Must-Know UK Startup Accelerators in 2026

Looking for a launchpad to skyrocket your business? You’re in the right place.

In the UK, the startup ecosystem is buzzing with some brilliant accelerator programmes. They’re all designed to set you on a course to success, turbocharge growth and connect you with a network of mentors and investors.

There are hundreds of accelerators in the UK, far too many for us to create a comprehensive list. Instead, in this blog post we list some of the major players we see most frequently at SeedLegals. Ready for the rundown? Let’s get started…

Top UK startup accelerators, incubators and bootcamps

This list is correct at the time of publication. New programmes emerge, existing programmes evolve or close. For the most up-to-date information, check websites or current industry databases such as Crunchbase and news-feeds such as TechCrunch.

In alphabetical order:

• Baltic Ventures
• Bethnal Green Ventures
• Breathable Cities
• London & Partners Business Growth Programme​s
• Entrepreneur First
• Hotbed
• NatWest Accelerator
• SETsquared
• Tech Nation
• VenturePath
• Zinc Venture Builder

Baltic Ventures

balticventures.uk

Location
Liverpool, England

What they say
“Baltic Ventures is an early-stage tech accelerator based in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool that supports game-changing founding teams who are building the solutions and businesses of tomorrow…  a four-month cohort programme, including £50,000 investment, weekly workshops, VC investor meetings, and mentorship.”

Applications
Applications for 2026 open in spring, but you can join the waitlist on the Baltic Ventures website. To be eligible, founding teams must be based in Liverpool.

Bethnal Green Ventures

bethnalgreenventures.com

Location
London

What they say
“We invest in ambitious early-stage tech for good founders. The journey of all our portfolio ventures starts on our programme. We then help you grow with further support and investment up to Series A.”

Applications
Applications for the 2026 programme open in May 2026. Find out more on the Bethnal Green Ventures website.

Breathable Cities

breathablecities.com

Location
London

What they say
“Breathable Cities is the world’s biggest accelerator programme for startups tackling air pollution. The programme launched in 2023 and lasts 14 weeks, supporting 10-12 startups with a technology product or service that helps improve air quality. Last year, 11 startups were selected, raising a combined £5 million and over half are now in commercial or local authority trials.”

Applications
Breathable Cities 2026 is now under construction and interest can be registered at the Breathable Cities website.

London & Partners Business Growth Programme​s

grow.london

Location
London

London & Partners operate various growth programmes for different types of companies:

• Innovate Zero
  For early-stage companies scaling commercial net zero and decarbonisation solutions.
• Circular Partnerships
  To catalyse partnerships between circular SMEs and public sector organisations.
• Evo Fashion
  Supports fashion businesses.
• Global London
  To support London’s small businesses, with a focus on underrepresented and underserved founders.
• Expand to London
  For international companies bringing their business to London.
• Grow London Global
  To take London-based businesses from local to global.
• Innovation Fellowship
  To develop a fresh innovation strategy.

What they say
“Grow London is part of London & Partners, the business growth and destination agency for London. Our mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive.”

Applications
Find out more about the programmes and apply at the Grow London website.

Entrepreneur First

https://www.joinef.com

Location
London, Paris, Bangalore, San Francisco

Entrepreneur First currently runs two programmes:

• Graduate
  For students, recent graduates and people with less than two years of professional experience.
• Core
  For early career professionals, academics and PhD graduates with two or more years of experience.

What they say
“Found, don’t follow. Entrepreneur First invests in exceptional individuals to build startups from scratch.”

Applications
EF Graduate and Core are full-time, in person, startup building programs. EF Find is a weekend-long taste of EF’s startup building programme. Find out more and apply anytime at the EF website.

Hotbed

hotbed.co

Location
Online with some in-person events in London

What they say
“Each quarter, we host a free, bespoke 6 to 10 week programme for early stage founders:

• Workshops delivered by experienced founders
• Weekly opportunities to practise your pitch w/investors
• Track your WoW growth
• Build a peer group of by exceptional founders”

Applications
Hotbed is for founders who have already raised initial capital of at least £75,000 or have £75,000 in revenue over the past six months), and have launched a product. Find out more and register interest anytime at the Hotbed website.

