The seaside city of Swansea is a trailblazer in innovation and entrepreneurship. Staying true to its founders’ ambitions, Swansea University has embedded enterprise at the heart of its mission, earning national recognition and multiple award nominations as an Entrepreneurial University. Its Enterprise Strategy 2023–2028 is a testament to its groundbreaking vision, focusing on unlocking talent, fostering an enabling environment, and driving significant impact. At the centre of this transformation is Swansea’s Student Enterprise Team. Over the past seven years, they have supported over 82,000 students and helped launch 366 businesses, with an outstanding 90% survival rate. Their innovative approach includes global programmes such as Invent for the Planet, where Swansea students were crowned world champions at the Texas Grand Final, showcasing their ability to solve real-world challenges with creativity and urgency. What sets Swansea apart is its inclusive, cross-disciplinary model. The team delivers enterprise education that reaches every corner of the university, from engineering to humanities, and provides tailored support for underrepresented groups through initiatives like Career Boost and Female Founders, which are designed to inspire and remove barriers to entry. Strategic partnerships with regional organisations amplify impact, while the curriculum redesign ensures enterprise and innovation is part of every student’s university journey. This ecosystem has helped Swansea rise to 2nd in Wales for student and graduate start-ups and 4th in the UK for spinouts. Swansea University is not only nurturing entrepreneurial talent, it’s transforming ideas into purpose-led ventures that deliver lasting economic, social, and environmental value.
Finalist
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activators of the Year Award
Swansea University’s Student Enterprise Team driving entrepreneurial excellence on campus and beyond
Finalist Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activators of the Year Award
Swansea University - United Kingdom
"Dream, Dare, Do. Swansea’s Student Enterprise Team sparks entrepreneurial breakthroughs!"
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https://www.instagram.com/enterprise_swanuni/ (Student Enterprise Team account )
https://www.linkedin.com/school/swansea-university (Official Swansea University LinkedIn account )
https://www.instagram.com/swanseauni/ (Official Swansea University account )
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Summary
Key People
Emma Dunbar
Associate Director of Knowledge Exchange
Research and Knowledge Exchange ,
Swansea University
Kelly Jordan
Student Enterprise Manager
Research and Knowledge Exchange ,
Swansea University
Angus Phillips
Student Enterprise Officer
Research and Knowledge Exchange ,
Swansea University
Joel Bowen
Student Enterprise Administrator
Research and Knowledge Exchange ,
Swansea University
Acknowledgements
We would like to extend our deep gratitude to our funding providers who help to make our work in developing the next generation of entrepreneurs possible. This includes, Welsh Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship Grant, MEDR Research Wales Innovation Fund, and Santander Universities UK.
We’d also like to thank all of our partners and alumni who we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with, including regional business support organisations, 4TheRegion, Swansea Council and The Urban Foundry, who help us in providing co-working spaces, trading opportunities, access to grants, and networks which build a sense of belonging to a supportive and growing entrepreneurial eco-system.
We’d like to thank our dedicated Staff Champions of entrepreneurship who help us foster an entrepreneurial ethos across the university, our senior leadership team who help drive the entrepreneurship agenda, and finally to our student and graduate entrepreneurs who continue to inspire and motivate us. Together, their passion and commitment are helping to shape a vibrant, inclusive entrepreneurial culture that empowers our entire university community to thrive.
Images
Invent for the Planet participants celebrating
Judges and student participants of The Big Pitch 2025
Visiting graduate start-up Drop Bear Beer
Producing Start-up Case Study video with graduate start-up Macro-Shack
Student Start-up producing content in the Student Launchpad
Introducing students to entrepreneurship with use of the Enterprise Stand
Student pitching business concept at The Big Pitch
Student Enterprise Impact Report 2023-2024
Student trading on campus
Business Bootcamp 2025 participants
IMPACT STORY
Impacting lifes
Engineering Leadership and Management Masters student, Hannah Worth, had an idea, to reimagine fast food with nutritious, hot grain bowls served sustainably. It was bold, ambitious, and completely untested. Nervous but determined, she entered The Big Pitch, hoping to secure £3,000 to launch her business, Bowla. The judges admired her passion but knew the concept needed more development. Instead of walking away empty-handed, Hannah was awarded something arguably more valuable, space on an accelerator and a place in our Start-up to CEO mentoring programme.
