Find your people.
Build something real.
Spark has two doors in: students team up to build startups, and investors get first look at the ones worth backing.
One platform, two sides of the same table.
Students bring the ideas and the skills to build something real. Investors bring the funding and the experience to help it grow. Spark is where they find each other.
Build a startup
Find collaborators for your idea, lend your skills to someone else's, or take your finished startup to investors. Verified students only.
Explore the builder side → For investorsBack a startup
Get first look at student-led startups still in the making, or join a group of fellow investors to grow and discuss portfolios together.
Explore the investor side →Three ways in, wherever you're starting from.
No idea yet, an idea with no team, or a startup that's ready to grow — there's a lane for you.
Got the skills? We'll help you find the idea.
Set up a profile with your skillset, degree and CV, then get matched with like-minded students to shape a new idea together — or skip straight to browsing startups already looking for someone like you.
- Swipe-style matching with students who complement your skills
- Chat and shape a brand-new idea together
- Or browse live startups and apply to the ones that fit
Aisha K.
92% matchComputer Science, University of Bristol — full-stack dev with an idea for climate tech.
Or browse startups
12 open rolesFinPeer needs a backend developer to join this term.
Got the idea? Post it and build your team.
List your startup with the roles it's missing — marketing, design, code, whatever it needs — and let students with the right experience apply to join you.
- Set the roles you need: developer, designer, marketer and more
- Review applications and CVs from verified students
- Bring on the people who actually make it real
EcoTrack — carbon app
Long-termBuilding an app that helps students cut their carbon footprint. Looking for the team to make it real.
Once it's real, put it in front of investors.
When your startup is up and running, list it for investors to discover — for funding, mentorship, or both. We're also building partnerships to offer grants directly to the ideas we truly believe in.
- Get discovered by investors looking for student founders
- Take on guidance from experienced investors, not just capital
- Apply for grants through Spark's investor partnerships
Two ways to get closer to student founders.
Find the startups directly, or find the investors already doing this well.
Get first look at student-built startups.
See what's coming out of universities before anyone else does — startups that are just getting started or already in motion, straight from the students building them.
- Browse startups by stage, sector and university
- Reach founding teams directly
- Get early access to pre-seed ideas before they're widely known
EcoTrack — carbon app
Pre-seedLive for 3 months · University of Warwick
FinPeer
Just launchedPeer-to-peer investing for students · University of Bristol
Find your fellow investors.
Log in through the investor side to connect with other investors — join a group, get matched with a mentor, or offer your own guidance to those earlier in their journey.
- Join an existing investor group, or start your own
- Get matched with more experienced investors for guidance
- Discuss deals and portfolios with people who get it
From a spark of an idea to a team that ships.
Four steps take a builder from "I've got an idea" to a team, and on to investors when they're ready.
Post your idea
Share your project and the roles you need — a developer, a designer, a business head.
Students apply
Verified students apply to join. You review who's a fit and accept the ones you want.
Build together
Message your new team in-app and get going.
or take it to Discord ↗Get backed
When you're ready, reach investors and funding through Spark's partners.
Built for students who want to build, and investors who want to back them.
Verified students only
Everyone joins with their university email — UK (.ac.uk) or US (.edu) — so the whole platform is real, current students. No recruiters, no noise.
Real ideas, not just CVs
Most students don't want to build something just to list it. Spark is for the ideas you actually believe in.
The whole campus
Computer science, engineering, finance, design, business — across two countries. The people you need are out there.
Two-sided trust
Students verify with a university email, and investors are vetted before they can see startup details — so both sides know who they're talking to.
Why we built Spark
We're Krishan and Khaylan — first-year students at the University of Warwick and the University of Birmingham.
Like a lot of people our age, we'd watched founders build things online and always wanted to start something ourselves. The ambition was never the problem — knowing where to begin was, and finding the right people to begin with.
Because a good idea on its own doesn't go anywhere. You need a team: someone who can build it, someone who can design it, someone who gets the numbers. That's the gap Spark fills.
We don't think students want to start a project just to have something for their CV. They've got a genuine idea they actually believe in. Spark is built for university students across the UK and US — to help you find your people, and actually make it real.
Economics, Politics & International Studies
Computer Science
Your idea's been waiting. So has your team.
Spark is launching at UK and US universities soon. Drop your email to get first access — and be there from day one.
Students only — sign up with your university email (.ac.uk for the UK or .edu for the US).