Royal correspondent
Business reporter
Getty ImagesA deal to take over the Duke of York’s former start-up business network now seems to be in doubt, sources close to the negotiations have told the .
Dutch company Startupbootcamp (SBC) had held talks about buying Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace network, a sale that could have provided him with a multi-million pound financial lifeline.
But sources close to SBC say despite an announcement of an intended takeover, and talk of possible funding from Bahrain, nothing has been signed and no transactions have been carried out.
It comes as Prince Andrew’s finances have been under intense scrutiny, with questions about how he can afford to live in his Royal Lodge mansion after he was cut off financially by King Charles.
The prince has to find several million pounds per year to cover security costs and pay for the upkeep of the 19th Century, 30-room house, in Windsor.
Getty ImagesA lucrative source of income had appeared to be on the horizon, with SBC widely reported in the UK press to be in the process of buying the contacts and network of the Pitch@Palace project.
In February SBC announced its plans: “International investment group set to take over former Pitch@Palace global network.”
Pitch@Palace had been a Dragon’s Den-style pitching competition for new business ideas, set up Prince Andrew in 2014 and run by him before he stepped down from royal duties in 2019.
SBC had said it was attracted by Pitch@Palace’s legacy of contacts, with 80,000 applications from 3,000 entrepreneurial companies in more than 60 countries.
The Dutch firm, which has been running since 2010, helps to mentor and grow start-up businesses, particularly in the technology sector, with investments in 1,700 early-stage companies and running schemes in 27 countries.
A takeover of the Pitch@Palace network had seemed imminent with SBC saying the partnership would be a “fantastic opportunity” and that it wanted to make use of a “great, but dormant” network of entrepreneurs. Jointly branded events had already been held.
But sources close to SBC now say that despite a meeting at Buckingham Palace and a positive sounding press release about seeing “immense value in the network”, nothing was concluded.
No deal with Prince Andrew was ever signed or closed, and no transactions were made, whether in Europe, the Middle East or China, according to SBC’s side of negotiations. Prince Andrew has been approached for comment.
CICCPSThe plans to take over the Pitch@Palace network had initially been presented as a project between SBC and its “strategic partner”, an investment company in Bahrain, called Waterberg Stirling.
That arrangement seems no longer in place, with sources close to SBC saying it now wanted to “sever ties” with the investment firm.
Waterberg Stirling had been registered in Bahrain in late 2024 by Dominic Hampshire, an adviser to Prince Andrew. The prince has had longstanding business connections with Bahrain.
There are also strong links between the UK and Bahraini royal families, with King Hamad of Bahrain visiting King Charles in Windsor in November 2024.
Mr Hampshire is the only named director of Waterberg Stirling on registration documents, but another person linked to the firm has been Adnan Sawadi.
In July 2024, the entrepreneur Mr Sawadi gave a presentation in China showing the intended partnership between SBC and the successor to Pitch@Palace, Innovate Global, which he hoped would provide a bridge connecting Middle Eastern funding with projects in China.
His speech singled out for praise Yang Tengbo – the man who later that year would be accused of being a Chinese spy, seeking influence over Prince Andrew, claims that Mr Yang has continued to reject as untrue.
