NatWest Group, parent of Royal Bank of Scotland, is partnering with 10 universities to offer 10,000 entrepreneurs the chance to join its Accelerator community this year which marks the 10th anniversary of the startup programme.

Since it was founded in Birmingham in 2015, the Accelerator has grown its hub network to 12 sites across the UK. These hubs have supported 9,737 businesses, raising more than £684 million in investment and helping to create 12,000 jobs.

Universities have become a key focus for the Government’s industrial strategy, which recognises that R&D-led and innovation-centred concepts have a significant role to play in accelerating economic growth.

The bank wants to target businesses in the ‘innovation economy’ in particular, in sectors such as technology, healthcare tech, life sciences and fintech, as these sectors offer considerable potential to the growth.

Robert Begbie, CEO of NatWest’s Commercial & Institutional franchise, said: “It’s a testament to how much the Accelerator has achieved that today we are setting out plans for its expansion.”

Royal Bank’s Scottish Accelerator hubs are based in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh and Queen Street in Glasgow.

In 2022 RBS entered into a £1.5m partnership with the University of Edinburgh to drive colleague and customer education and awareness surrounding opportunities in sustainability.

Earlier this month, it announced a new partnership with the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) which works with the University of Glasgow and is focused on deep tech and AI start-ups.