The number of active start-ups established at universities is experiencing unprecedented growth, with a 70% increase over the past decade, creating more than 64,000 jobs.
This entrepreneurial surge reflects broader changes in the UK job market. Traditional employment paths are no longer the only route to professional success. and ‘portfolio careers’ (where professionals work part‑time across multiple organisations, often at senior levels) are becoming increasingly mainstream. This is particularly common among Gen Z, with they ultimately want to run their own company.
Leicester sits at the heart of this transformation, launching . The university’s ذكذكتسئµ Made service is there to support students from day one of their studies. It combines practical workspaces, expert mentoring and real-world experience, helping students develop entrepreneurial skills whether they plan to launch their own ventures or apply innovative thinking in traditional employment.
The latest survey data (measured 15 months after students graduate), shows that 7.2% of ذكذكتسئµ graduates are self-employed. Among these entrepreneurial graduates, 29.5% are engaged in sophisticated professional portfolio work, combining business ownership with freelance and self-employed activities.
According to , 38,750 companies have emerged with the support of universities in the last 10 years. Start-ups established at universities are also creating local jobs. In the academic year (2022-23), 64,384 people were employed by start-ups that had emerged from universities. This figure has grown in the last decade by 177%.
A found that most of the graduates that choose to start their own business will do it near to their university. This also means that most of the new firms and ventures in local areas are most likely to come from local university graduates.
How ذكذكتسئµ supports this
ذكذكتسئµ has responded to changing employment trends by offering significant support to students studying any course here. We can help you to learn, develop and apply entrepreneurial skills – whether you aspire to be your own boss or intend to apply them within a future job role.
Part of the university’s award-winning Careers Team, offers a range of ways for students to learn the value of freelancing, self-employment, entrepreneurial skills and professional portfolio work.
This summer, the Kimberlin Library relaunched its Make Space as the ذكذكتسئµ Made Studio – a practical workspace in which any student can work on their side-hustles, freelancing businesses or creative projects.
The ذكذكتسئµ Made team has been recognised for its work this year, through the national AGCAS Educational Excellence Awards and the regional Generation Next Awards.
From one-to-one guidance to international ذكذكتسئµ Global trips, pitching competitions to the and Creative Industries programmes, there is a huge breadth of activities that students can get involved with from the moment they step onto campus.
ذكذكتسئµ Made’s Creative Industries programme sees a series of workshops co-led by industry experts. Previous sessions have been delivered by Calum Leslie and James Cusack (BBC Radio 1), James Mobbs (Netflix/BBC), Toby-Alexander Smith (EastEnders, Krypton) and Kwoklyn Wan (Prime Video). Calum Leslie said: “I love working with ذكذكتسئµ students, and it’s a pleasure to be able to share insights, tips and advice with them through this unique creative programme.”
Simon Baines, Entrepreneurship Project Manager, said: “Every year, we have the pleasure of welcoming brand-new students to ذكذكتسئµ, many of which immediately see the value in developing entrepreneurial skills. We’re lucky, in that we get to see their journeys flourish over several years.
“Any of our entrepreneurial graduates will tell you that the sooner new students get involved with ذكذكتسئµ Made, the more they will get out of it, and that’s both in terms of learning new skills as well as making new friends and connections.”
Meet the ذكذكتسئµ graduates who are building tomorrow’s businesses
Alfie Dibrowa – The engineering graduate who won three entrepreneurship awards and now applies start-up thinking in his dream job.
Melvin Riley – The economics student whose university networking opened doors to international leadership programmes.
Giselle Kandekore – The designer whose university side-project became a multi-award nominated business.
Jane Hearst – How a ذكذكتسئµ Global trip to San Francisco sparked a creative career that’s now winning industry recognition.
How new students can get involved from September
With so many entrepreneurship activities, competitions and events for students, you can opt in and select any of ذكذكتسئµ Made’s extracurricular activities that appeal to you. Upcoming opportunities include:
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ذكذكتسئµ Global trip to Bergen, Norway, where you can learn skills around freelancing, creativity and sustainability. Applications open Monday 29 September 2025.
