An AI incubator built like an operating business.
For UK founders with an AI-flavoured idea and the seriousness to ship it. We do not allocate capital and step away — we build alongside you. 1% tech-for-equity, a 10% success fee on capital raised, a £999 commitment fee credited back at round close.
Most UK incubators are programme managers with a demo-day calendar. We are operators. James, Louis and Phil run three operating businesses (Homemove, home.co.uk, homedata.co.uk). Shivam runs the funding side from London. Every part of the incubator is led by someone who has actually done the job.
The shape is simple. We sharpen the idea, build the technology, refine the pitch and meet the capital. By the time you leave, you are investable on real terms, not on a cohort-day audience.
Commercials: 1% tech-for-equity on the company, a 10% success fee on capital raised, and a £999 commitment fee on signing credited back against the success fee at round close. No course tuition, no demo-day theatre, no admission fee in disguise.
Sharpen the idea
A focused wedge you can defend on a slide. Validated against real buyers, not pitch-deck logic. James and Phil lead the commercial side; Louis owns the architecture; Shivam pressure-tests the numbers.
Build the technology
A production-grade technical foundation you own. The same stack and patterns we run our own businesses on — not a prototype that the engineer has to throw away after the round.
Meet the capital
Investor-ready materials and the right introductions when the round shape is real. Shivam, ex Deutsche Bank, owns the funding side end-to-end and stays in the room through diligence and close.
Common questions.
How is this different from a UK accelerator?
Accelerators tend to run cohorts on a fixed calendar, take 6-7% equity, and end with a demo day. We take 1% for the technology, charge a 10% success fee on capital raised, and stay engaged through round close. The work is one-on-one with operators, not a programme.
Do you allocate capital yourselves?
No. We are operators, not a fund. We bring real diligence and real introductions to the high-net-worth and institutional capital we know. The cheques come from third parties, on market terms, at the right round shape for the company.
What kinds of founders do you take?
AI-native founders with an operating-business shape — B2B SaaS, AI services, vertical AI, data products. Pre-seed and seed-stage. We focus on founders who want operators rather than allocators on their cap table.
Where do you run the incubator from?
Four UK bases — Derby, Nottingham, Norwich, London — with most in-person work in the East Midlands. London via Shivam for the funding side. Founders typically split their weeks between their own city and ours.
What is the £999 commitment fee?
A commitment fee on signing — credited back against the 10% success fee at round close. It exists to filter for serious founders and to cover the work between offer and incorporation.
The full Incubator page
The full Moonlabs Incubator offer in one place — process, pillars, commercials, founders we work with.
About James, Louis, Phil & Shivam
The operators behind the work. £5m+ raised for their own companies, ~£10m across their broader career, AI-native since the week ChatGPT shipped.
More Academy entry points.
The Academy is one course with many doors. Each of these pages is a different entry point into the same twelve weeks.
Build the company you keep meaning to build.
Tell us about the idea you have not been able to put down. If we’re a fit, we’ll come back inside the week.
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