The Innovate UK EDGE Scale Up Programme helps highly innovative, ambitious businesses realise their scaling ambitions. It is aimed at companies already on their scaling journey and able to disrupt existing markets and establish an international markets strategy. The programme is available to those companies achieving, or with the potential to achieve, 50% compound annual growth rates and over. Informed by evidence and insights from the ScaleUp Institute, since its inception in 2017/18 it has supported over 170 scaling businesses.

The programme features a board of 22 ‘Scale Up Directors’ who facilitate the scaling journey and provide a matrix of skills and connectivity across multiple domains, such as finance, M&A, international markets, IP, supply chains, scale up leadership and talent management. Through a structured onboarding process the Scale Up Directors support participants to identify their three key scaling challenges and tailor support to help meet them. Since the commencement of the programme, aligned to the research of the ScaleUp Institute, the key challenges identified are around commercialisation and market access, access to growth capital, talent acquisition, alongside enhancing internal processes, and product innovation. 

Each business has a dedicated account manager from the Scale Up Director team to support them on their journey and facilitate access to wider support as required. Support is delivered through one to one mentoring, drawing on the expertise available across the pools of Scale Up Directors and bespoke workshops. A high level Strategic Advisory Board provides another layer of connectivity and access to resources. 

Participating scaleups can also learn and share experience by joining a structured peer to peer network and further benefit from a new alumni community, launched in 2022, that gives them access to fresh perspectives from diverse industries.  Scaleups are also supported in connecting to the wider ecosystem including through international networks. 

Over its lifetime the programme has created more than 1,000 jobs and participating scaleups have raised £283m in grants and equity. GVA assessments show £16.7m employment-based GVA with a cost benefit ratio of 1:12.2 and £46.7m profitability-based GVA with a cost benefit ratio of 1:25.6.  In addition, 75 per cent of participants expect to develop new products, 72 per cent expect to grow through international collaboration and 78 per cent have entered or expect to enter new markets.

The programme has an ambitious vision for further outreach and is aiming to engage with up to 200 scaling businesses annually. The SUD team will be enhanced with new directors with specialist skills in key areas including net zero, sustainability and medical device regulations.

“The work has been driven at considerable pace, and we have been impressed by the commitment of the Scale Up Directors to deliver inputs that help keep this on track. The Scale Up team have helped us to create an exciting and well-founded plan, and we look forward to their further support in delivering this.”  Mark Hewitt, Director – ICAX Ltd

“From the outset, the Scale Up Directors got to the heart of our urgent business requirements sharing their extensive knowledge and hands on approach. What became instantly apparent is that each of the Scale Up Team brings with them a unique level of knowledge and expertise that we on the receiving end, feel privileged to be part of. “No problem is too big with a very pragmatic approach to fixing. Additionally, the depth of business connections the Scale Up Team bring with them is immense, with doors opening that previously would have been hard to find, let alone open.” Hayden Allen-Vercoe, Chief Operating Officer – Orbital Media Ltd

Newly endorsed by the Scaleup Institute for its contribution to the development of the scaling pipeline across the West Midlands, the Aston Programme for Small Business Growth is a 20-week intensive programme that aims to give early stage high potential scaling businesses the skills, confidence and tools needed to maximise growth. Cohorts of 15 to 25 businesses are given high-quality, targeted leadership and management support.

The programme uses the latest evidence and research to help participants identify and overcome barriers to growth. Support is delivered through a blend of peer learning, one to one mentoring support and practical tools and exercises and participants create individual growth action plans to drive future scaling success.

Building leadership capacity is a key element of the Aston Programme and participants receive intensive, practical leadership education tailored to the needs of scaling businesses. This is delivered by academics and expert speakers and through shared experience.

A series of expert led workshops tackle barriers to growth and participants gain further insights from case studies and from the experience of other scaleup leaders. Core topics covered include strategy and business models, opportunities and innovation, and marketing strategies along with leadership, culture, operations and business processes.

