QUBIS welcomed postgraduate students and recent graduates to Queen’s University Belfast for QUest x Techstars, a two-day customer discovery sprint focused on helping early-stage founders test assumptions, understand their customers and strengthen their business ideas.
Held on 16 and 17 September 2026, the sprint brought together practical customer discovery, business model development, design thinking and responsible use of AI, giving participants the opportunity to move quickly from early ideas towards clearer evidence and next steps.
The programme was designed around a simple challenge: test, rather than defend, your idea. Participants explored who their priority customers were, identified the assumptions carrying the greatest risk and considered what evidence they needed to validate their thinking. They also worked on refining value propositions, developing business model canvases and creating practical customer discovery plans.
Responsible AI as part of the discovery process
The first day opened with an ethical and responsible AI workshop delivered by the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC), followed by sessions on value proposition development, customer discovery, business models and design thinking approaches using AI.
A key theme throughout the programme was that AI can support faster research, sense-making and prototyping, but should not replace real customer evidence. Participants were encouraged to treat AI-generated outputs as hypotheses to be tested and to maintain a clear distinction between generated insight and what customers had actually said.
Learning by doing
Day two shifted into a hackathon-style working session, with participants building, researching and refining their ideas with support from mentors.
The sprint concluded with short participant pitches focused not simply on what teams had built, but on what they had learned. Participants were asked to lead with the customer problem, show the evidence gathered during the sprint, explain how their thinking had changed and identify the next assumption they needed to test.
Bringing together expertise from across the ecosystem
The programme drew on expertise from QUBIS, Queen’s University Belfast, Techstars, Venture Folk, Ormeau Labs and AICC, giving participants access to a broad mix of experience in entrepreneurship, innovation, responsible AI and founder development.
Guest facilitators included Tadhg Hickey, Head of AI and Digital Ethics Policy at AICC; Karishma Kusurkar, Co-Founder and Director of Venture Folk; and Ian Browne, CEO of Founder Labs and leader of Techstars Belfast.
Building towards the next stage
QUest x Techstars forms part of a wider development journey for participating founders. Following the Phase 1 sprint, ten teams are set to progress to Phase 2, an eight-week support package designed to deepen customer insight, strengthen the venture and build further momentum.
Phase 2 includes coaching, expert consultancy, masterclasses, branding support and pitch development, with participants also having the opportunity to pitch for a £10,000 prize pot.
For QUBIS, the sprint reflects an ongoing focus on helping emerging founders build stronger ventures by learning quickly, testing the assumptions that matter and grounding decisions in real evidence.
Take your idea further
Apply for Phase 2 of QUest and continue building your venture with eight weeks of expert support, coaching and pitch development, plus the opportunity to pitch for a £10,000 prize pot.
Applications close midnight, 20 September 2026.
APPLY NOW