"Open" for business: Funding and connecting for innovation

If you’re in business you’ll be only too aware of the imperative to innovate. You’ll probably also be aware that there is support and indeed funding out there. In fact, the amount of funding and support is perhaps surprising, and new opportunities emerge frequently. It is not always easy to establish what is (a) available and (b) right for your particular needs and ideas. Don‚Äôt miss out! Here at KTN it is our job to help, and to do so on an impartial basis.

Promoting the latest opportunities

We promote the latest opportunities – in particular:

in our free monthly newsletters

in our Twitter feeds

on our funding page

at our events, including the official briefing events for Innovate UK competitions

What are the key funding opportunities right now?

Our partners at Innovate UK (now part of UKRI) offer funding for innovation including grants and loans. A good deal of this funding is what they call “open” – ie. not restricted to any one particular sector or theme. These “open” opportunities look like this:

“Open” Grants: De-risking projects between £25K and £2 million.

“Open” Loans: Up to £10m available to SMEs, to do things that other loans cannot

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: A one to three year project enabling businesses to bring in new knowledge, supervised by an academic partner

It is expected that these calls will recur on a regular basis. They are all very much open to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). They can enable you for instance to tap into the latest knowledge and facilities, eg. the Catapults and Universities, or to work with businesses developing cutting edge technologies.

It is also worth being aware of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, a major focus for UKRI at present, supporting particular challenges through innovation. A recent statement from Innovate UK reads as follows:

Our Open programme complements funding available through the ISCF programme, our Managed Programmes – in which Innovate UK delivers innovation programmes for other government agencies – and our Catalyst programmes, which provide funding for specific priority areas.

Helping improve your chances of success

We are here to help you with funding and connecting. A good place to start is our recently published guide.

For further information on how we can help, contact us here