Below you will find £ millions of Government investment into research and development (R&D). The modern Industrial Strategy is now in place and an up to £4.7 billion challenge fund for RbR&D is starting to be pumped into UK organisations via these highly competitive competitions. For this reason, Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has a fully funded Bid Writing Support Service to help Dorset organisations to win some of this money. In the past month we have started to support circa £2M in IUK grant funding working with 7 Dorset SMEs. If you are a Dorset-based organisation looking to lead or partner on a challenge fund / Innovate UK competition then you can apply for a one-to-one with Bid Writing Support by clicking here.
Funding Opportunities:
Here are some of the latest competitions from Innovate UK (click on the blue links for more information):
Featured Grants:
July expression of interest: ATI Programme
The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme, formally UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme, provides funding to industrial research and capital projects to encourage innovation in UK civil aerospace. Closes: 24 July 2019
UK and USA: innovation in global composites markets
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.7 million to develop innovative technologies for global composites markets with US partners. You must also include a US project team(see specific themes section). Closes: 21 August 2019
EUREKA: Singapore open competition
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 million to develop innovative proposals with Singapore and other EUREKA countries. Closes: 6 September 2019
Energy catalyst round 7: early stage Energy catalyst round 7: mid stageEnergy Catalyst round 7: late stage
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £22 million across 3 strands to help provide clean, affordable and secure energy in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or both. Closes: 18 September 2019
Other grant funding opportunities:
APC 13: advancing the UK’s low carbon automotive capability
£25 million of collaborative (match) funding is available for UK-developed late stage R&D, to support growth in advanced low carbon propulsion capability in the automotive sector. Closes: 10 July 2019
Innovate UK Smart Grants: April 2019
Opportunity to apply for a share of up to £25 million to deliver ambitious or disruptive R&D innovations with significant potential for impact on the UK economy. Closes: 24 July 2019
Artificial intelligence-supported early fracture diagnosis: SBRI competition
Organisations can apply for a share of £240,000, including VAT, to develop an innovative AI solution for radiological diagnosis of fractures of upper and/or lower limbs. Closes: 31 July 2019
Detailed designs of smart, local energy systems
UK organisations can apply for a share of up to £30 million to develop clean, cheap local energy systems that create prosperous, resilient UK communities. This funding is from the ISCF’s Prospering from the Energy Revolution challenge. Closes: 7 August 2019.
Enabling data access in accountancy, insurance and legal services: Innovation Lab
Individuals can apply to join a workshop developing project proposals to enable increased access to data within the accountancy, insurance and legal sectors. Closes: 4 September 2019
UK Research and Innovation strength in places fund: wave 2 EoI
Consortia of UK businesses and research organisations can apply for ‘seed corn’ funding of up to £50,000 to develop full applications for wave 2 of the UKRI Strength in Places Fund. Projects must be collaborative and led by either a UK based business or a UK publicly funded research organisation. All consortium members should be based within the project’s geographical area and have the support of local civic leadership. Closes: 9 October 2019
For all Innovate UK applications click here.
Training Opportunities:
Pitchfest
A highly focused training and showcase programme designed to help ambitious businesses become pitch ready. Delivered by Enterprise Europe Network in partnership with Innovate UK this programme is designed for companies with innovative products and services who have the potential to scale and are looking to raise investment. The programme consists of intensive investment and pitch training with pitching experts culminating with an investor showcase where companies pitch to a room of investors. Click here for more details.
innovate2succeed – I2S
A programme designed to stimulate innovation, improve competitiveness and reduce the risks of and improve the efficiency of launching a new product or service.
Skills Support for the Workforce in Dorset
Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) is a programme developed to upskill employees within small and medium-sized businesses in Dorset. We provide recognised accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses to enhance your employees’ skills, increase the competitiveness of your business and boost the local economy. SSW is co-financed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the European Social Fund.
News:
SBRI Healthcare
There are two new Small Business Research Initiatives (healthcare) that have just launch. Click here for more information.
Heard of the British Business Bank (BBB)?
The BBB are a government-owned business development bank dedicated to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses. Whether you’re looking for finance to start a business, grow to the next level, or stay ahead of the competition, they say that they can deliver greater volume and choice of finance.
Scaling-Up?
If you are a business thinking about scaling-up, then you will be interested to hear about the SetSquared Partnership’s Scale-Up Programme. Click here to find out more.