Participants are also guided through finance options in a dedicated workshop and given the opportunity to pitch their growth strategy to external financial experts. The networking element of the Aston Programme creates valuable new connections for scaling companies and participants are invited to join the Aston Centre for Growth alumni network.

Since its inception in 2015, 247 high potential scaling businesses have completed the programme. Evaluation of the first stage of the programme showed that 80 participants had created over 600 new jobs (200 of which were attributed directly to the impact of the programme), with an uplift of £22 million turnover and increase of £10.4m GVA. Participants noted a 38% average turnover increase for businesses one year after completing the programme, 94% of the participants reported more confidence in growing their business and 79% improved their ability to use financial data more in decision making. More than half (56%) went on to introduce new or significantly improved products and services.

“The programme provided a structured, comprehensive approach that enabled us to analyse and resolve our growth restrictions and define a clear plan. Our membership business grew by 98% in the six months after we finished the course … Above all, the course gave us the confidence to set our goals and aspirations much higher than we would have otherwise done. It made us all a bit braver – we are currently in the process of looking for a significant external investment to support our ambitious growth plans.” KAT CARRICK, Concierge Medical

“The programme really introduced us to new business ideas, the world of external funding and gave us the additional confidence to plan (and commit to paper) the growth we are seeking going forward.” PETER MONKS, Shakespeare Distillery

Fully endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2022, Scale-up Scotland is an 18-month leadership programme offering a blend of experiential, business, and peer-to-peer learning to cohorts of ambitious Scottish entrepreneurs. Delivered by the Hunter Foundation from its new residential operating base, Blair Castle in Ayrshire, it takes entrepreneurs through the critical components and complexity of business scaleup with the aim of enabling them to achieve their potential quicker. 

Content is co-created and delivered by business practitioners and entrepreneurs; strong peer-to-peer learning is embedded throughout and underpinned by an academic rigour. Subjects covered include leadership, finance, building the right team, communications, sales and marketing, globalisation, crisis management and governance.

The programme is aimed at firms with a turnover of £1m+, existing customer traction and a clear line of sight to significant profitability and scale. Participants need to demonstrate continual development both of themselves and their organisation throughout the programme. 

To further leverage expertise from across the ecosystem three new workshops have been added to the programme – The Coaching Leader, Tackling Performance and Critical Conversations & Influencing – in partnership with School for CEOs along with a deep dive into customer insight techniques with Pivot Lab. A new component to provide guidance on accessing equity investment  is delivered through HNH Corporate Finance. Expert coverage has evolved to cover specialisms ranging from EOS to scaling IT infrastructure and scaling in international markets.

The second cohort of 19 business leaders finished the core programme in April 2022 with participants seeing a 39% year on year increase in turnover and raising £26.5m in equity. Average company turnover has grown from £1.27m to £3.72m with further growth forecast and sales growth reached 194%. The third cohort launched in October 2021. 

In partnership with the Scottish National Investment Bank, Scale Up Scotland 2.0 was launched in August to support high-growth, scaling companies with potential to achieve £100m turnover. Building on the success of the Scale-up Scotland core programme, it will provide intensive strategic and mentoring support to an initial cohort of 12 companies. In addition, quarterly retreats focus on shared challenges using a blend of peer to peer learning and access to leading entrepreneurs.      

“Since joining Scale up Scotland, ACTIPH has grown our sales by more than 260% and have been invited onto Tesco’s exclusive incubator programme and forged major partnerships the biggest of which is with Disney. The teaching and large scale thinking are the best of any programme I have been on. The cohort isvery impressive, and we are in regular contact and constantly learn from each other.”Jamie Douglas-Hamilton, Founder – Actiph Water 

“We can wholeheartedly recommend the Scale Up Scotland programme as the best business growth programme we have ever participated in across 15 years in business. The growth lessons learned, for example, how to create a strong people culture, strategic 3-5 year planning and export strategy, are all now cornerstones of Safehinge Primera’s growth. In addition to this, the network of cohort members and professional advisors is second to none and we regularly benefit from this network in a fundamentally important way. Superb programme.” Philip Ross & Martin Izod, Co-founders – Safehinge Primera

