About Us
Empowering founders to start up and thrive
Our History
Virgin is entrepreneurial at its heart, having spent the last 50 years starting and scaling businesses around the world.
In 2013, Virgin StartUp was founded by Sir Richard Branson to support the next generation of founders who are looking to do the same.
Since then, we’ve helped tens of thousands of founders to start and scale… and we’re just getting started.
Our Purpose
We’re Virgin StartUp, a not-for-profit organisation that exists to help founders start up and thrive.
We know there’s a lot that goes into starting your business, so we’re here to help on all fronts - advice, access to funding, mentoring, training and sometimes just a friendly shoulder to lean on.
We provide straight talk and useful advice to make the entrepreneurial road less bumpy and access to a supportive and dynamic community to help you have some fun along the way.
The People
Starting a business can be great! It can also be hard work.
We’ve worked with thousands of founders over the years and we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Find out more about our team below:
What We Do
Virgin StartUp supports founders and future founders as they get their startup ideas off the ground, all the way through to raising investment and scaling up. You can find out more about our support and programmes below:
Start Up Loans
Virgin StartUp are one of the leading Delivery Partners of the Start Up Loans programme, a Government-backed scheme to help founders get their businesses funded.
A Start Up Loan is a personal loan for founders looking to start or grow their businesses. You can borrow between £500 - £25,000 per co-founder.
Every founder we fund becomes part of the Virgin StartUp Funded Club and is given access to our Community Platform. From here, you can access 12 months’ worth of free support, exclusive events and webinars, 1-to-1 mentoring and a business advice helpline, alongside special opportunities from around the Virgin Group.
StepUp
StepUp is a 4-day programme, designed for founders who want to take their businesses to scale. The programme includes a series of workshops and networking opportunities to develop founders' skills across branding, sales, funding and investment, to help take their businesses to the next level.
Collective Impact
Investment-readiness programme for purpose-driven startups looking to scale their impact. Delivered in partnership with CrowdCube.
MeetUps
Our monthly MeetUps are designed for digital, and free to attend. They are a time for our community to come together, learn from experts, founders and each other, to find inspiration and guidance, and to come away with practical solutions to act on.
