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Applications are open now for places on The Crucible, which supports final year students and alumni who want to start their own business or turn a side hustle to a full-time venture.

The Crucible is Â鶹´«Ã½ Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½)’s award-winning business incubator programme based in the Innovation Centre on campus.

It offers:

• Monthly masterclasses and 1-1 sessions with real business leaders from the worlds of finance, design, marketing, business management and more
• Weekly catch ups with a dedicated mentor
• Your own office space on campus
• Access to the Crucible makers’ space to create prototypes and test product ideas
• Seed funding on a case-by-case basis

It doesn’t cost you a penny, but you do have to be able to commit to training days and working on your business.

We’d like to hear from you whether you’ve already started a business, or have an idea you want to turn into a business. You can fill in an application form or send us an email here and we’ll be in touch.

The Crucible is run by Percy Emmett, Â鶹´«Ã½’s Director of MBA programmes and subject leader in entrepreneurship.

He said: “Our focus at Crucible is to invest in you as individuals, rather than focusing on the business idea. We want to nurture confidence and resilience, and give you access to the very best support at the start of the entrepreneurial journey, in a creative and stimulating environment.

“Over the past few years, we’ve created a community of entrepreneurs on The Crucible. We know how talented Â鶹´«Ã½ students can be and we’d love to hear your ideas.”

In the past six years, The Crucible has helped more than 70 entrepreneurs to set up and grow their business, helping in turn to create new jobs and bring new products to market.

AWARD-WINNING START-UPS

In the past 12 months, Crucible won the Educational Excellence category in the Niche Business Awards. Crucible participants Heal.Med - which helps children with Type 1 diabetes manage their condition with an app - was named Best Digital Business in the Niche Business Awards and won Start-Up of the Year at the Medilink East Midlands.

Designer Roshni Desai’s sustainable fashion brand won the Innovation in the Creative Industries in the 2022 Innovation Awards.

Roshni said: “The Crucible kickstarted a lot of my drive for my business, I had already set up my business and was selling my garments by the time I joined Crucible but the tailored 1-1 sessions I got alongside the training with industry experts and also the expertise from everyone was invaluable to me and my business in its journey.

“Many of the major events that took place with my business stemmed from being involved with Crucible and having that connection with new people. Crucible gave me the guidance that I needed to make my ideas and dreams reach that next stage of my business journey.”

WANT TO KNOW MORE? If you’re interested in finding out more, email us at crucible@dmu.ac.uk – you can also download our 2022 Application Form here.