Growth Hub
A regional, publicly funded service in England that gives businesses free advice and signposting to local and national support.
Growth Hubs are local partnerships, often linked to combined authorities or local enterprise networks, that act as a single point of contact for businesses seeking support. They offer free guidance, connect founders to grants, mentoring, finance schemes and training, and help navigate the wider UK business-support landscape. For early-stage founders they are a low-cost way to discover funding and advisory options relevant to their region and sector.
Examples
A founder contacts their regional Growth Hub and is signposted to a local innovation grant. — A Growth Hub adviser connects a startup with a mentoring programme and a finance scheme.
How it relates to The Startup Foundry
Growth Hubs and the Foundry both aim to make founders stronger, but the Foundry adds an investability lens — scoring readiness, closing gaps through Learn/Improve, and channelling the strongest companies into the Funding Sprint for investment.