UK National Incubator and Accelerator Survey 2026

About This Survey

The results will be used by the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CfE) to analyse and understand the current state of the UK's startup support structures such as incubators, accelerators and related programmes. In order to get an accurate picture the survey asks questions on a wide number of areas of activity but the questions are designed so programme managers can answer them without needing to refer to detailed sources. It will take about 20 minutes to complete.

Who Should Complete It

Anyone running a start up support programme can complete the survey - we want to hear from accelerators, incubators, meet-ups, training programmes, mentoring schemes and any other kind of activity out there.

We want to identify each programme or location for every support programme that startups might be able to join. So if you operate multiple accelerator locations or run multiple accelerators for different types of startups, then we will treat each of those separately and each will be eligible to take part in the survey under their organisation.

What Will You Get Back

A link to the final report will be sent to everyone who has completed the survey.

The previous survey was the most complete list of UK incubators and accelerators ever put together with over 800 programmes identified and has been used by media organisations, government, funders and startups looking to see what is available, so taking part will help raise your profile and your programme become part of the reference list for anyone looking to understand the UK startup support ecosystem.

Completed surveys will eligible for a prize draw to show our appreciation of your time. There will be a draw for three £100 Amazon vouchers for surveys received by the end of February and a three more £100 vouchers will be drawn for all of those received by end of March so early completers will have two draws in which to win!

Who is Running It?

The work is being conducted by the Centre for Entrepreneurs, an independent charity, and is funded and supported by Innovate UK. There is project steering board that includes representatives of five UK government departments and agencies. You can find out more about us here.

All responses will be managed in strict confidence. All results will be analysed anonymously and no identifying information will be shared or published.

About You

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* 1. Your email address

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* 2. Your first name

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* 3. Your surname

About Your Organisation

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* 4. What is the name of your programme or activity?

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* 5. What is the name of the company or organisation running the programme or parent organisation if you have one?

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* 6. Which label best describes your organisation?

Accelerator (i.e. a cohort-based development programme delivered over a fixed time, generally in-person)

Co-working Space / Business Centre (i.e. fully equipped office provision with shared facilities and flexible contracts)

Incubator (i.e. physical space for startups, along with additional growth-related services, but not cohort-based nor fixed-term)

Innovation centre / Science park (i.e. organisations which support the development of technological businesses with a focus on space and physical facilities)

Meet-up (i.e. informal meetings and networking events)

Pre-accelerator (i.e. short programmes designed for prospective entrepreneurs who are not yet ready for an accelerator)

Venture studio/builder (i.e. organisations which directly create and scale multiple startups based on a challenge or problem space set by the programme provider)

Virtual accelerator (i.e. a cohort-based development programme delivered over a fixed time, generally online)

Virtual incubator (i.e. a package of startup and growth-related services without space provision and delivered online without a fixed start or end date)

Other (please specify)

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* 7. What best describes your organisation or parent organisation?

Central government department, agency, public body or similar

Investment firm

Large firm or corporation

Local authority

Science park

SME

Social enterprise, non-profit or charity

University / other education institution

Other (please specify)

Not applicable

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* 8. Where is your organisation headquartered (postcode)?

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* 9. If you have other facilities or locations, where are these (please give postcodes separated by commas)?

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* 10. What is your website address? (If your programmes have separate sites, please list all and separate with commas)

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* 11. What year was your programme or activity established (approximately)?

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* 12. What year was your parent organisation established (approximately)?