NatWest Accelerator

natwest.com/business/business-services/entrepreneur-accelerator.html

Location
Across UK and Ireland

What they say
“The NatWest Accelerator supports and empowers UK entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to the next level. Our free Accelerator programme specialising in wrap-around support provides: one-to-one coaching, a programme of events, access to a network of like-minded peers, supported by our Ecosystem Managers, focused support, and use of our modern co-working spaces in one of our nationwide hubs.”

Applications
You don’t need to be a NatWest customer. Find out more and apply anytime at the NatWest website.

SETsquared

setsquared.co.uk/support-programmes

Location
Southampton, operates UK-wide

SETsquared currently offer these programmes:

• Student Enterprise
  Programme for students thinking about starting a business and/or to gain employability skills
• ICURe
  Pre-accelerator programme for researchers
• Business Acceleration
  Incubator for technology start-ups with high growth potential
• Scale-Up
  Support for innovative scaling SMEs
• Telecoms Support
  Accelerator for high-tech telecoms companies
• Green Futures & Creative Tech
  Investment and support for creative and green tech businesses in South West England
• Hydrogen & Sustainable Transport
  Support for start-ups and SMEs in the clean hydrogen and sustainable transport sectors
• The FWD Project
  Support for health and wellbeing businesses in the West of England
• Future Economy Programme
  For companies aiming to raise public and private co-investment

What they say
“The SETsquared Partnership is a world leading business incubator and enterprise partnership comprising six research-intensive universities: Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey.”

Applications
Visit the SETsquared website to find out more about the programmes and when they’re open for applications.

Tech Nation

technation.io

Location
London

Tech Nation currently have four programmes for tech entrepreneurs:

• Creo champions disabled founders and entrepreneurs innovating around disability
• Climate supports climate tech founders
• Libra empowers underrepresented founders
• Future Fifty for growing, late-stage tech ventures
• Upscale empowers the UK’s most ambitious Series A startups

What they say
“Tech Nation is the leading growth platform for tech insights, connections, collaboration and talent, empowering ambitious founders and their teams with the access and knowledge they need from seed stage to success story.”

Applications
There are application deadlines for each cohort:

• Creo: Pre-registration now available for 2026
• Climate: Applications open until midnight 1 February 2026
• Libra: Applications open until midnight on March 17 2026
• Future Fifty: Applications by invitation only
• Upscale: applications open from 5 June to 30 July 2026

Find out more and apply at the Tech Nation website.

VenturePath

joinventurepath.com

Location
UK

What they say
“Exclusively for UK tech scaleups looking to grow, raise capital and scale faster, VenturePath supports founders through personalised business growth planning, leadership learning, a trusted community of fellow founders, a vetted expert network and £6bn+ of associated VCs, all available through a private app.”

Applications
You’ll need to have headquarters in the UK, revenue of more than £1 million and intend to raise Series A or beyond. Find out more and apply at the VenturePath website.

Zinc Venture Builder

https://www.zinc.vc/more-about-the-zinc-venture-builder/

Location

Primarily UK, but Zinc can back talent from across the globe by endorsing UK Startup/Innovator visas

What they say

“Zinc’s mission is ambitious: to back exceptional talent to build innovative commercial solutions that solve society’s most pressing issues. We believe the way to do this is by supporting talent through time, capital and connections; our commitment to this is evidenced through the offer to Founders on our Venture Builder.”

Applications

Visit the Zinc VC website to find out more about the programmes and when they’re open for applications.

This is only a few of the 600+ accelerators in the UK

Our list is correct at the time of publication. Remember, new programmes emerge and existing programmes evolve or shut down.

For the most up-to-date information, check websites or current industry databases such as Crunchbase and news-feeds such as TechCrunch.

Talk to the experts

Whether you’re hitting the accelerator, finding allies or embracing a solo journey, SeedLegals is here to support you. If you’re hiring a team, fundraising, sharing equity or need legal advice, we can help. To get started, take a look around our website or book a free call with one of our experts.