Market Validation + Grants Programme
12-week cohort programme | Investment: £6,000+VAT
In 12 weeks, we’ll take your MVP, prototype, demonstrator or proof of concept and help you generate real PMF signals: validated problems, clear buyers, and tested pricing, backed by evidence that investors and grant assessors trust.
Don't waste your time building something nobody wants
What is the Market Validation Programme?
Our 12-week structured programme combines weekly group training, 1-2-1 coaching and hands-on field work to transform your product idea into an evidence-backed proposition.
You’ve probably been told to “stop building and talk to customers.” But PMF doesn’t come from conversations alone; it comes from testing whether customers will actually change behaviour or commit budget. But speaking to customers can be difficult; what to ask them, how to synthesise the data, what about bias and staying objective? It’s not easy, and so we will do it with you, helping support you in front of customers.
We’ll take you on the journey of discovery interviews, validating your assumptions with real market data and building a portfolio of PMF evidence on market demand, buyer urgency and willingness to pay. We’ll show you the best practice in AI-powered desk research and analysis to support systematic validation methods to move from hypothesis to proof and from interest to commitment. You’ll get access to the Grant Funding Fundamentals course and further training on grant strategy building as part of your wider fundraising approach.
You will leave this programme with a clear understanding of who your customers are, which problems are painful enough to drive action, what they are willing to pay, and why. You’ll create documentation which can be used for grants, investor pitch decks, grant applications, marketing and product roadmaps.
Who’s it for?
Early-Stage Founders
You need to show problem-solution fit and early PMF signals to strengthen grants (e.g. Innovate UK, Horizon Europe) or early investment.
University Spinouts
You have world-class IP from your academic studies, but need commercial evidence to bridge the "lab-to-market" gap and demonstrate you're building something buyers actually need.
Technical Founders
You're brilliant at building, but need systematic validation to avoid the "build it, and they will come" trap that kills 42% of startups, by testing PMF before scaling engineering/development effort
On the programme, you'll benefit from:
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Your insights inform the commercialisation narrative that grant assessors like to see, as well as product roadmaps and prioritisation for production, marketing and sales narratives and investment pitch decks.
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For founders in sectors such as climate technology, facing high capital intensity, systematic validation acts as insurance, proving market demand before committing to expensive prototyping or manufacturing.
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Discover who actually has budget and procurement authority, what procurement processes look like, and which customer segments will be willing to pay.
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Master interview techniques, AI-powered analysis, pricing validation, and Jobs-to-be-Done frameworks you can use repeatedly as your product evolves.
The 12-Week Journey
Map your core assumptions, define validation hypotheses, target customer segments and identify interview participants in your network. Build your interview discussion guide and project plan, and get these booked in.
Weeks 1-2: Kick-off and evaluating your start point
Conduct interviews with potential customers. We provide weekly training and shadow your interviews to provide feedback and teach you how to analyse for patterns.
Learn to find market signals in the noise; understand what problems they're solving today, how severe the pain is, and what current solutions they use. If the original problem isn't painful enough, find the "hair on fire" problem in the same industry. Learn best practice to in AI desk-research.
Weeks 3-6: Customer Discovery
We move from talking to testing. You'll design and run validation experiments: landing pages with Meta ads testing value propositions, waitlist signups measuring genuine interest, pre-order campaigns, LOIs or paid pilots proving willingness to pay, or solution testing with interactive prototypes.
You'll continue discovery interviews to test refined concepts and validate pricing. By week 10, you'll have both qualitative evidence (what customers told you) and quantitative evidence (how they behaved when tested).
Weeks 7-10: Validation Experiments
We synthesise all validation evidence in a structured workshop. You'll map patterns, identify validated assumptions and invalidated ones, and make evidence-based decisions about features, pricing, and positioning. We build your financial model: revenue projections, unit economics, path to profitability, all grounded in validated pricing and conversion rates from your experiments. We’ll evaluate operational friction based on workflow integration and "Time-to-Value" as a metric.
Week 11: Evidence Synthesis + Financial Viability
We help you package your evidence into grant-application-ready and investor-pitch documentation, product requirements and roadmap, marketing messaging descriptors and an overview of which customer segments to attack in which order.
We also facilitate a GO/NO-GO/PIVOT decision: Should you build this? Should you pivot? Should you stop?
Week 12: Documentation + Decision Framework
Format
Workshops at key milestones
Coached interviews (e.g. shadow or recorded)
Weekly 1-hour group training sessions
Weekly 1-hour 1-2-1 coaching
Self-directed fieldwork (interviews, research)
Peer learning cohort of 6 founders
Eligibility Criteria
Have developed an early proof-of-concept
You have refined your product and now are beyond the concept stage, which may be an early-stage MVP, prototype or PoC.