Matched with university Alumnus and entrepreneur in the food industry, Hannah received six months of mentoring, though as she says, “One-hour sessions became two or three… he’d block out whole mornings.” Together, they refined Bowla’s business model and strategy, saving her “tens of thousands of pounds in mistakes.” Equipped with new skills and confidence, she returned to The Big Pitch six-months later. This time, winning the full £3,000.
Today, Hannah runs Bowla from her own premises in Swansea Market, provides event catering and wholesale, and has been featured on Aldi’s Next Big Thing. In 2025, she was crowned Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the regional UK Start-up Awards.
Reflecting on her journey, Hannah said: “Starting a business can be daunting. Having someone to hand, like my mentor and the Student Enterprise Team, who can empathise and offer wisdom, is worth more than money in the early stages.” Her story is proof that with the right support, courage and community can mould a great company.
LEARNINGS
Lessons learned
One of our biggest learnings has been that entrepreneurship becomes truly transformative when it is rooted in purpose and built with people. We began by creating programmes, but the real shift happened when we focused on building trust, relationships, and a shared sense of ownership with students, researchers, and the wider university community.
What surprised us most was how quickly entrepreneurial culture can take hold when barriers are removed and relevance is made visible. By co-designing initiatives with students and embedding enterprise into their academic and lived experience, we saw rapid growth, not just in start-up numbers, but in confidence, collaboration, and cross-disciplinary innovation. This was made particularly visible through our participation in global Hackathons, our Entrepreneurial Researcher Series and our work with Career Boost, which revealed enterprise not as a narrow path, but as a mindset for all.
Our advice would be to start where the people are, not where you assume entrepreneurship should be. Speak their language, align with their motivations, and don’t be afraid to pilot, pause, or pivot. Create psychologically safe environments where failure is reframed as learning, and ensure your support reflects the diversity of your institution.
It’s also critical to build bridges between the academic and entrepreneurial worlds. We’ve found that when enterprise is seen as a way to enhance teaching, research and civic impact, and not compete with them, meaningful partnerships and institutional buy-in follow. Most importantly, stay committed to your values. Inclusion, impact, and authenticity are what make entrepreneurial ecosystems thrive.
FUTURE PLANS
What's coming?
Our next chapter is about scaling impact, ensuring that inclusive, purpose-driven entrepreneurship becomes not just accessible but embedded at every level of the Swansea University experience.
Building on strong institutional backing and growing student demand, we plan to expand our Hackathon series, supporting students to launch ventures that address social inequality, climate action, and community health. This will include new thematic accelerators, micro-grants for student changemakers, and partnerships with local authorities and third-sector organisations to create real-world testing grounds for innovation.
We are also developing a Social Entrepreneurial Mindset model, including interdisciplinary, challenge-based learning environments where students, researchers and community stakeholders co-create solutions to societal problems. These will act as incubators for civic enterprise and as a platform to enhance social impact across research and teaching.
Institutionally, enterprise is being further embedded through our curriculum redesign, which aims to integrate entrepreneurial competencies into every module. This means shifting from optional participation to systemic inclusion, where all students graduate with innovation, resilience, and changemaking skills, regardless of degree.
We will deepen our engagement with underrepresented groups through culturally responsive programming and our work with Career Boost and the Female Founders programme, providing peer mentoring, additional funding, support, and inclusive digital tools. The goal is not just to increase participation, but to build a generation of graduates who see entrepreneurship as a means to lead, empower and create lasting social value.
What comes next is not simply more activity, it’s a bold, values-led ecosystem where enterprise fuels equity, creativity, and long-term transformation.