“Scale Up has given us access to industry experts and contacts that we could not have afforded or had access to otherwise. This has resulted in us making positive strategic changes within our business and gaining access to contract opportunities. It is also hugely beneficial to speak regularly with a group of founders and CEOs who are facing the same challenges as you on a daily basis but can offer insight and experience from different industries on how to overcome these challenges.”Jennifer Higgins, Managing Director – The Wee House Group 

BizSmart helps scaling business owners navigate their growth journey by sharing the tools they need to increase profits and value while also making businesses easier to manage. Flight Academy – its structured scaleup system – is tailored to business needs and focuses on the major challenges to scaling identified by the ScaleUp Institute. An online learning platform supplements learning through over 30 modules with 80 supporting video tutorials.

Participants begin with four themed SmartBoost sessions dealing with leadership and vision, the principles of building for value, creating a laser focus through 90-day planning and championing execution through a robust and consistent business ‘rhythm’. Its flagship service SmartBoards is part of this programme and creates peer to peer communities among participating leaders. These involve groups of six participants from diverse backgrounds and non-competing sectors.

The 90-Day planning is a recurring thread through the monthly themed SmartBoard sessions in which a theme is introduced based on a module from the core ScaleUp Pillars. Members are prepped to bring a challenge for the board and then each has a spotlight session from which they commit to actions.

Once a quarter, focus is put on members’ 90-day plans which are shared with the group. Ahead of this, members can attend separate planning workshops with their senior leadership teams. The planning process is supported with a software package that captures the plans, aligns team members to each task and allows business owners to track progress. 

Bizsmart primarily helps businesses based in Worcestershire but has launched a franchise of its successful model in Gloucestershire and is set to launch in Birmingham. Its ScaleUp Radio podcast has reached 25k downloads.

In the last six years, BizSmart has worked with 590 business owners.  All those participating in 2022 report increased confidence or leadership capacity along with increased ambition. The vast majority (94%) also report better connections with other businesses and peer networks. A third of participating businesses raised finance and 78% of participating businesses identified new markets for their products and services, with 72% accessing these new markets.

“We have received a Platinum award for customer service. Bizsmart has significantly contributed to the success of the last 12 months not only through its outstanding support, guidance and insight but also by facilitating the peer-to-peer network, whose input has been invaluable. Bizsmart is the ideal partner should you wish to scale-up your business.” Matt Busby, Founder/ MD – The Name Label Company

“Overall the team is more empowered and motivated, everyone feels more included in the future plans and ambitions of the business. This is despite a very challenging year of external influences negatively affecting revenue, cash and profitability.” Faith Guest, MD – Tools of the Trade

“We’ve stopped our unprofitable Lead Generation offering, hence the drop in staff numbers and the reduction in turnover but increase in profit once the exceptional 70k buy out is taken into account.” Nigel Busby, Founder/ MD – InControl Marketing

More than 3,100 business leaders have participated in Cranfield’s Business Growth Programme (BGP) since its launch in 1988. The programme is aimed at owner-managed businesses with more than five staff and a turnover exceeding £500k. Typical participants have been operating for at least three years and have a turnover between £0.8m and £20m with ambitions to scale.  

BGP combines the latest academic thinking with peer-to-peer learning and facilitates conversations around key topics. Participants leave the programme with a robust business growth plan which is reviewed against progress after 100 days.

BGP alumni report sales growth of 23% a year and profit growth year-on-year of 41% post completion of the programme and include household names such as Cobra Beer, Thatchers Cider, Hotel Chocolat and Go Ape. Its impact is evidenced by entrepreneurs returning to the programme a second time to address new growth challenges.

Cranfield has collaborated with several local councils to provide full scholarships to its Ready for Scale programme for micro/small businesses. Developed in 2018/19 the programme delivers the BGP ethos to ambitious micro and small SMEs with growth ambitions. Just under 150 SMEs have participated to date.

