Smart grants: Jul 2024
Accelerating from idea to product faster
Product Builder Programme powered by Barclays Eagle Labs funded by UK Government
Our Product Builder Programme is designed to fit around the busy lives of idea-stage entrepreneurs. The programme is delivered online and will teach you how to validate your digital product idea and then develop, test and evolve it using customer feedback.
Product Builder helps entrepreneurs develop digital products.
It offers:
- A challenge-led approach that starts with identifying the problem and not the solution. Entrepreneurs who apply should have a clear idea of, and expertise in, the problem that they want to solve with their digital product
- The expertise to help you develop digital products, such as website applications, mobile applications and software as a service (SaaS).
Throughout the programme, you’ll work closely with product experts and meet likeminded founders who can share your journey.
Timeline
Applications open
15 April 2024
Applications close
13 May 2024
Successful applicant(s) notified
End of May 2024
Programme launch
10 June 2024
Programme ends
29 July 2024
Bootcamp
17 & 18 September 2024
Application process
To be eligible for the programme, you should be at the idea stage and have not raised any significant capital. If you’ve already started building a digital product, it should be at early prototype stage.
The judges will award the top 100 applications with a place on the Product Builder Programme.
The Challenge
Our partner Plexal is passionate about solving society’s challenges by collaborating to create new technology.
They’re looking for product ideas that use digital innovation for the good of people, organisations and the planet.
Plexal is especially interested in hearing from entrepreneurs whose ideas for digital products might bring:
- Good health and wellbeing for people and communities of all ages
- Sustainable innovation across sectors, such as food, energy, retail, production and infrastructure
- Equality in society, systems and workplaces.
They have experts from a range of sectors who can help you understand and validate the market for your digital product.
How is the programme delivered?
The Product Builder Programme is a virtual, two-month accelerator that comprises of a mixture of live sessions and on-demand content you can engage with in your own time.
Successful applicants will gain access to:
- Weekly expert workshops with take-away tasks covering key product development principles
- One-to-one mentoring sessions with technical and innovation experts
- Pitch masterclasses and practice sessions
- Networking and support-sharing with over 100 like-minded founders.
At the end of the programme, the ten most promising digital products will be selected and the founders will be invited to attend a two-day, in-person bootcamp. Over those two days, the selected founders will get expert support across product build, business model, customer acquisition strategy and funding runway stages.
Why join?
With support from best-in-class speakers, mentors and course materials, our Product Builder Programme will help you accelerate your digital product from idea to build.
By the end of the programme, you’ll have rapidly prototyped your product idea, tested it with users, created your business model, and produced a pitch deck to take it to market.
If you’re selected to be part of the programme, the equity or intellectual property of your product remains with you throughout.
Who’s it for?
Our Product Builder Programme is for anyone looking to learn the fundamentals of validating and designing a digital product, such as web and mobile applications and SaaS solutions.
Whether you have an innovative idea, a service-based business ready to be digitised, or a challenge to solve, this programme will teach you the core technical and business skills that will take you to the next level.
You need to be:
- Based in the UK and intending to set up your business in the UK
- An individual, or a team of less than four people
- At early prototype stage, if you already have a digital product or service
- Yet to raise significant investment.
You don’t need to have:
- Technical knowledge or past entrepreneurial experience
- A fully formed product idea – we’ll help you develop this on the programme
We welcome applications from people and teams of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences. You could be a full-time student, or an experienced industry expert looking for a change.
Future founders with an idea
Whether you have industry or academic expertise and have identified a major challenge within your field, or have an innovative idea for a digital product that needs validation, this programme can guide you through the process of building and testing a minimum viable product (MVP).
Technical founders looking to become a CEO
If you’re a technical founder capable of building your own product, this programme will teach you how to talk to customers, market your product, develop a brand and acquire users to accelerate your product to the next level.
Businesses looking to digitise
If you’re a service-based business owner with offline revenues, this is your opportunity to learn how to transform your business into a digital product and take it to the next level.
Product Builder Programme | Barclays Eagle Labs (uk.barclays)