CivaLabs empowers underrepresented minority innovators, entrepreneurs, and creatives to create, grow, and succeed in the UK through a centralised hub in Salford, Manchester.
CivaLabs is a Community Interest Company based in Salford, Greater Manchester, founded by Busayo O. Morakinyo to address a systemic gap: while underrepresented minority communities in the UK possess tremendous creative and entrepreneurial talent, they face persistent structural barriers in access to funding, professional networks, physical infrastructure, mentorship, and institutional visibility.
CivaLabs responds to this with a centralised hub model that dismantles these barriers and drives sustainable growth. It operates as a thriving innovation community, not just a service provider. Members benefit from peer networks, collaborative events, mentorship pipelines, and connections to institutional partners across the UK ecosystem, from investors and councils to universities and accelerators.
Physical and Virtual Infrastructure
CivaLabs provides practical, tangible infrastructure for the entrepreneurs and innovators it serves. This includes co-working and co-creation space in Manchester offering flexible, affordable professional workspace for individuals, SMEs, and global companies; virtual office packages providing professional presence and business address services; and the Launchpad incubation programme offering structured mentorship, market research support, business model refinement, and investor network access.
Community and Ecosystem Building
The organisation's recent flagship event, Fusion X, marked a new chapter in CivaLabs' journey as a visible, community-rooted hub for inclusive innovation, celebrating the intersection of creativity, entrepreneurship, and civic purpose. CivaLabs hosts fireside chats, knowledge-sharing events, and Fusion events where technology, culture, and enterprise intersect.
Core Pillars
Business and Enterprise
Supporting underrepresented minority entrepreneurs to launch and grow sustainable businesses, from early ideation through to investor-ready ventures.
Innovation and Technology
Driving problem-led digital transformation across AI, civic tech, EdTech, healthcare, and financial services using design thinking, lean methods, and ethical innovation principles.
Arts and Culture
Providing platforms for underrepresented artists and cultural producers, using creativity as a driver of both social and economic change.
Research and Development
Building an evidence base for advocacy, policy influence, and programme design, through surveys, case studies, and community-led data collection.