UK: £6M on offer to keep innovation moving in the recession

Funding opportunity

UK companies are invited to bid for a share of a £6 million fund as the government-backed Technology Strategy Board attempts to keep innovation going through the recession.

The investment is part of a new fast-track investment process designed to enable businesses to gain quick access to finance to carry out feasibility. This will enable companies to work up ideas and then to compete for Technology Strategy Board funding for longer-term technology development. 

David Bott, Director of Innovation Programmes, said the aim is to encourage a wide range of companies to take a step in the right direction. “In so many cases these companies know how they want to innovate and understand exactly what the next steps are that they need to take to develop new products, but the financial risk that they have to take to make that leap is sometimes too much.”

The relatively small amounts of funding on offer are designed to de-risk the innovation process and enable companies to draw up blueprints for their development process.

The £6 million will available in three separate calls, one focusing on the Digital Britain agenda, a second on regenerative medicine, and a third incorporating a range of priority areas from advanced medicines to high-value manufacturing.