Loughborough: Women in Enterprise Conference 2026

Loughborough University celebrated International Women’s Day with their annual Women in Enterprise Conference, sponsored by First Enterprise. The conference ran alongside the national WE Innovate programme, with participants travelling from Imperial College, London, Swansea University and Queen’s University, Belfast turning this into a national event – want to join us next year? Email LEN@lboro.ac.uk As one attendee commented: “Have you ever walked into a room and straightaway you knew that it was going to be a special event? This year’s Women in Enterprise Conference was exactly that kind of room.”

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Southampton: MedTech Innovation Programme

Student Enterprise at the University of Southampton has been expanding its impact through in-curriculum collaboration, partnering with Dr Alan Saji (School of Healthcare Enterprise & Innovation), founder of the Southampton MedTech Innovation Programme. The six-week interdisciplinary programme combined medical innovation training with a collaborative group project, culminating in a final pitch. Start-up concept CardioSense, a non-invasive wrist-worn device for faster heart attack diagnosis, won first prize of £500 unanimously, highlighting its potential to reduce diagnostic delays and improve care outcomes. EDspeak and Alloca placed second and third respectively. All eight groups pitched excellently and are exploring taking their innovations forward as early-stage start-ups.

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Edinburgh: New guide turns Pathways insights into everyday action

Edinburgh Innovations has launched the Practitioner’s Guide to Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support, a hands-on workbook helping anyone working with founders make their practice more inclusive. Built around the Scottish Government’s Pathways report, Power Her Up, and Pledge commitments, it offers practical tools for university staff, enterprise programme managers, investors and ecosystem partners, focusing on language, culture and shared responsibility. It responds to a stark reality: women make up only one in five entrepreneurs in Scotland, receiving just 2% of institutional investment. The guide is free. Join the Inclusive Enterprise Collective on LinkedIn to access it.

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Derby: University of Derby Student Residency Winner Excels

Donald Mass, a third-year BA Fashion and Marketing student founded TrapMass, a streetwear brand exploring youth culture, identity, and social issues such as anti-knife crime.  He is seven months into his residency at Banks Mill Studios, receiving a rent-free studio for 12 months. During this time, he’s engaged with University of Derby programmes, was nominated for an award at the recent Game Changer Awards and is representing Enactus Derby at the regional finals this month. These opportunities have strengthened his confidence and entrepreneurial skills and has expanded his network enabling him to focus on growing TrapMass into a recognised brand.

Read the full article here.    https://www.instagram.com/trapmass/

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UK-Ukraine STEM Pro programme in the latest members news

The UK-UA STEM PRO Programme has supported 40+ Ukrainian academics from across 18 cities through ten weeks of online learning with UK academics and practitioners, followed by a UK study visit for 16 academics hosted by the University of Warwick and partners on the invitation of the Fund of the President of Ukraine as part of the UK-Ukraine Research Bridge. Focused on commercialisation, technology transfer, innovation ecosystems and industry collaboration, the programme is helping strengthen research capacity, international partnerships and pathways from academic discovery to real-world impact in Ukraine’s recovery.