The Innovator Founder visa is a 3-year UK work visa for founders building a genuinely innovative business. You apply in two steps — first you get endorsed by an approved endorsing body, then you apply to the Home Office. There's no minimum investment requirement (since April 2023), and you can work for your own business plus other skilled employment. After 3 years you can apply for indefinite leave to remain.
What it is, in one sentence
The Innovator Founder visa (IFV) is the UK route for entrepreneurs starting a new business that is genuinely innovative, viable, and scalable. It replaced the older Start-up and Innovator visas in April 2023, combining them into a single 3-year visa with a path to settlement.
Unlike the Skilled Worker visa, you don't need a job offer — you're the employer. Unlike the Global Talent visa, the assessment is about your business idea, not your personal track record as a leader.
The two stages
- Stage 1 — Endorsement: You apply to one of three Home Office-approved endorsing bodies with your business plan and supporting evidence. If they agree your business meets the three criteria (Innovation, Viability, Scalability), they issue an endorsement letter.
- Stage 2 — Visa application: With the endorsement letter, you apply to UK Visas & Immigration. This step is mostly biometrics, English language proof, and fees.
Endorsement is the hard part — that's where the assessment happens. The visa application step is largely procedural once endorsement is granted.
What changed in 2023
What it lets you do
- Run and work for your own business (the one you got endorsed)
- Take on other skilled employment alongside your business — including consulting or contract work
- Bring dependants (spouse / partner + children) on the same visa
- Apply for indefinite leave to remain after 3 years (settlement)
Who this visa is realistically for
- Founders with a working MVP or prototype, not just an idea on paper
- Founders with some traction — customers, paid pilots, design partners, signed LOIs
- Founders with a credible team or co-founders who can deliver the plan
- Founders whose innovation is articulable in plain English — "we solve X for Y in a way Z is doing differently"
If your business is genuinely innovative but you're pre-product, that's still viable — but the burden of proof shifts to the credibility of your team and the depth of your innovation thinking. Endorsing bodies do reject pure-idea-stage applications, even with strong founders.