To attend Sheffield Startup Summer, please register here.

(If you are an Industry professional interested in giving a talk/workshop and/or being a mentor, please fill in this form.)

Sheffield Startup Summer is a Student Enterprise event run from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield; where attendees can be from any discipline/subject.

Startup Summer is 6 years old this year, having run in 2019 in the Kollider Incubator in Castle House, Sheffield and online in 2020 to 2023.

Previous Startup ideas have included:

supporting and connecting volunteers and charities
identifying whether products for sale are recyclable
a digital assistant to help understand Covid 19 travel and country restrictions
a powered articulated arm sleeve for individuals with muscle loss
supporting student mental health
encouraging fitness and healthy lifestyle
a portal for overseas students seeking UK accommodation
ecommerce tools for small businesses
a portable environment for demonstrating smart devices in the home/workplace

These ideas were explored using Lean Startup techniques including Hypothesis Testing, the build-measure-learn cycle, problem identification workshops, building non technical and technical MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) with final demonstrations and pitches to a Funders Panel.

The Floow Startup talk in the Kollider Incubator (2019)

This year, Sheffield Startup Summer is physical and the event is free to attend. Workshops and talks will run between 10-12 and 1-3; teams will also connect and meet outside of these hours.

To apply, please register here.

Please select the titles below for more details.

Two weeks of Startup Goodness

The Startup Summer runs online over 2 weeks - with weekends free for you to relax. Activities will be scheduled across the 10 weekdays from 10-12 and 1-3pm.

You will follow two cycles of startup discovery, initially focused on a 'challenge' as part of a team, with a pitch to industry experts.

You may then continue with the same challenge or follow your own startup idea with a final pitch to a Funders Panel.

Cycle 1 - Mon 10th to Fri 14th June

This cycle will start with a focus on Idea Generation and Exploration activities - including:

Introduction to Startup Summer and Lean Startup Processes
Workshop - Find your Startup Why
Workshop - Identifying your Genius
Divide into teams
- Discover the initial challenge
- Generate Ideas
Workshop - identify and validate a problem to solve
Mentoring sessions
IBM Design Thinking Talk and Workshop (tbc)

The focus will then shift to producing a Minimum Viable Product, including:

Introduction to MVPs
Teams building non technical MVPs

Throughout the cycle, there will also be Startup Talks and Mentoring sessions

The cycle will finish with a Pitch to an Industry Panel

Cycle 2 - Mon 17th June to Fri 21st June

This cycle will initially focus on Digital for Startups, including:

An interactive session on Pivot or Persevere?
Technical tools for MVPs
IBM workshop (details tbc)
Software architecture/development advisory

The focus will then shift towards:

Teams/individuals building technical MVPs
IBM workshop on prototyping (tbc)

The Startup talks and Mentoring Sessions will continue during this cycle, including

Growth for startups and what is a true MVP - What is a true MVP and how do startups approach growth in an affordable, effective way. We'll explore how to start to gain product market fit and launch quickly.
What is Emerge? The University of Sheffield's Enterprise Offer - an introduction to the newly rebranded Emerge Enterprise offer for the University’s community, delving into next year's program of events, skill-building sessions and context-based enterprise challenges which will offer an opportunity for everyone to engage in interdisciplinary problem-solving. The aim is for Startup Summer attendees to continue on a pathway into Enterprise, through the support of Emerge.

The cycle will finish with a practice pitch on Friday morning followed by selection then a Pitch to a Funders Panel in the afternoon

Exclusive startup content

You will be able to :

discover your Startup 'Why' through a group workshop
choose a 'challenge' startup area to investigate with a team of attendees
learn how to identify and validate a problem to solve through an interactive, industry-led, epiGenesys workshop
listen to and question Industry experts talking about their own startup experiences
have team and one on one mentoring sessions throughout the event for your startup idea/s

Connnect with Industry professionals

You will have the opportunity to meet industry

Speakers
Mentors
Funders
Advisers

These are expected to include Twinkl Hive, Barclays Eagle Labs, IBM, Emerge (UoS), Sheffield Digital and more.

Pitch your Startup to a Funders Panel

You will give an early 'Challenge' pitch to industry experts. Selected teams will also be able to pitch, on the last day, to a Funders Panel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really free?

Yes - there is no charge for attendees this year. You should bring a laptop.

Do I need to have a Startup idea already?

No. You should have an interest in learning about, and practising (Lean) Startup processes.

You will join a team initially and work on an initial challenge. After the challenge pitch, you may then choose to change to your own startup idea.

Do I need to be a current student?

No. We are also happy to consider graduates, especially recent graduates. The event is a Higher Education event, so you should either be, have been, or be intending to study at a higher education level.

What kinds of Startup Ideas are appropriate?

Any idea can be appropriate, though the focus is on Digital Startups, i.e. startups with a significant digital aspect, which may or may not be the 'innovative' idea.

If your startup idea does not yet have a digital aspect, mentoring will be available to help you with this.

Should I be studying a particular Degree or Discipline?

No. We are keen to have a mixture of attendees from different disciplines, including engineering, business, legal, medical, etc.

Does a proposed Startup have to be commercial?

No. Your startup should expect to be sustainable, i.e. be able to exist for as long as it needs to.

Alternatives to commercial startups include:

a startup to bring about change, after which it might then no longer be needed
a community based startup that may be taken over, and run voluntarily, by a community
an open source, software or hardware, startup

These kind of startups might not 'turn a profit' or expect to be sold in the future, but financial aspects usually need to be considered.

I'm planning to work for an employer - why would I attend?

There are many reasons, including:

entrepreneurship skills are one of the soft skills valued by employers
you could create an 'internal' startup within a company in future
it will be easier, and quicker, for you to create a startup in the future
you will better understand startup culture and may decide to work for a startup

IBM Watson Chatbot workshop

For further questions, please contact Andy Stratton at A.Stratton@sheffield.ac.uk.

Please try out the (in development) Virtual Assistant ...