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How co-founders should evidence individual contribution, operating responsibility, endorsement and separate Innovator Founder settlement achievements.
01
Define each founder's contribution to the idea.
Appendix Innovator Founder requires each applicant to have generated, or made a significant contribution to, the ideas in the business plan and to be the sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team.
A cap table identifies ownership; it does not explain who created the proposition, developed the technology, validated the market or designed the commercial model. Attribute substantive contributions with a clear factual record.
02
Separate daily operating responsibility from passive ownership.
Each applicant needs a genuine day-to-day role in carrying out the endorsed plan. Job titles should correspond with actual operational decisions, expertise and time commitments rather than distribute labels after the commercial strategy has already been settled.
Where responsibilities overlap, identify which decisions each founder owns and how the team operates. Evidence may include product records, research, customer interactions, governance material and development milestones.
03
Design the settlement position for each founder independently.
The business may be common to the founding team, but settlement assessment applies to each person. The Rules prevent co-founders from sharing the same means of satisfying the relevant settlement achievement criteria.
If 2 founders rely on a job-creation criterion, for example, the same jobs cannot simply be counted for both applications. The initial plan should test whether the operating model can support the intended long-term position for every applicant.
Working checklist
Questions before the next step.
- Identify each applicant's actual founding contribution
- Record personal ownership and decision-making responsibilities
- Explain each day-to-day operational role
- Align evidence, governance and the shared business plan
- Check endorsement requirements for every applicant
- Model separate settlement achievement evidence
Primary sources
Rules and official guidance.
Reviewed 24 August 2026. Check the current provision and complete facts before relying on this resource.
How to use the source record
Verify the current instrument, commencement date, transitional position and caseworker guidance against the application date and complete facts. The source may change after this resource was reviewed.
Questions
Points that commonly alter the answer.
Can more than 1 founder apply using the same business?+
Potentially. Each applicant must independently satisfy the relevant endorsement, founding contribution and day-to-day role requirements, and settlement achievements cannot simply be double-counted between founders.
Does share ownership prove an Innovator Founder application?+
No. Ownership may be relevant but it does not by itself establish innovation, significant contribution, active execution or the other endorsement requirements.
Continue within this subject
Compare the founder, company and route before fixing the structure.
Innovator Founder and sponsored work answer different legal and commercial questions. The venture, ownership, UK role and intended settlement position should be considered together.
Founder structure review
Choose the route before the structure becomes expensive to change.
Quastels can compare endorsement, sponsorship and alternative routes against the founder, venture, UK company, evidence and intended timetable.
Review the proposed UK structure ↗︎