former Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2007 (North East) winner is running a session on “How To Do A Great Elevator Pitch and Sell Your Business”.

Jonathan Kennedy (Director, Wave PR Ltd) will be running a session on “How To Make Your Business Attractive To The Media”.

To book your place at this free event please email Anna Lawn-Thomas
at anna.lt@shell-livewire.org with your full contact details.

The Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009 will open for entries on 1st July.

Applications from across the UK will be invited through our website, and the top prize will see one lucky winner win £10,000 plus potentially a lot of national press and media attention.

This year we are going to celebrate the award with an exciting event in London called ‘Shell LiveWIRE LIVE’ in late October where we will be inviting a host of young entrepreneurs to join us along with some famous faces to run workshops and speak throughout the day.