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Idea Factory

Everything begins with an idea...

Idea Factory is King’s flagship early-stage idea generation competition, taking ideas from ‘light bulb’ moments, to potential viable businesses. Do you have a problem you’re passionate about solving? And the inkling of an idea of how to solve it? Idea Factory could be for you!

Our goal is to nurture the most promising ideas and support their journey to becoming impactful ventures. This is your chance to gain new skills, win amazing prizes and receive expert guidance! 

Idea Factory 2026

Idea Factory 2026 is now live! Our workshops will equip you the skills to generate and validate your idea, and prepare a compelling application.

Our application form will open in December.

Prizes

Winners of Idea Factory get a share of £9,000 to develop their idea, plus access to 1:1 mentoring with our Experts-in-Residence, and desk space in the EI hub. 

FAQs

At least one team member must be a King’s student, staff member or alumnus (the lead applicant). Previous applicants and semi-finalists can re-apply with the same idea.

You can enter solo or as a team. Teamwork is encouraged, but solo applicants are not disadvantaged. The lead applicant submits one application on behalf of the team. If you're looking to find team members, our Co-founder Matching Social is a great opportunity to meet potential collaborators.

Technically yes, but we strongly recommend focusing on one idea and one team so you can invest enough time in validation and submit the strongest application

Yes. You can enter a charity or social enterprise concept, and your venture can be based anywhere in the world.

Show evidence of early validation: who your users are, what you learned from speaking to them, and how that shaped your idea. Workshop recordings on validation are available to watch back.