Funding

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* 13. How is your programme or activity funded? (Please allocate approximate percentages from each source - these should total approximately 100%)

	Less than 25%	25-50%	51-75%	More than 75%	None from this source
Local / regional public funding	Local / regional public funding Less than 25%	Local / regional public funding 25-50%	Local / regional public funding 51-75%	Local / regional public funding More than 75%	Local / regional public funding None from this source
UK government funding (including Research councils)	UK government funding (including Research councils) Less than 25%	UK government funding (including Research councils) 25-50%	UK government funding (including Research councils) 51-75%	UK government funding (including Research councils) More than 75%	UK government funding (including Research councils) None from this source
Fees / rent from clients / participants	Fees / rent from clients / participants Less than 25%	Fees / rent from clients / participants 25-50%	Fees / rent from clients / participants 51-75%	Fees / rent from clients / participants More than 75%	Fees / rent from clients / participants None from this source
Corporate sponsorship	Corporate sponsorship Less than 25%	Corporate sponsorship 25-50%	Corporate sponsorship 51-75%	Corporate sponsorship More than 75%	Corporate sponsorship None from this source
Donations (charitable gifts)	Donations (charitable gifts) Less than 25%	Donations (charitable gifts) 25-50%	Donations (charitable gifts) 51-75%	Donations (charitable gifts) More than 75%	Donations (charitable gifts) None from this source
Other	Other Less than 25%	Other 25-50%	Other 51-75%	Other More than 75%	Other None from this source

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* 14. What is your programme or activity's annual turnover (£)?

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* 15. What is your parent organisations annual turnover (£)?

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* 16. Do you take equity in startups as part of them participating in your programme or activity?

Yes

Varies

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* 17. If you do, what is a typical percentage?

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* 18. How many people worked on your programmes for startups FTE Equivalent over the last year (all roles, e.g. trainers, community managers, admin)?

Services and Activities

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* 19. Please indicate which of the following services you currently provide (either by yourself or with third parties) and which you are considering offering

