Space sector start-ups generate £9 million boost following government accelerator scheme

Space sector start-ups that have taken part in a government backed accelerator programme have generated £9 million in investment and created 80 new jobs across the country.

The reveal follows the government’s backing of the UK space sector earlier this year with the creation of the North West Space Cluster to strengthen the region’s place in this multi-billion pound industry.

The UK Space Agency Space Accelerator Programme, delivered by Entrepreneurial Spark, worked with entrepreneurs from all over the UK across sectors such as aerospace, law, quantum technology, farming, environmental engineering, and healthcare.

Harshbir Sangha, Director of Growth at UK Space Agency, said:

I’d like to congratulate everyone who successfully completed our Space Accelerator. The UK has a strong entrepreneurial culture and a growing space sector, and there are significant opportunities for new space businesses to start up and thrive with the right support.

The Space Accelerator perfectly encapsulates the value we seek to bring as an agency: catalysing investment, delivering space capabilities and championing space. With record levels of investment flowing into the sector, we want to accelerate the growth in space start ups and create thousands of new jobs across the UK.

Participants included start-up leaders, established businesses in their early stages, and professionals from adjacent sectors who could benefit from space expertise, generating a vast and diverse network of multi-skilled space pioneers.

The UK Space Agency awarded £360,000 to the Accelerator over two financial years. This investment catalysed a total of £8.79 million from other grants and investors, opening up 80 new jobs and directly assisting 88 individual businesses between January 2020 and April 2022.

The UK Space Agency is now looking for a partner to design and deliver the next space accelerator phase to run until March 2025. This will include providing a focused package of targeted support to space companies at different stages of development and equip programme participants with the knowledge and skills they need to grow, wherever they are based in the UK.