In February, Cranfield launched its new Ready for Net Zero Growth programme, an 18-week online growth programme for businesses looking to integrate their Net Zero ambitions into their business growth plans. Subject matter experts from Cranfield’s School of Management and School of Energy & Sustainability deliver this programme which includes self-paced learning, online tutorials and one to one coaching along with the completion of a carbon audit and a business growth plan. More than 50 businesses have already participated in this programme which is entirely funded by local councils.

BGP has now been running for 34 years and is the longest-established leadership programme for ambitious owner-managed businesses in the UK.

“Having been through the course, not only have my perceptions changed in an extremely positive way but I have seen a dramatic impact on my business, the management team and the culture as a whole.” Darren Smith – Opius Business Growth programme

“In just a few weeks the Ready for Scale sessions allowed me to move my business on light years. With the help and support of the outstanding team and my coach, I ended the course with a plan-of-action that we put to use immediately and that has already provided a massive, measurable benefit to our business.” Daniel Johnson – Ready for Scale

“I was a sceptic about how important net zero was to the corporate world, it felt like something that tends to be greenwashed. However, after the course it is very obvious how important the core concept to net zero now is. It’s quite a stretching goal for many companies but soon I feel it will underpin major selection criteria for B2B and B2C customers.” Simon Moore – Net Zero Growth programme

More than 1,900 entrepreneurs have completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK (10KSB UK) programme since its launch in 2010. The programme offers participants 100 hours of education – fully-funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation. 

It provides business education, networking and mentoring and is delivered in partnership with Oxford University Saïd Business School and Aston University Centre for Growth. It is designed to accelerate the growth of high-potential businesses through practically-focused business and management education.

High quality applied business learning takes place over three residential sessions and online. Students can also access specialist workshops, one-to-one business advice and business coaching, access to professional experts, networking and peer learning opportunities. Alumni take away a customised Growth Plan to direct their organisation’s business strategy and expansion and can access a range of support and resources including ongoing business coaching opportunities and a publicly available, digital resource hub for small business support. 

The 10,000 Small Businesses – Engines of Growth report demonstrates the impact of 10KSB UK over the past decade. The report highlights that 10KSB graduates are significantly more likely to have grown over the last 12 months than comparable high-growth small businesses, both in terms of revenue and job creation.  26 per cent of alumni businesses noted annual turnover growth by more than 20%; and 47 per cent of alumni increased the number of people they employ since the start of the pandemic, compared with only 26 per cent of their high-growth peers. 82 per cent implemented new working practices, 69% launched a new product or service during the pandemic and 88 per cent have accelerated changes to their use of digital technologies.

Based on the success of 10KSB UK and informed by research showing that investing in education for women could close a range of gender gaps, the 10,000 Women programme was launched in 2020. The programme provides business and management education, mentoring and networking opportunities, and access to capital to women entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses. A free to all, accessible online version of the course is available to all women around the world. Past participants can join a global alumni network with ongoing access to support and resources, including the opportunity to attend a week-long Fellowship programme offering business coaching and training to further encourage business growth.

The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Shott Scale Up Accelerator supports the UK’s most promising engineering and technology entrepreneurs to grow their ideas into bold and disruptive businesses that have a real impact on society. The programme nurtures and strengthens the leadership capabilities of senior decision makers in UK-based engineering and technology scaling businesses. 

The programme combines a tailored, flexible six-month package of leadership training with personalised coaching and mentoring – backed by a £10k grant – and connects scaling leaders with experienced mentors from the Academy’s network of over 1,700 fellows.  One-to-one scaleup coaching is tailored to specific technology and business needs and sits alongside expert-led workshops, roundtables and speaker events with like-minded leaders from across the UK along with peer-to-peer networking opportunities. 

Participants are given lifetime memberships of the Acadamey’s Enterprise Hub with access to its co-working spaces, connections and mentoring opportunities. More than 120 scaleup leaders have participated in the programme, 28 percent of them women. Employment in participating companies increased by more than 50 per cent after 12 months, with 522 new jobs created in 2022.   