	We offer directly	We offer through third parties	We don't offer but would like to	We don't offer and don't plan to
Business model refinement / Business strategy	Business model refinement / Business strategy We offer directly	Business model refinement / Business strategy We offer through third parties	Business model refinement / Business strategy We don't offer but would like to	Business model refinement / Business strategy We don't offer and don't plan to
Networking with peers	Networking with peers We offer directly	Networking with peers We offer through third parties	Networking with peers We don't offer but would like to	Networking with peers We don't offer and don't plan to
Press / media exposure	Press / media exposure We offer directly	Press / media exposure We offer through third parties	Press / media exposure We don't offer but would like to	Press / media exposure We don't offer and don't plan to
Office space	Office space We offer directly	Office space We offer through third parties	Office space We don't offer but would like to	Office space We don't offer and don't plan to
Technical build support	Technical build support We offer directly	Technical build support We offer through third parties	Technical build support We don't offer but would like to	Technical build support We don't offer and don't plan to
Mental health / wellbeing support	Mental health / wellbeing support We offer directly	Mental health / wellbeing support We offer through third parties	Mental health / wellbeing support We don't offer but would like to	Mental health / wellbeing support We don't offer and don't plan to
Exporting / going international support	Exporting / going international support We offer directly	Exporting / going international support We offer through third parties	Exporting / going international support We don't offer but would like to	Exporting / going international support We don't offer and don't plan to
Company structure advice	Company structure advice We offer directly	Company structure advice We offer through third parties	Company structure advice We don't offer but would like to	Company structure advice We don't offer and don't plan to
Lab equipment or space	Lab equipment or space We offer directly	Lab equipment or space We offer through third parties	Lab equipment or space We don't offer but would like to	Lab equipment or space We don't offer and don't plan to
Protoyping facilities	Protoyping facilities We offer directly	Protoyping facilities We offer through third parties	Protoyping facilities We don't offer but would like to	Protoyping facilities We don't offer and don't plan to
Investment advice / readiness training	Investment advice / readiness training We offer directly	Investment advice / readiness training We offer through third parties	Investment advice / readiness training We don't offer but would like to	Investment advice / readiness training We don't offer and don't plan to
Connections to potential investors / funders	Connections to potential investors / funders We offer directly	Connections to potential investors / funders We offer through third parties	Connections to potential investors / funders We don't offer but would like to	Connections to potential investors / funders We don't offer and don't plan to
Connections to potential customers / new opportunities	Connections to potential customers / new opportunities We offer directly	Connections to potential customers / new opportunities We offer through third parties	Connections to potential customers / new opportunities We don't offer but would like to	Connections to potential customers / new opportunities We don't offer and don't plan to
Cofounder matching	Cofounder matching We offer directly	Cofounder matching We offer through third parties	Cofounder matching We don't offer but would like to	Cofounder matching We don't offer and don't plan to
Support with external grant applications	Support with external grant applications We offer directly	Support with external grant applications We offer through third parties	Support with external grant applications We don't offer but would like to	Support with external grant applications We don't offer and don't plan to
Direct funding through loans	Direct funding through loans We offer directly	Direct funding through loans We offer through third parties	Direct funding through loans We don't offer but would like to	Direct funding through loans We don't offer and don't plan to
Direct funding through grants	Direct funding through grants We offer directly	Direct funding through grants We offer through third parties	Direct funding through grants We don't offer but would like to	Direct funding through grants We don't offer and don't plan to
Direct funding through equity investment	Direct funding through equity investment We offer directly	Direct funding through equity investment We offer through third parties	Direct funding through equity investment We don't offer but would like to	Direct funding through equity investment We don't offer and don't plan to
Founder accountability / Objective tracking	Founder accountability / Objective tracking We offer directly	Founder accountability / Objective tracking We offer through third parties	Founder accountability / Objective tracking We don't offer but would like to	Founder accountability / Objective tracking We don't offer and don't plan to
Recruitment of team	Recruitment of team We offer directly	Recruitment of team We offer through third parties	Recruitment of team We don't offer but would like to	Recruitment of team We don't offer and don't plan to
Mentoring / coaching	Mentoring / coaching We offer directly	Mentoring / coaching We offer through third parties	Mentoring / coaching We don't offer but would like to	Mentoring / coaching We don't offer and don't plan to
Skills training (inc business skills)	Skills training (inc business skills) We offer directly	Skills training (inc business skills) We offer through third parties	Skills training (inc business skills) We don't offer but would like to	Skills training (inc business skills) We don't offer and don't plan to
IP advice	IP advice We offer directly	IP advice We offer through third parties	IP advice We don't offer but would like to	IP advice We don't offer and don't plan to
General legal and tax advice	General legal and tax advice We offer directly	General legal and tax advice We offer through third parties	General legal and tax advice We don't offer but would like to	General legal and tax advice We don't offer and don't plan to
Company infrastructure - people (e.g. shared finance manager, HR manager)	Company infrastructure - people (e.g. shared finance manager, HR manager) We offer directly	Company infrastructure - people (e.g. shared finance manager, HR manager) We offer through third parties	Company infrastructure - people (e.g. shared finance manager, HR manager) We don't offer but would like to	Company infrastructure - people (e.g. shared finance manager, HR manager) We don't offer and don't plan to
Company infrastructure - tech and platforms (e.g. access to accounting software, cloud servers, research tools)	Company infrastructure - tech and platforms (e.g. access to accounting software, cloud servers, research tools) We offer directly	Company infrastructure - tech and platforms (e.g. access to accounting software, cloud servers, research tools) We offer through third parties	Company infrastructure - tech and platforms (e.g. access to accounting software, cloud servers, research tools) We don't offer but would like to	Company infrastructure - tech and platforms (e.g. access to accounting software, cloud servers, research tools) We don't offer and don't plan to
Demo days	Demo days We offer directly	Demo days We offer through third parties	Demo days We don't offer but would like to	Demo days We don't offer and don't plan to

Other (please specify)

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* 20. Are there any services which are regularly requested but which your organisation doesn’t/cannot provide?

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* 21. Do you focus on specific sectors?

Advanced Manufacturing

Defence

Security and Resilience

Environment and Sustainability

Lifesciences (inc pharma)

Quantum

Health and Wellbeing

Digital - B2C

Retail

Creative Industries

Engineered Biology

Fintech

Clean Energy

Advanced Connectivity/Telecoms Tech

Sole Trader/Freelancers

Cyber

Product Design

Lifestyle Businesses

Semiconductors

Digital - B2B/B2G

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 22. What proportion of your services are delivered remotely or online?

