Autumn Cohort 2025: Closing a Season of Growth

8th Dec, 2025

As the Autumn 2025 Incubator Plus programme comes to an end, Business Launchpad is taking a moment to recognise the founders who shaped these past three months. This cohort didn’t simply attend a programme, they built a community, stretched their capabilities, and showed what determination looks like when given space and support.

What stood out most was the diversity of industries represented, along with the diversity of stories, motivations, and lived experiences that each founder carried with them. They entered with ideas at different stages, but all shared one thing: the willingness to grow.

Balla, sharing ideas and bringing her story to life with every word spoken.

Ricky, at a session filled with insight, energy, and real progress.

Jamie, turning personal experience into powerful learning for the cohort.

The Work They Put In

Incubator Plus offered structure, tools, and guidance, but the cohort brought the momentum.

Over the past three months, founders committed to:

• turning ideas into strategies through honest, practical coaching

• developing digital skills that pushed their businesses into the online world

• using professional workspaces and facilities to operate like the founders they are becoming

• challenging their own assumptions and embracing iteration

• supporting each other through uncertainty, progress, and everything in between

  
  

This cohort made the most of every resource available to them, not because they had to, but because they were building something they believed in.

Some were polishing brands. Others were launching for the first time. A few were shifting direction entirely after realising what their customers truly needed. Every week brought breakthroughs big or small, and each one was earned.

Michelle, speaking from experience, growth, and genuine ambition.

Cheritha and Vivian, sharing wins, challenges and everything in between.

Taha and Joana, learning and connecting at the Finance session.

A Community Beyond The Work

What made this season memorable wasn’t a single workshop or milestone; it was the culture the founders created among themselves.

They filled the workspace with conversations that mattered. They showed up for each other's ideas. They shared knowledge, perspectives, and encouragement in moments where stepping forward felt uncertain. They made room for vulnerability and celebrated each other’s wins as if they were their own.

For many, this was the first time they’d been in a space with peers who understood both the excitement and the pressure of trying to build something from scratch. That sense of belonging became one of the cohort’s greatest strengths.

Founders showing up, learning together, levelling up collectively at the marketing session.

Finance session: clarity gained, confidence boosted, next steps unlocked.

What They Leave With

Yes, the programme delivered over £8,000 worth of support, including coaching, digital training, workspace, specialist facilities. But the most valuable things they leave with can’t be priced:

• clarity about what they are building

• confidence in themselves as founders

• a community of peers who will continue growing alongside them

• and the knowledge that they do not have to build alone

These are the foundations that carry businesses beyond the early stage.

Bridget, speaking her vision into the room with courage and conviction.

(Left) Damian in a moment of focus, honesty, and entrepreneurial drive.

Vivian shares her reflections that resonate with everyone listening.

What Comes Next

Graduating from Incubator Plus doesn’t mean stepping away from BLP. Instead, the cohort now joins a wider alumni community designed to support them long-term.

They’ll have access to:

• quarterly expert clinics

• continued workshops

• networking and social events

• opportunities to give back through Alumni Champion roles

• and future platforms designed specifically to elevate their work

They’re leaving the programme, but they’re not leaving the ecosystem. And the ecosystem isn’t leaving them.

"BLP is a huge advocate for founders no matter where they are in their journey."

The Autumn 2025 cohort showed what happens when young people are trusted, supported, and invested in. They arrived with ideas; they leave with direction. They arrived as individuals; they leave as part of something larger.

Business Launchpad is proud of the work they’ve done, the courage they’ve shown, and the commitment they brought into every session.

This may be the end of one chapter, but it is unmistakably the beginning of something bigger for each of them. Here’s to their next steps, their next risks, and the futures they are building.