Business stage
You are seeking funding from a VC or a grant and you have the technical knowledge in your team, but need to understand market pull.
Willingness to test assumptions
You're open to discovering your initial hypotheses might be wrong, and prepared to pivot based on evidence.
Access to target customers or networks
You can identify and reach the people who would buy or use your solution, either through existing networks or cold outreach.
Time commitment
You can dedicate 1-2 days per week for 12 weeks to interviews, analysis, and programme activities.
How to Apply
Four-Step Process:
Join the Waitlist
Let us know you are interested via our waitlist. Courses will be announced during February/March 2026 and we will invite you to complete an application.
Complete the Application
Complete a short form outlining your innovation, stage, and motivation for joining.
Discovery Call
If shortlisted, we'll invite you to a 30-minute conversation to explore your goals and confirm programme fit.
Cohort Placement
Successful applicants receive a formal offer and are placed in the next available cohort.
Programme Start
Begin your 12-week validation journey with your cohort.
Our Track Record
So, why us?
Dr Chloe Sharp, the founder of Sharp Insight, has written the book about the topic of validation across discovery to experimentation: “Make Products That Matter” and has worked with 100s of businesses across the product development phase, from idea to launch to existing products.
Chloe has designed this programme as she speaks with early-stage founders regularly, and this is a big problem.
She has…
Secured grant funding across multiple competitions such as Innovate UK and DfID, personally securing over £10m and leading teams that have secured 10s of millions.
Academic experience and commercial experience, meaning she knows that theory has its place, but it’s all about the execution and getting results.
Been there and done that as an entrepreneur. She’s grown businesses from the ground up, that have turned over £100,000 in their first year of trading.
Worked with leading accelerators in the creative technology, deep tech and climate/sustainability industries, including Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, Science Creates, CoSTAR, Undaunted, Natwest and Carbon13.
Worked with founders who went on to raise investment from funds such as SFC Capital, Octopus Ventures, SJM and Live Nation.
A passion for social capital, an underrated aspect of founder and business success. Our validation approach integrates social capital theory with customer discovery. We teach founders the importance of relationships and how to systematically build bonding capital (deep sector relationships), bridging capital (cross-sector connections), and linking capital (access to power and resources).
A qualification in mentoring and coaching at the executive level at ILM7 level (master’s) and has coached on multiple programmes such as Help to Grow, TechUp and Women in Innovation (Innovate UK).
Frequently Asked Questions
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We’re planning for Spring and Autumn cohorts. Dates will be available on the course page but please join our waitlist and mailing list so we can alert you as soon as dates are announced.
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First, join the waitlist to find out when the courses are running. You will then need to complete an application form which will take about 10-15 minutes. If you are selected we’ll let you know and set up a 30-minute interview to understand more about how we can help.
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Our Market Validation and GTM/Distribution programmes have six places each, our Pilot to Paid has four places, with up to two Founders/Directors per company taking part.
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That's a successful outcome. Better to discover this in 12 weeks and under £10K than after 18 months and £200k. We'll help you identify pivot opportunities based on what you learned. Many successful companies started as pivots from validated insights.
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Wherever possible cohorts will be built of businesses with shared problems or sectors, however working with people from different sectors can be useful to see different viewpoints.
We specialise in digital technologies across multiple sectors: carbon management, ESG software, climate data, renewable energy systems, sustainable supply chain tech, materials science with digital components, biotech with software platforms, AI/ML applications for sustainability, IoT for climate/energy. We focus on software-first or software-enabled solutions.
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We run a number of Masterclasses, online courses and Chloe’s book “Make Products that Matter” are all available.
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That's exactly what validation is designed to uncover. If evidence suggests a pivot, we'll help you test the new direction systematically rather than guessing. The goal is learning, not defending your original hypothesis -
No. You will need access to potential customers (through networks or cold outreach), but we'll train you in recruitment techniques and interview methods.
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Plan for 1-2 days per week: weekly group training (1 hour), bi-weekly coaching (30 mins), and self-directed fieldwork (interviews, analysis, synthesis). The heaviest weeks are during customer discovery. Most founders do interviews during evenings or weekends.
Not got time for this? Explore our Consultancy services where we do the heavy lifting for you.
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Perfect. We'll review what you've learned, identify gaps, and build on existing insights. Most founders have talked to a number of people informally, we’ll help you increase that significantly, with structure and techniques that reveals patterns you can't see from small samples.
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No. Early prototype, concept, or detailed product vision is sufficient. The programme helps you validate before committing to full development. If you've already built an MVP, our "Solution Validation & Distribution" programme is a better fit.
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If you complete Week 1 and feel the programme isn't the right fit, we'll refund 80% of your fee (minus the cost of Week 1 training and materials). No questions asked. After Week 2, the fee is non-refundable as we've committed resources to your cohort.