Founding teams are common on the Innovator Founder route, and the rules allow for them. What they do not allow is for one person's endorsement, points or achievements to carry another. The Home Office guidance treats a team as several individual applicants who happen to share a business plan.
This article sets out what the caseworker guidance "Innovator Founder" (version 11.0, 4 August 2026) says about teams, and what that means at three stages: the first application, the endorsement period, and settlement.
What the guidance allows
The guidance is short on this point but clear. Applicants may share a business idea and business plan with other team members. Each must:
- obtain their own individual endorsement; and
- meet all the requirements in their own right.
So a team of two founders produces two applications, two endorsement letters and two separate assessments. There is no team application, and the caseworker verifies each endorsement individually through the Innovator Founder route inbox.
Each founder must qualify alone
"In their own right" covers every requirement. In practice that means each co-founder needs:
| Requirement | What each founder must show |
|---|---|
| Business plan (30 points) | Generated or significantly contributed to the plan; day-to-day role; at least two contact points; sole founder or instrumental member of founding team |
| Innovative, viable, scalable (20 points) | Endorsing body satisfied, including about that founder's skills, knowledge, experience and market awareness |
| English (10 points) | CEFR B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening, unless exempt |
| Financial (10 points) | £1,270 held for 28 days, unless in the UK for more than 12 months at application |
| Validity and suitability | Their own endorsement letter, fee, Immigration Health Charge, biometrics and suitability checks, including fit and proper person |
The "instrumental member" requirement is where uneven teams run into difficulty. If one co-founder's contribution is mainly capital, the guidance's statement that an applicant who is only investing is refused applies to them. See the investor-not-founder refusal risk.
Costs scale per founder
Because each founder is a separate applicant, most costs are per person. GOV.UK lists the visa fee at £1,357 from outside the UK and £1,693 for extending or switching inside the UK, per person. The endorsement fee is £1,000 plus £500 per contact point meeting (at least two), paid to the endorsing body and excluding VAT. Each founder also pays the Immigration Health Charge. How an endorsing body handles fees for a team is a question to ask it directly.
During the endorsement period
Each founder's endorsement runs separately. The endorsing body expects at least two contact point meetings per endorsee, normally after 12 and 24 months, and must tell the Home Office if a contact is missed. An endorsing body can withdraw an endorsement at any time, including after approval. Where it withdraws support, the guidance says leave is normally cancelled to 60 days.
That creates a practical risk for teams: one founder's position can change without the other's changing. If a co-founder steps back, loses their day-to-day role or leaves, their endorsement is exposed even if the business is doing well. See adding a co-founder after endorsement and contact point meetings.
Settlement: shared business, separate means
Settlement is where the team rules have the biggest financial effect. Each founder's settlement endorsement letter must confirm at least two of seven criteria. The guidance states that team members applying for settlement cannot share the same means of meeting a criterion.
The guidance's own example: if two team members both rely on the criterion of creating the equivalent of at least 10 full-time jobs for settled workers, the business needs 20 such jobs.
| Team of two, both using | What the business needs |
|---|---|
| 10 jobs criterion | 20 qualifying jobs |
| 5 jobs at £25,000 mean salary criterion | On the same logic, 10 qualifying jobs |
The second row applies the guidance's stated principle to a different criterion; confirm the exact treatment with your endorsing body. The same criterion also cannot count twice for one founder: £100,000 invested is one criterion, not two.
For the full list of criteria, see the two-of-seven growth criteria.
Practical planning for teams
- Agree roles in writing so each founder's day-to-day contribution is clear.
- Make sure each founder can explain the plan and their part in it.
- Budget for per-person visa, health charge and endorsement costs.
- Track each founder's contact point meetings separately.
- Model settlement criteria for the whole team, not just one founder.
If you want to test the plan before any of you approach an endorsing body, you can run a free assessment. For the broader trade-offs of team structure, see solo founder vs founding team.
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK — Innovator Founder visa
- GOV.UK — Immigration Rules Appendix Innovator Founder
- GOV.UK — Innovator Founder caseworker guidance
- GOV.UK — Indefinite leave to remain (Innovator Founder)
Key takeaways
- Co-founders may share a business idea and plan, but each needs an individual endorsement.
- Every founder must meet all requirements in their own right, including English, funds and suitability.
- A co-founder who is only investing is refused.
- Endorsements run and can be withdrawn individually; withdrawn support normally means cancellation to 60 days.
- At settlement, team members cannot share the same means: two founders relying on 10 jobs need 20.
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