All

Most

Some

A little

None

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* 23. Approximately how many startups do you typically support per year (in total)?

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* 24. If you are cohort based, how many cohorts per year do you typically manage?

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* 25. How do you expect your programme(s) to change in size over the next 1-2 years?

Grow

Remain about the same

Shrink

Marketing and Recruitment

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* 26. When do you expect to recruit for your next programme or cohort?

We accept applications at any time

Spring 2026

Summer 2026

Autum 2026

Winter 2026

Next year or later

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* 27. Is it getting harder or easier to find the right quality of applicants / clients?

Getting easier

Not harder or easier

Getting harder

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* 28. Approximately what percentage of your clients relocate to participate in your programme? (In the following we define UK regions as Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, North East, North West, Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West)

	Less than 25%	25-50%	51%-75%	More than 75%	None
Relocate from overseas %	Relocate from overseas % Less than 25%	Relocate from overseas % 25-50%	Relocate from overseas % 51%-75%	Relocate from overseas % More than 75%	Relocate from overseas % None
Relocate from other regions of UK %	Relocate from other regions of UK % Less than 25%	Relocate from other regions of UK % 25-50%	Relocate from other regions of UK % 51%-75%	Relocate from other regions of UK % More than 75%	Relocate from other regions of UK % None
Relocate from within same region %	Relocate from within same region % Less than 25%	Relocate from within same region % 25-50%	Relocate from within same region % 51%-75%	Relocate from within same region % More than 75%	Relocate from within same region % None

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* 29. How do startups typically find your organisation? (Please select UP TO Five answers)

Web / AI searches

Platforms (e.g. F6S, Younoodle)

University referrals / academic networks

Other startups / entrepreneurs (word of mouth)

Other accelerators / incubators (partners and referrals)

Investor referrals

LEPs and Growth Hubs (or devolved growth agencies)

Paid advertising or outreach

TikTok

Instagram / Facebook

X / Twitter

We don't know

Other (please specify)

Selection and Delivery

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* 30. Is your selection competitive?

Yes

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* 31. Do you generally have...?

Too many applicants / clients

About the right number of applicants / clients

Too few applicants / clients

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* 32. What are your entrance criteria? (Select all that apply)

Participants’ location

Demonstrable social impact / aligns with your values

Relates to a specific sector or technology

Age of founders

Age of firms

Individuals must have certain qualifications or experience

Demographics of team (e.g. focus on women or ethnic minorities)

Demonstrable growth potential

Specific university or instiution affiliation

Turnover above or below a specified amount

Minimum or maximum amount of funds raised

Ability to pay fees / programme charge

Other (please specify)

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* 33. What stage of development are most of your startups?

Ideation / concept-development

Pre-revenue

Initial market offering / validation

Early revenue generation / company developing

Scaling and growth

Established

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* 34. When they join our programme, how far have your startups typically developed each of these business operations:

	None	Partial	Enough to start	Enough to grow
Founding team	Founding team None	Founding team Partial	Founding team Enough to start	Founding team Enough to grow
Commercial team	Commercial team None	Commercial team Partial	Commercial team Enough to start	Commercial team Enough to grow
Technical team	Technical team None	Technical team Partial	Technical team Enough to start	Technical team Enough to grow
Business problem / objective identified	Business problem / objective identified None	Business problem / objective identified Partial	Business problem / objective identified Enough to start	Business problem / objective identified Enough to grow
Business model identified	Business model identified None	Business model identified Partial	Business model identified Enough to start	Business model identified Enough to grow
First working product / service solution	First working product / service solution None	First working product / service solution Partial	First working product / service solution Enough to start	First working product / service solution Enough to grow
Established support network (peers, coaches, mentors, advisory board)	Established support network (peers, coaches, mentors, advisory board) None	Established support network (peers, coaches, mentors, advisory board) Partial	Established support network (peers, coaches, mentors, advisory board) Enough to start	Established support network (peers, coaches, mentors, advisory board) Enough to grow