“This programme has given me the time and resources to invest in my leadership capabilities, which will be required to make Notpla a packaging leader.” Lise Honsinger – Notpla

First launched in 2015 the Growth Advantage Programme (GAP) provides relevant, accessible and practical learning for fast-growing Scottish businesses taking the scaleup journey.  It is aimed at growth businesses with a minimum £1 million turnover.  Participants typically come from all over Scotland – although there have been participants from Kent and Cambridge – from a wide range of sectors and include companies started from scratch, bought and multi-generation family businesses – all with ambitions to grow further and faster.

Invited participants are offered a programme that links high-quality executive education with the insights and shared learning that comes from peer networks.  Business leaders attend an initial one-day orientation meeting and four two-day workshops that take place over ten months. Delivery of the face-to-face elements for the most recent cohort was severely impacted by Covid with the group finally completing the programme in February 2022. During the cohort’s journey through the programme average turnover and employment grew from £3.9m and 28 employees by 28% and 18% respectively to £5m and 33 employees. 

The programme is reviewed regularly and changes made from lessons learned. New developments include a series of GAP alumni CPD events that include their successful Effective Board workshop. The 2021 launch of Help to Grow: Management has created new synergies for the programme and GAP’s cohort six includes a number of Help to Grow graduates keen to continue their scaling journeys.

Cohort six launches in November 2022 and will continue along the successful GAP model of bringing together a diverse group of ambitious business builders from across a range of sectors and creating a strong peer learning environment.  New elements for this cohort include emphasis on responsible business and conscious leadership. This includes a focus on the emerging opportunities afforded by environmental, social governance and a commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

“We have implemented KPIs, a new strategic objective, additional products and services, developed a new product (yet to launch), started building a leadership team and a management team, and spend much more time working on the business (as opposed to in it). We have expanded our presence by opening offices in Edinburgh and Birmingham. The business has significantly matured and GAP has played an important part in this. I think much more strategically about the business and this is present in much of my decision making. I see business in a different light now too – particularly in the idea of building ‘value’ rather than building capability, revenue etc (which of course are important).” Mark Lamb – M3 Networks

“Learning from the Market and Operations Advantage modules used extensively to develop new private networks product and processes for deployment in UK and US markets.” Craig Birchenough, GAP Alumni, Cohort 2 – Wireless Infrastructure

Each year 30 of the fastest-growth tech companies join a select cohort for a six-month Upscale programme curated by Tech Nation. The programme combines one-to-many learning with a peer networking element and has been delivered to seven cohorts so far. An eighth commenced in October 2022. 

Upscale offers 60 hours of support led by scale coaches through a hybrid delivery model that includes a blend of online learning and in-person events to achieve maximum impact.

Learning sessions such as ‘Becoming Net Zero’ help scaleups achieve a more sustainable future and a partnership with TechTree provides access to a diverse pool of engineering talent to support hiring challenges and diversify technical teams.

The programme includes one to one CEO coaching sessions with a global leadership coach to help participants improve their own leadership skills and develop frameworks to coach their senior teams. Launched in 2022, the Growth Platform allows participants to access learnings on a wide range of challenges to growth including insights from Upscale and the wider ecosystem as well as facilitate access to Tech Nations other support services.. 

Upscale supported 338 founders and leaders this year to build knowledge, confidence and ambition and to establish new peer networks. More than half had operations outside of the UK. Since its inception, Upscale has supported 1,323 business leaders across 259 companies.

“I think of Tech Nation as being an amazing set of resources. They gave us a bunch of different learningopportunities with different mentors. We got to understand different parts of our business and also have members of our team participate, whether it was marketing or operations or technology. It got us really thinking about how we learn from the lessons of the best UK companies and hopefully follow in their footsteps a little bit faster.” Asher Ismail – Uncapped

“The team really enjoyed inspiring presentations and getting to network with peers, which helped build confidence and ambition.” Ian Stevenson – Cyacomb

Helm is a membership community of entrepreneurial founders and CEOs of high-growth businesses. Since 2003, it has enabled members to scale their businesses through peer learning, facilitated networking and access to subject matter experts and inspirational speakers.

