Call for Applications: Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) Fund 2026

24th March 2026

Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) Fund First Call forApplications 2026

Funding call theme:

Resilient and Regenerative Entrepreneurship

This theme captures two key characteristics of resilience in small business and entrepreneurship. First, it considers the need for individual enterprise resilience to economic and environmental shocks, as a necessary capability in the modern economic and social environment. Second, it acknowledges the social and economic resilience which entrepreneurship can offer to regional and national communities as they face turbulent and changing contexts. By investigating the role of small business and entrepreneurship in broader social and economic resilience, we can better understand not only the needs of the enterprises themselves, but the impact they have as a catalyst for systemic transition and regeneration.

The ISBE Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) Fund provides financial support to new research activities. This fund was created to explore issues, challenges, and opportunities surrounding entrepreneurial activities and small firm performance, and your research could significantly impact policy and practice development.

Collaborative bids are invited, drawing together any combination of third-sector organisations, academic researchers, consultants, and practitioners. The Principal Investigator must be employed within a UK institution that is an ISBE organisational member but may be partnered with an international team—indeed, this is encouraged. Research teams that demonstrate capacity building through collaborations between experienced and early career academics will be favourably considered; applications that demonstrate ‘in-kind’ contributions, such as access to data, research facilities, or expertise from partner organisations, are welcomed, as are those jointly funded from other sources.

To generate future funding from different sources, applications presented as pilot studies are also encouraged. As such, we wish to promote engagement with all interested in developing further insight and understanding into contemporary entrepreneurial activities, behaviours and practices. Dissemination of the project’s impact is critical and should be clearly articulated. Project dissemination should include academia, policymakers and the small business community where possible. At a minimum, successful applicants will be expected to present at least one paper arising from the project at a future ISBE annual conference.

Sponsored by the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) and first launched in 2009, the Institute seeks to deploy the RAKE fund to support applications for research to uncover and address issues affecting entrepreneurial activities and small firm performance.

Resilient and Regenerative Entrepreneurship

It seems that turbulence and uncertainty are no longer situations which business leaders look to avoid but are instead the ‘new normal’ of the modern business environment. Certainly, since the economic crises of 2008, the pace and impact of individual economic shocks have been notable. In the UK alone, we have witnessed rising inflation in the wake of Covid-19,curtailed growth plans due to Brexit, supply chain and energy price disruption through conflict in Ukraine, extreme market and currency fluctuations as a reaction to changing governments and policy, and a new wave of energy price disruption from recent conflicts in and around Iran (to name only a few of the more recent uncertainties). On top of these direct economic shocks, we have an increased societal awareness of the impact small business and entrepreneurship has on social and environmental welfare (Neumann, 2021), which brings with it enhanced expectations of social value and demands from rapidly changing social needs (Zahra & Wright, 2016). More than ever, navigating this turbulence and rate of change requires a fresh take on the role of small business and entrepreneurship, in an era of constant change and disruption (Ghasempour et al, 2025).

With this call, we encourage research work which explores the demands for resilience in these turbulent times. We know that despite (because of) limited resources, small businesses rely on controlled adaptation in the face of adversity, but the increased frequency and magnitude of contextual change calls for a review of our assumptions on entrepreneurial resilience (Korber & McNaughton, 2017). For instance, though smaller enterprises may be agile enough to adapt, they will likely lack the resources to deal with extreme environmental shifts (Rauch & Hulsink, 2023), along with a need for shortened time perspectives and hastened crisis management, mirroring an increased frequency of change (Lévesque &Stephan, 2020). Additionally, digitisation has re-shaped the way industries function. While not all enterprises will be digitally transformed as a result, a minimum level of digital infrastructure and literacy is needed to keep up with changing dynamics (Audretsch et al., 2024). Each of these issues has implications for entrepreneurial resilience and business sustainability. Add to this, increasingly complex societal expectations which heighten demand for moral obligation and social impact, often competing with a normalised agenda for economic growth (Hägg et al., 2024). We should therefore not only consider how resilient the individual enterprise is, but how it ethically responds to societal shifts (Kibler et al.,2015). The resilience of small business and entrepreneurship has become a multi-factor demand.

In supporting entrepreneurial resilience, much has been made of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This becomes particularly important at a local level, where networked structures foster collective innovation as they ‘adapt and react to disturbances’ (Buratti & Menter, 2025: 2; Iacobucci & Perugini, 2021). A collective level of resilience not only benefits individual enterprises but also benefits the place where entrepreneurship happens. The presence of resilient small enterprises, as part of broader entrepreneurial landscape, builds adaptive capacity in a place, as it responds to economic and societal shocks (Williams & Vorley, 2014; Steiner & Atterton, 2015). In this sense, resilient entrepreneurship not only looks to the future of a particular business, but to the community in which these resilient businesses are situated. This heightens the importance of social value, ethical responsibility, community resilience, and the tensions between economic and social priorities (Neumann, 2021). Here we see a need to re-cast the framing of hybrid forms of organisation, those which engage directly with their socially embedded nature. This calls for a multi-leveland cross-disciplinary view (Ligori et al., 2024), as we start to investigate the broader regenerative power of entrepreneurial resilience.

ISBE is committed to advancing knowledge, contributing to the relevance of these debates, and assisting members in influencing policy by developing an evidence base and knowledge exchange activities. We, therefore, invite RAKE Fund applications that can help in this task while also informing our theoretical understanding entrepreneurial resilience and entrepreneurship’s regenerative potential.

This call invites original research proposals that delve into the nuanced and multi-factor issue of entrepreneurial resilience. We place particular emphasis on how resilience can be built in small business entrepreneurship in the face of increased and magnified environmental shocks. We encourage proposals which look beyond the impact on an individual enterprise and consider the positive and regenerative potential of entrepreneurial resilience for local, national, and global communities.