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ذكذكتسئµ Made Studio – Make Space: All students are welcome to use a newly enhanced Make Space in the Kimberlin Library to sew, design, make, build, craft, model or hot-desk on PCs loaded with design software.
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Connect: Back for its tenth year, ذكذكتسئµ Made’s Connect events offer guest talks and networking, connecting students with entrepreneurial graduates, staff and local start-ups.
You can find more information on the .
Meet the ذكذكتسئµ graduates who are building tomorrow’s businesses:
Alfie Dibrowa
Mechatronics and Engineering graduate Alfie participated in various ذكذكتسئµ Made activities from his second year onwards, including a Graduate Launchpad programme, annual (pictured above with BBC Radio 1’s Calum Leslie) and the Engineers in Business Hackathon. He scooped three ذكذكتسئµ Made Entrepreneurship Awards in recognition of his innovative business, PXLE.
Alfie said: “My only regret is that I didn’t start this sooner. If I were to give any advice, I’d say do things that make you feel uncomfortable, and truly believe in what you are doing, because you can’t fake authenticity. As soon as you join ذكذكتسئµ, you can get involved with ذكذكتسئµ Made. Don’t wait!”
Having crafted his entrepreneurial skillset during his studies, Alfie now applies skills such as teamwork, design thinking and problem solving in his role as Electrical Design Engineer at .
Melvin Riley
Economics and Politics student Melvin Riley graduated from ذكذكتسئµ in 2024 with a first-class honours degree. From his early days as a first-year student, Melvin participated in many different entrepreneurship activities and events led by ذكذكتسئµ Made. These included giving a guest talk at the university’s .
He also spoke at ذكذكتسئµ Made ‘Connect’ events, a long-running guest-speaker/networking get-together which is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Here, Melvin shared his entrepreneurial journey with audiences of students, graduates, staff and local businesses.
In 2024, Melvin was awarded ذكذكتسئµ Made’s Student Entrepreneurship Award. At the time he said: “I connected with ذكذكتسئµ Made very early on in my time at ذكذكتسئµ and I’d encourage anybody to get involved, even if you don’t yet know what you want to do in future.”
Since leaving ذكذكتسئµ, Melvin has founded the , a youth-led sustainable technology platform. In July, Melvin was successful in being selected from a global pool of more than 6,800 applicants across 156 countries as one of 31 youth fellows shaping the future of digital development through the .
Giselle Kandekore
Giselle Kandekore recently graduated from ذكذكتسئµ’s Fashion Design course. Throughout her degree, Giselle received support from ذكذكتسئµ Made to help develop and launch a menswear and unisex streetwear brand, with a focus on sustainability and digital innovation.
Giselle’s work saw her pick up multiple ذكذكتسئµ Made Entrepreneurship Awards in 2024 and nominations in the 2025 regional Generation Next Awards and Niche Business Awards.
Giselle said: “I feel honoured to be a finalist, I’m very grateful to the support I’ve received from ذكذكتسئµ Made. I would tell any new student coming to ذكذكتسئµ to ‘just do it,’ there’s a lot more you can do than just your degree, so get involved and you’ll learn so many extra skills.”
Jane Hearst
During her studies, Business Administration student Jane engaged with ذكذكتسئµ Made from the outset. She joined one of the team’s ذكذكتسئµ Global trips, learning about self-employment and entrepreneurship in San Francisco. Inspired by San Francisco University’s TEDx event, Jane went on to co-organise a , which she also hosted.
As her freelance film business flourished, Jane shared her learning experiences at Connect networking events, guested on the ذكذكتسئµ Made podcast and went on to join the university’s graduate accelerator programme, the Crucible Project.
Simon Baines, Entrepreneurship Project Manager, said: “I met Jane on her very first day at ذكذكتسئµ and, sometime later, had the pleasure of supporting her through the Crucible Project. Jane is a real advocate for entrepreneurship at ذكذكتسئµ, and I feel very proud seeing her go on to win awards for her pioneering work within the creative health sector.”
Posted on Friday 8 August 2025