The fund, which went live yesterday, offers £5,000 to qualifying projects valued at £10,000 or more. The rest of the money will be match-funded by businesses that participate.

Money for the initiative is being provided by the Social Enterprise Investment Fund. It aims to encourage businesses to work with Manchester Met of specific projects.

The university will also offer mentoring from its experts. It says projects could focus on:

• Providing expert consultancy services
• Engaging in joint-venture initiatives
• Undertaking bespoke research on markets, products and services
• Joint development of specific products, processes or services

To apply businesses must be small or medium-sized businesses employing no more than 250 people. They should be UK-based and have no previous financial relationship with the university.

Projects must be delivered before the end of July 2016.

Separately, Stanford Graduate School of Business in the US has called for applications from entrepreneurs in the STEM sectors (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to its London-based programme Stanford Ignite.

The 10-week certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship starts in September. It is taught by many Stanford professors who teach the school’s MBA programme.

It is designed to provide the same level of instruction as graduates get at Stanford, with lecturers appearing in person and via video link at the school’s Canary Wharf classroom.

Bethany Coates, Assistant Dean of Global Innovation Programmes at Stanford, said: "We are excited to build upon last year’s success and continue to work with talented and driven individuals from the UK, a country with exceptional levels of success in the fields of science, technology and innovation.

“The UK has momentum as a global hub of entrepreneurialism, with exciting sectors such as fintech, the sharing economy and cleantech continuing to thrive. It’s a compelling time of progress and change in the UK entrepreneurial space and we are delighted to be a part of it.”​