# Future Imperial College entrepreneurs pledge to donate to students

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/07/19/future-imperial-college-entrepreneurs-pledge-to-donate-to-students/
- Published: 2022-07-19T08:54:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Imperial College London has created a Founders’ Pledge programme to invite alumni
entrepreneurs to pledge to give back to students when they achieve success.**

The pay-it-forward scheme is intended to give entrepreneurs a way to thank the College
for its support by enabling students at the start of their business career.

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## Founders’ Pledge

Many universities in the USA operate a Founders’ Pledge programme, but Imperial 
is the first UK university to launch one.

Imperial students and alumni have a very good track record of generating investment.
Imperial startups generated £134 million of investment in 2021-21, with £91 million
of that raised by students alone.

Successful Imperial alumni include Peter Lipka who created the virtual reality company
Improbable which is valued at $1 billion, and Alex Dalyac, whose AI company Tractable
is valued at $1 billion.

The idea of the pledge is to create a lasting source of income for current and future
entrepreneurial students.

![Imperial College London's Founders' Pledge logo](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2022/07/imperial-college-london-founders-pledge-logo.png)

Image: Imperial College London

Imperial already has an advanced network of support for student entrepreneurs. Its
Enterprise Lab provided nearly £200,000 of funding as grants to student startup 
businesses last year. Its Advanced Hackspace gives students access to specialist
manufacturing equipment, as well as training, to help them develop prototypes.

It also offers the incentive of acknowledging that Imperial students own any intellectual
property that they generate during their studies at the College.

## Making the pledge

The Founders’ Pledge can be made on graduation by any Imperial student that founds
a business. It is non-binding. They can choose how their gifts will support the 
College.

“When you experience an exit or other liquidity event and are ready to make your
gift”, states the College’s [giving advice](https://www.imperial.ac.uk/giving/community/founders-pledge/)
page. “Let us know and we’ll work with you to plan your gift ensuring it makes a
difference to an area you’re passionate about.”

## ⏎ WATCH: Imperial Founders’ Pledge launch