Written question WQ88184

As part of our commitment to the Young Person's Guarantee, the Young Person's Start-up Grant is available to support young people under 25 years of age, including graduates, to start their own business, create a social enterprise, become self-employed, a freelancer or social entrepreneur in Wales. Grants of up to £2,000 are available to help individuals with the essential costs of starting the business and is available alongside a package of support.

Big Ideas Wales, part of Business Wales, supports the next generation of young entrepreneurs in Wales and encourages young people to be entrepreneurial and help those interested in starting a business take their idea forward.

The Welsh Government also provides grant funding to colleges and universities to support Entrepreneurship Champions raise awareness of entrepreneurship, provide practical experience for businesses, and nurture and support young entrepreneurs to start a business. The Champions’ network plays a key part in working with partners and business.

Each year, Entrepreneurship Champions raise awareness with over 50,000 students, provide practical experience for 5,000 students to help build confidence in their ideas and business, and nurture and support 500 potential young entrepreneurs to start a business.

The 2021-22 [i]Higher Education Business Community Interaction survey recorded 362 businesses started by university students/graduates in Wales, representing 7.6% of the UK total. It also showed the 3-year survival rate of graduate starts was higher than the national average, with 1,427 graduate businesses still active after 3 years representing 15.9% of the UK total.

The University of South Wales recorded the highest level of graduate start-ups in Wales 2021-22, 11th highest in the UK. Further information and the live data set can be found on the HESA website Intellectual property, start-ups and spin-offs | HESA.

[i] Annual statistics reported by universities across the UK.