Conception X

Accelerator, Incubator, FellowshipActive
Type: FellowshipInvestment: Investment offered to top teams (amount not published) (Equity-free programme; separate investment for selected teams)Applications: ClosedFormat: CohortUniversity: Open to PhD researchers across 92 universities in the UK and EuropeLocation: England, United KingdomWebsiteApply

Facilities: None; researchers remain at their home institutions

Support: 18 co-building sessions, expert coaching, peer community, investor exposure

A venture programme that turns technical PhD researchers into venture scientists, designed to run alongside a doctorate rather than requiring founders to leave their research. The flagship Venture Scientist 100 is a nine-month fellowship with 18 active co-building sessions, expert coaching, and investment for top teams, plus access to a large European deeptech PhD founder community. It takes no equity and charges no fees, and reports that 34% of participating teams go on to build high-growth companies. Alumni span 92 universities across 15 countries; the next cohort opens in September 2026.

Deep Tech (Generalist)Advanced Materials and NanotechnologyBiotech, Life Sciences, Synthetic BiologyAI and Machine LearningClimate Tech (Generalist)

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