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* 35. When they join our programme, what financial position have your startups typically reached:

	Under £25,000	£25,001 to £100,000	£100,001 to £250,000	More than £250,000
Total sales to date	Total sales to date Under £25,000	Total sales to date £25,001 to £100,000	Total sales to date £100,001 to £250,000	Total sales to date More than £250,000
Total funding to date	Total funding to date Under £25,000	Total funding to date £25,001 to £100,000	Total funding to date £100,001 to £250,000	Total funding to date More than £250,000

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* 36. What is the typical duration of your programme or services (approximately how long do startups stay with you)?

Less than 1 month

1 to 3 months

3 to 6 months

6 to 12 months

More than 12 months

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* 37. What's the best AI tool you have found or like to recommend that helps startups?

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* 38. How are you using AI in your programme management and delivery?

	Not at all	A little	A lot
Helping to market / advertise	Helping to market / advertise Not at all	Helping to market / advertise A little	Helping to market / advertise A lot
Helping to assess applicants	Helping to assess applicants Not at all	Helping to assess applicants A little	Helping to assess applicants A lot
Designing programme content	Designing programme content Not at all	Designing programme content A little	Designing programme content A lot
Delivering programme content	Delivering programme content Not at all	Delivering programme content A little	Delivering programme content A lot
Providing AI tools to participants	Providing AI tools to participants Not at all	Providing AI tools to participants A little	Providing AI tools to participants A lot

End of Programme Cycle or Client Relationship

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* 39. Why do clients typically leave your programme? (Please allocate percentages, should total 100%)

Finished (fixed duration)

Company closed

Company outgrew space

Needed service / facilities we couldn't offer

Wanted lower costs

Company reached next stage of development

Other

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* 40. Since you started, approximately how many firms have you supported?

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* 41. What advice do you offer when clients leave your programme?

Sign post to next-stage funding

Sign post to other activities offered by your programme sponsor/funder

Sign post to activities offered by other providers

Open-ended informal advice

None

Other (please specify)

Partnerships and Networks That Help You

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* 42. Is your organisation a member of any formal or informal networks?

Yes

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* 43. If yes, which do you consider the most important?

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* 44. In your opinion, what are the main benefits of such networks? (Please select UP TO THREE answers)

Accessing funding for our programmes

Sharing good practice (including informal learning & CPD)

Sourcing dealflow / new clients

Sourcing services / service-providers for clients

Providing a more coherent voice for lobbying / advocacy

Moral support / socialising

Other (please specify)

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* 45. Are there opportunities for collaboration with other accelerators & incubators which you want to pursue ? If so, please describe

Reporting and Impact

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* 46. What impact and outcome measures do you track for the companies that complete your programme?

Company survival over time (e.g. after six months, two years)

Jobs created

New products launched

Investment raised

Grants raised

Revenue growth

Satisfaction (e.g. NPS or feedback questionnaires)

Technology/product development (e.g. TRL)

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 47. How confidently can you demonstrate your impact?

You can describe what you do and why it matters, logically, coherently and convincingly

You capture data that shows positive change, but you cannot confirm you caused this

You can demonstrate causality using a control or comparison group

You have independent evaluation(s) that confirms your impact

You have manuals, systems and procedures to ensure consistent replication and positive impact

None of the above

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* 48. Do you benchmark your performance to any other programme or provider?

Yes - formally

Yes - informally

N/A

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* 49. Do you collaborate with any other programme or provider?

Yes - formally

Yes - informally

N/A

And Finally...

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* 50. Are you happy to be contacted if we have any questions about your response to this survey?

Yes

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* 51. Are you happy to be contacted about other research or activities led by CfE?

Yes

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* 52. Would you like to be entered in to the prize draw for completed surveys?

Yes