Its rebrand to Helm from Supper Club reflects a shift in focus to a hybrid offering, combining in person access to the collective experience, knowledge and support of its Founder community with a digital platform. It has also adopted a three-strand approach to support: Business Growth, Better Growth and Personal Growth. This includes encouraging business for good and a focus on health, wealth and legacy.

Helm’s digital platform gives members access to crowdsourced advice, curated introductions and the option to join special interest groups as well as on-demand access to a library of expert-led events. Special interest groups include one for scaleup leaders looking to pursue BCorp status. 

This year has seen a renewed focus on Forum, which brings members into curated groups with 6-8 fellow founders. Meeting on a monthly basis, each group is chaired by an experienced founder and acts as a supportive non-exec board for members. Helm also offers members personalised connections designed to help them overcome specific scaling challenges.

Vistage has been running confidential peer advisory groups for business leaders for more than 60 years, along with one-to-one executive coaching sessions with accomplished business leaders. 

Selected members meet in groups of around 12 and spend a day a month focusing on what makes the best leaders. Each group is led by a Vistage Chair recruited for their business background, scaleup knowledge and experience. The Vistage Chair also acts as a personal mentor and coach, meeting each member monthly on a one-to-one basis.

At the group meetings business leaders help each other solve challenges, evaluate opportunities and explore strategies in a safe and non-competitive environment and outside speakers share new and innovative ideas. Vistage has a network of 148 accredited expert speakers and thought leaders in the UK. It has delivered 20 UK-IRL events and webinars in the past year and 61 global webinars. 

Members report improved skills and confidence and marked improvements in business efficiency and growth. In 2022, Vistage member companies grew 2.2 times faster than average small and medium sized businesses. 

“Since becoming a member, we’ve quadrupled the size of the business. I say ‘we’ as members go through the ups and downs of leadership to grow their businesses together. We also share the growth journey with the rest of our staff – as you can’t achieve success without their help.” Andrew Try, CEO – ComXo

”Since I joined Karndean, we’ve grown massively. We’ve trebled the business and quadrupled our profits with growth in new territories, such as Spain, and market segments, including the co-living space. It’s been a massively exciting and challenging 13 years with our incredible performance down to the products we make, and the people and strategy we employ. Vistage has definitely helped with that.” Paul Barratt, Managing Director – Karndean

“Since joining Vistage, and discounting the Covid years, Buzzworks hit its target to double the business by 2020, grew its headcount and achieved annualised sales of about 25m. It’s also been through a restructuring that will enable the business to double in size again. As I continue my Vistage journey with my peers, I’m confident it’s a target we can achieve.” Kenny Blair, Business Owner – Buzzworks

In the past year 93 scaleup leaders have received intensive support from Inspire Elite to develop three to five-year strategies for growth. The programme offers peer-to-peer networking and workshops as well as one-to-one guidance from dedicated account managers and senior management team mentoring.  

Inspire Elite was launched originally by provider Inspire in Swindon and Wiltshire after directors attended the ScaleUp Institute’s first Driving Local Economic Growth through Scaleup Ecosystems course. It is now delivered in Bristol and the Heart of the South West.

Inspire had identified that business leaders were still struggling to define their strategy in writing and that this could be an inhibiting factor for attracting funding. In response, it launched its Knowledge Accelerator 2021 combining two interactive workshops with one-to-one follow up support designed to enable a business leader to create a clear strategy for growth or for attracting investment.

Recent focus has been on operating at a deeper level to uncover and unleash leadership potential through one-to-one meetings and online and face to face peer events. Scaleups can access a NED mentoring programme – Inspired Board – and an initial cohort of 19 have now extended their placements for a second year. Participating scaleups report greater resilience and a strengthened strategic approach.  

Inspire Elite scaleups have created 279 new jobs and 95 percent have increased turnover and are working to a strategic plan that includes developing their leadership knowledge and skills. A quarter of participants are ready to take advanced steps in their growth journey by using the Inspired Board service which is set to double in size over the next year.  

The Inspire Business awards were launched in October 2021 to recognise scaleups that innovated or pivoted in response to the pandemic. This includes taking advantage of changed consumer preferences, overcoming disruption to supply chains or green innovation.

