Venture Spotlight FAQs

• What are the key dates?

  Applicants:

  1. Submissions Opens: Thursday 6th March 2025, 12pm
  2. Submission Closes: Sunday 6th April 2025, 23:59pm
  3. Applicant notified: Monday 28th April – Monday 5th May 2025 (rolling)

  Participants:

  1. Pitch Preparation Webinar + Workshop – Thursday 15th May 2025 (time TBD)
  2. Final Pitch Deck Submission: Friday 30th May 2025
  3. Semi Finalist Workshops: Tuesday 3rd June 2025
  4. Semi Finals: Wednesday 4th June (AM & PM) 2025
  5. Finals: Thursday 5th June (PM) 2025

• What does it mean to be university-affiliated?

  When we say university affiliated, we mean current students, faculty or alumni. The startups can be official university spinouts but are not required to be. In fact, we encourage non-official spinouts to apply.

• What are the universities being considered for SXSW London Venture Spotlight?

  The core universities that will hope to represent include but are not limited to Cambridge University, Oxford University, Imperial University, UCL, Queen Mary’s, University of Manchester, Edinburgh University, Stockholm School of Economics, ETH Zurich, TUM Munich, IE University, Queen Mary’s University of London, TU Delft, L’ecole Polytechnique, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Please note, we are not limiting it to just these universities.

• What does it cost to apply to SXSW London Venture Spotlight?

  A non-refundable GBP£25 entry fee per submission from all applicants who would like to be considered for participation in the SXSW London Startup Competition is required.

• How many entries can I submit to SXSW London Venture Spotlight?

  There should be one startup per application. If you have two startups you’d like to enter, then you can submit two startups.

• What happens if I am selected to participate in SXSW London Venture Spotlight?

  All our applicants will be notified by email if selected to pitch for SXSW Venture Spotlight. As a semi-finalist, SXSW London will ask for documentation to support our due diligence ahead of the semi-finals to ensure if you win that you can receive the funding via a SAFE/ASA agreement. The due diligence will involve setting up a data room using Dropbox. Semi-finals will take place on Wednesday 4th June where a panel of judges will select 5 finalists for the Grand Final on 5th June 2025. Of the finalists, there will be a first, second and third prize that will be given based on due diligence ahead of festival and judge scoring. Successful applicants will need to:

  • Nominate their designated “Pitcher” who must have their Pitch ready to pitch in person for the Semi-Finals and Grand Final at their allotted time.
  • Ensure their Pitcher (and support team) will be available to attend a Pitch Preparation Webinar on 15th May 2025 (Note there can be no more than one Pitcher per pitch)
  • Submit their final Pitch Deck by Friday 30th May at 11:59PM GMT via the SXSW London Data Room.

• What documentation will be required for the data room for the semi-finalists to provide ahead of the festival?

  We will ask for the following documents to be supplied as part of due diligence process.

  Legal & Corporate Registration:

  1. Certificate of Registration
  2. Business Registration Number (BRN) / Company Number
  3. Articles of Association & Memorandum of Association
  4. Proof of Registered Business Address

  Financial & Banking Information:

  1. Bank Account Verification Letter
  2. Tax Identification Number
  3. Recent Financial Statements (Audited, if possible)
  4. Proof of funding

  Compliance & Governance:

  1. Business Licences & Permits
  2. Compliance Certificates (ISO, GDPR etc.)
  3. AML & KYC Compliance Documents
  4. Cap Table i.e. List of Directors & Shareholders

  Operational & Contractual Documents

  1. Key Contracts & Agreements
  2. Employments Records
  3. Intellectual Property (IP) Ownership

  Additional Due Diligence

  1. Background Checks on Founders & Directors
  2. Credit Reports & Business Credit Rating
  3. Online & Public Records Search

  If you are not able to supply all the above documentation, you can still take part in the semi-finals, but it may impact your due diligence score, which will impact SXSW London ability to give you funding. We will share more details on what is required out of the above documents. We will need the following documentation to be supplied by Thursday 15th May 2025.

• What happens if I don't get selected?

  We value every potential participant no matter where you are along your journey. If you aren’t selected, we encourage you to attend SXSW London 2025 and/or apply again next year. All entrants will receive a special coupon to register for an industry badge to attend SXSW London 2025 at the early bird rate. Unsuccessful applicants may also be interested in showcasing their startup in Startup Village which is part of SXSW London Expo. Please contact partnerships@sxswlondon.com