Michael gives good advice.
I’d also add that when you do contact a company/designer, make sure you show why you want to work with them.
Don’t write a generic email but present a bit of a plan right away.
What you also could consider is to partner with a consultancy.
I know Veryday in Sweden and Phoenix in Germany are doing this.
For my Masters Thesis I had a few sponsors but I had to actively seek them out and make a pitch.