Potential submissions may consider, but are not limited to:

• Innovation and Entrepreneurial-Driven Resilience and Adaptation:

Looking at how small businesses successfully build resilience against increased economic and environmental shock to foster business sustainability and enhance the resilience of their

• Policy Interventions and Incentives:

Assess government policies that promote entrepreneurial resilience in terms of their on firms and in regions affected by the current global turbulence and the long-term implications of such developments.

• Entrepreneurial learning in social enterprise

Establish how entrepreneurial resilience drives ‘entrepreneurial learning’ in social enterprises by transforming setbacks into collective learning so to empower communities; by encouraging inclusive innovation; and by driving sustainable impact for community-led venture growth and development.

• Challenges for hybrid organizational forms

Exploring how hybrid forms of organization, such as social enterprises and cooperatives, navigate and enact resilience in practice under conditions of sustained turbulence, particularly where tensions arise between economic survival and social, environmental, and ethical commitments.

• Social legitimacy and value

Investigating the social nature of entrepreneurial resilience and how the competing demands of economics resilience are balanced with social and environmental

• Enterprise Education and Real-World Turbulence: From Classroom to Crisis

This topic focuses on the role of enterprise and entrepreneurship education (EEE) in preparing learners to navigate a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. Submissions may explore how educators design pedagogies, curricula, and learning experiences or how learners translate their EEE into practice during VUCA periods.

• Thinking beyond inequality

Examining resilient and regenerative strategies among minority entrepreneurs. Investigating how minority-led pathways strive to develop social transformation and resilient societies/communities.

• Resilience in SME finance markets

Investigating what resilience looks like or requires in SME finance markets. Considering new and emerging forms of finance that best meet the needs of sustainable and resilient entrepreneurial firms.

• The role of HEIs in SME resilience

Looking at how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) best equip SMEs with the specific capabilities needed to navigate economic and societal environments. Considering the co-creation of knowledge through partnerships between universities and small firms to build resilient business capacity.

• Measuring Impact and Outcomes:

Metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of entrepreneurial resilience in terms of socioeconomic indicators reflecting progress in affected communities, regions,

All proposals must demonstrate relevance to the RAKE Fund Call theme and specify data collection, handling, analysis techniques, and dissemination plans.

For this round of funding, we envisage awarding up to four grants of around £2,000 – £3,000. Awards will not support full economic costing, given ISBE’s position as a registered charity. Applications for smaller, seed corn funds are encouraged; however, we will not consider bids which:

Exceed £3,500
Exceed 1200 words in total (including references/notes/tables/appendices)
Appear to be funding postgraduate students’ course of study
Seek funding for conference attendance and

Successful grant holders will be required to fulfil the following conditions:

To be in membership (either as an individual or through Institutional membership) of ISBE for the duration of the award
To complete the entire research project within 12 months of confirmation of the prize. To complete a final project report within 12 months of confirmation of the prize.
They will present their work at an annual ISBE conference, not later than the one immediately following the completion of the final report.
Make summary findings available on the ISBE website as a blog or news
To recognise the ISBE RAKE fund in any presentations or publications arising from an Report to the RAKE fund management board to discuss research progress if requested.
Failure to meet any of the above conditions will result in non-payment of the RAKE

Please click here to download the application form.

THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 5 PM FRIDAY 5TH JUNE 2026

Please click here to download the FAQ’s.

References

Audretsch, D. B., Belitski, M., Caiazza, R., Drapeau, M. D., Menter, M., & Wales, W. J. (2024). Resilience and digitally-advanced entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 36(1-2), 1-9.

Buratti, M., & Menter, M. (2025). The resilience of entrepreneurial ecosystems: an analysis of ecosystem network structures. Review of Managerial Science, 1-33.

Ghasempour, D., Feyzbakhsh, S. A., & Arabshahi, S. (2025). Metaphors and entrepreneurship: points of view, goals and future research questions. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 37(3-4), 521-548.

Hägg, G., Haataja, V., Kurczewska, A., & McKelvie, A. (2024). Entrepreneurial responsibility: A conceptual framework to understand ethical dualism throughout the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 48(4), 1110-1126.

Iacobucci, D., & Perugini, F. (2021). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and economic resilience at local level. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 33(9-10), 689-716.

Kibler, E., Fink, M., Lang, R., & Muñoz, P. (2015). Place attachment and social legitimacy: Revisiting the sustainable entrepreneurship journey. Journal of business venturing insights, 3, 24-29.

Korber, S., & McNaughton, R. B. (2018). Resilience and entrepreneurship: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 24(7), 1129-1154.

Lévesque, M., & Stephan, U. (2020). It’s time we talk about time in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(2), 163-184.

Liguori, E. W., Muldoon, J., Ogundana, O. M., Lee, Y., & Wilson, G. A. (2024). Charting the future of entrepreneurship: A roadmap for interdisciplinary research and societal impact. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2314218.

Neumann, T. (2021). The impact of entrepreneurship on economic, social and environmental welfare and its determinants: a systematic review. Management review quarterly, 71(3), 553-584.

Rauch, A., & Hulsink, W. (2023). Just one damned thing after another: Towards an event-based perspective of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 47(3), 662-681.

Steiner, A., & Atterton, J. (2015). Exploring the contribution of rural enterprises to local resilience. Journal of Rural Studies, 40, 30-45.

Williams, N., & Vorley, T. (2014). Economic resilience and entrepreneurship: lessons from the Sheffield City Region. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 26(3-4), 257-281.

Zahra, S. A., & Wright, M. (2016). Understanding the social role of entrepreneurship. Journal of Management Studies, 53(4), 610-629.