This new initiative is designed to tackle real-world challenges while backing the next generation of business leaders.
Leeds is ambitious. The city is growing fast, setting big goals for the decade ahead – from tackling inequality to becoming the UK’s first net zero city. But turning ambition into action requires ideas, energy and people willing to step up.
That’s where the Leeds City Challenge comes in – a brand new initiative from Leeds Beckett University, which offers £10,000 in seed funding to any students and recent graduates who have business ideas that could make a real difference here in Leeds.
Credit: Leeds Beckett University
Open to everyone from first-year undergraduates to PhD students, as well as anyone who’s graduated in the last 18 months, the Challenge is designed to turn smart thinking into practical solutions. Your idea could focus on youth employment, sustainability, community wellbeing or economic inclusion – but it needs to respond to a real issue facing Leeds.
All submissions must align with Leeds Ambitions – the city’s long-term plan built around four key priorities: creating a healthier Leeds, reducing poverty and inequality, building strong and safe communities, and becoming the UK’s first net zero, nature-positive city.
And it’s not just about submitting a business plan and hoping for the best. Everyone who enters gets to take part in structured workshops, receive expert mentoring and refine their ideas through a competitive process. The journey leads to a final pitch event, where shortlisted teams will present their concepts to a high-profile judging panel made up of business and civic leaders.
Credit: Leeds Beckett University
More than just a competition, the Leeds City Challenge is about backing the next generation of entrepreneurs to build businesses that stay local and create long-term impact. By connecting students and graduates with experienced mentors and industry figures, the initiative aims to strengthen the pipeline of innovative, homegrown enterprises across Leeds.
Ed Whiting OBE, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, said: “Leeds is a city that is growing and changing, we’re a big and diverse city, but we have poverty, inequality and gaps in life expectancy between different wards in our city.
“We have to close those gaps. I hope the students leading the Leeds City Challenge and getting involved will really get stuck into those challenges and help us make the most of the decade ahead.”
If you’ve got an idea that could help shape Leeds’ future, submit your application by Sunday 3rd May 2026.
Cover image credit: Leeds Beckett University.
