Pitch@Palace

Pitch@Palace was the entrepreneur pitching and networking initiative founded by the then Duke of York, run through Pitch@Palace C.I.C. (incorporated 14 May 2015, registered at Buckingham Palace) with an international arm, Pitch@Palace Global Ltd. Founders pitched to investors and corporate sponsors at St James's Palace and at Pitch@Palace Global events overseas. After the November 2019 BBC Newsnight interview about the Duke's association with Jeffrey Epstein, sponsors including Barclays, Standard Chartered and KPMG withdrew and the UK operation began winding down. The CIC applied for voluntary strike-off on 16 March 2021 and was dissolved on 8 June 2021. Pitch@Palace Global Ltd continued on a reduced basis, with cash reserves falling to about £11,000; a 2024-25 sale to Startupbootcamp was never signed, a strike-off application was filed on 11 November 2025 and the company was dissolved on 3 February 2026.

Both UK entities were struck off voluntarily with no outstanding debts declared; the global network was not sold, and a planned relaunch vehicle, Innovate Global Ltd, also applied for closure.

An accelerator whose asset is a single patron's convening power inherits that patron's reputational risk; when sponsors left, there was no programme left to run.