ICURe Discover — Helix Way
Up to £2,500 and eight to eleven weeks part-time to find out whether there's a market for your research. Open to any discipline.
What it is
A part-time market discovery programme built on lean startup method: form a hypothesis about who your research is for, test it with real people, learn from what comes back. Around 75 hours across the programme, delivered online, with up to £2,500 to fund the discovery work itself. You get training in the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas, access to the ICURe network of entrepreneurs and investors, and you finish by presenting to a panel of experts.
Run by Innovate UK, delivered by The Helix Way. We're listing it because it's sector-agnostic, the funding is real money rather than a place on a course, and completing it is now the only route into ICURe Explore and its £35,000.
Key dates
- 14 September 2026 — applications close
- 6 October 2026 — programme starts
Before you apply
You'll need Oxford University Innovation and your Principal Investigator on board.
Details
| Deadline | Monday 14 September 2026 |
| Prize | Up to £2,500 for market discovery activities |
| Cost | Free to take part |
| Who it's for | Researchers and technicians at UK universities and approved public sector research establishments. Any discipline, but you need a defined idea worth testing. |
| What you get | Funded market discovery, training in the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas, mentor feedback, and a panel presentation at the end. |
| What it leads to | Completing Discover is the compulsory route into ICURe Explore, worth up to £35,000. |
| Organiser | Innovate UK, delivered by The Helix Way · icure@warwick.ac.uk |
Apply
Up to £2,500, eight to eleven weeks, part-time.
Applications close Monday 14 September. Programme starts 6 October.
Read the guidance and apply
