News UK Opens Incubator Lab for Start-Ups

News UK is a British newspaper publisher that is a subsidiary of the American media company News Corp. It publishes various newspapers in the UK, including The Sunday Times, The Times and The Sun. Between the late 1980s and 1995, News UK owned the first national newspaper printed in colour. In the years since, the company has strived to maintain a steady presence with readers and boost its revenues.

In 2017, News UK decided to venture into the start-up market by launching an accelerator programme aimed at helping start-ups improve their revenue streams. In a first for the newspaper publisher, the programme will be undertaken in partnership with Unruly, a video advertising firm, and Fluxx, a product innovation company. Unruly will host the programme, while Flux will run and staff it.

The venture is open to businesses from any sector that can use News UK's data, expertise and journalism to come up with new products and revenue streams for the publisher. The focus for the selected start-ups will be to work with News UK to generate more value for the start-up, the publisher and its audience. Furthermore, News UK will provide the mentoring and insights needed to get the start-ups working. When the month-long incubator programme ends, the publisher has yet to reveal concrete plans to invest or acquire the start-ups, instead choosing to support them and become champions of innovation.

Start-ups selected for the programme will spend four weeks at Unruly working on their proposition. To motivate them, they will receive £5,000 in cash, mentorship from other entrepreneurs, the use of News UK's image and written content, and product testing opportunities with the publisher's vast audience.

Incubator programmes have been around for a few decades, with their presence helping boost growth and innovation in the UK. Many investment experts such as Henner Diekmann – a partner at Diekmann Associates – appreciate their importance in speeding up the development of small businesses and guiding them to success. Entrepreneurs stand to benefit a lot by choosing to sign up for incubator programmes.

A Focus On Development

Incubators play an essential role in offering businesses the guidance and resources needed in their infancy. Many provide tangible benefits such as office space, legal advice and accounting guidance to start-ups. Having this infrastructure in place allows the start-up team to focus on the important matters – the core business of developing products and services.

Access To Business Networks

Many incubator programmes are run by a network of business partners, something the participating start-ups can use to their advantage. Having access to a reliable business network is beneficial in various ways. From a business perspective, it allows the entrepreneurs to cultivate meaningful relationships that can come in handy in the future. From a public relations angle, this network can help a small start-up gain the credibility and traction needed to position itself in the business market.

Worthy Support

Many of the mentors who guide start-ups through incubator programmes have learned through experience, making them the best sources of knowledge and guidance. These mentors are better placed to help young companies define their strategy and vision.

In the UK, it is estimated there are more than 300 business incubator programmes that have collectively supported thousands of businesses. Many of these ventures have been early-stage businesses that have reaped the benefits of access to funding, mentorship, business networks and infrastructure to achieve success, both domestically and internationally.

For entrepreneurs looking to establish their ventures, considering an incubator programme is increasingly becoming a more attractive option.