Fully endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2022, Canada’s Lazaridis ScaleUp Programme – based at Wilfrid Laurier University – brings together the most promising scaleup tech companies from across the country and connects them with a network of senior talent from successful firms and customised engagement, helping them to scale and compete globally while remaining domiciled in Canada. Lazaridis also brings good practices from scaling tech companies to SMEs in traditional industries to help them thrive in an increasingly digital economy.

Cohorts of the most promising companies are selected from a diverse range of sectors including AI, medtech, fintech, agritech, tech-enabled retailers and oil and gas for a 12-month scaleup programme of education, peer networking and mentorship. The programme has delivered 7 cohorts and has enhanced its support to include the wider executive teams of scaleups rather than focusing solely on founders. This includes access to  function-oriented peer groups. The current cohort moved from remote to in person support in May 2022 with events in Palo Alto and New York.

To enhance the connections developed through the programme, Lazaridis runs all-cohort alumni events aimed at expanding trusted peer networks with speakers drawn from globally successful companies.. Recruitment for the eighth cohort of the core programme is currently underway.

Since the programme began in 2016, it has supported 529 executives and 70 scaling companies that have raised more than CA$2bn and created more than 4,085 jobs. The programme has a strong impact on scaleups, showing on average an annualised growth rate of 57% in employment and 70% in revenues; while 95% of the participating scaleups reported increased confidence or leadership capacity.

The programme’s commitment to diversity is a key priority with 82 per cent of the current cohort of companies and 41 per cent of the 70 alumni companies having a founder or co-founder from an under-represented group. Additionally, 34 per cent of the ScaleUp companies are women-led, which compares to 5 percent of Canadian tech companies that have a woman CEO.

Additionally building upon the success of the Scale Up Programme and their SME GROWTH pilot, Lazaridis is testing the market for an executive growth programme aimed at earlier stage founders. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Venture Mentoring Service (MIT VMS) helps students, alumni and staff turn their enterprising ideas into businesses using a team mentoring approach to provide practical, day-to-day professional advice and coaching.

VMS supports innovation and entrepreneurial activity through the MIT community, matching experienced and prospective entrepreneurs with skilled volunteer mentors.  Mentors are selected because they have experience relevant to the needs of new entrepreneurs and for their commitment to the programme. 

The programme begins by building a detailed picture of the scaling business and identifying critical action areas. Further support is delivered through team mentoring sessions and one-on-one meetings and entrepreneurs can also book 30-minute practical advice sessions covering key business areas including legal, intellectual property, human resources and product development. Services are available to participants throughout the scaling journey, starting from an initial venture idea and growing into a viable business; and are aligned with other entrepreneurship programmes at the university.

Participants are also given the opportunity to showcase their businesses to potential investors at an Entrepreneurial Edge Event each autumn. Invited VMS entrepreneurs can also practise a four-minute elevator pitch in front of  around 80 mentors at a monthly Snapshot Pitch Presentation.

MIT VMS also disseminates its mentoring model to other institutions, transferring the methodology, concepts and practices underpinning its model through a series of training programmes under licence from MIT. In the last 16 years, the MIT VMS Model has been successfully replicated in organisations ranging from universities and economic development agencies to business incubators in different geographies across the world.

VMS also brings together mentor teams to help more advanced ventures with major changes and opportunities such as strategic partnerships and exits and mergers.  In 2021, VMS relocated to the MIT Innovation HQ, an innovation and entrepreneurship hub that provides collaborative space for students.

“Through VMS, we were able to get very specific, valuable insights into the industry from our mentors that would have otherwise taken us years to obtain. Also, having a pool of mentors with varied skills allowed us to have a much more holistic help from the programme for different parts or stages of our business.” Vishnu Menon, Founder & CEO – Uteepi

“… I consider [MIT VMS] the gold standard in mentoring programs. The mentoring program they were instrumental in setting up and implementing in Manizales-Mas, Colombia, is the best I have seen in practice yet.” Dan Isenberg, Founding Executive Director – Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project