Media Cymru Scale Up Round 2
UK registered organisations based in Wales can apply for £100k-£250k to develop innovative products, services or experiences for the media sector.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
07/10/2024
Registration Closes
04/12/2024
Award
While there is no maximum on total eligible costs, your project’s total grant funding request must be between £100,000 and £250,000. This can cover up to 70% of costs depending on business size and project type.
Organisation
Innovate UK
UKRI
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will deliver this competition on behalf of Media Cymru, a consortium of 22 partner organisations led by Cardiff University. The competition is funded by the UKRI Strength in Places Fund to invest up to £700,000.
Media Cymru is a five year programme that aims to turn the Cardiff Capital Region into a global hub for media production and innovation with a focus on green and fair economic growth.
The aim of this competition is to deliver innovative products, services and experiences to address challenges that have been identified within the Welsh media industry, through R&D funding.
Media Cymru: Scale Up Round 2 will invest in companies that can match global competitors in their scale of innovation ambition and skills. We are looking for innovation driven products, services and experiences with the potential for scale within the media sector.
Your proposal must demonstrate the potential to positively impact on the economy of the Cardiff Capital Region.
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To lead a project your organisation must fulfil all three criteria:
- Be a UK registered business with a business address in Wales
- Be based in the Cardiff Capital Region or collaborate with at least one UK registered business of any size, academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO) in the Cardiff Capital Region
- Intend to exploit the results in the Cardiff Capital Region
Collaboration is encouraged within the following sectors and with micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the supply chain:
- film, television and media
- games
- academia
- technology, for example, IT, software, electronics and computer services
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
- business of any size
- academic institution
- charity
- not for profit
- public sector organisation
- research and technology organisation (RTO)
A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications. If a business or organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.
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Your project must:
- have a grant funding request of between £100,000 and £250,000
- last for up to 12 months
- have a primary focus within the media sector
- demonstrate significant potential for economic benefit to the Cardiff Capital Region
- intend to exploit the results in the Cardiff Capital Region
- not start before 1 April 2025
- end by 30 April 2026
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The aim of this competition is to deliver innovative products, services and experiences to address challenges that have been identified within the Welsh media industry, through R&D funding.
Your project must:
- aim to provide solutions with proven feasibility, that address challenges or opportunities that you have identified
- demonstrate a realistic potential to deliver economic growth
- be an idea that is set for rapid commercialisation following project completion
- actively share knowledge and outputs with Media Cymru
- align with at least one of Media Cymru’s strategic pillars
The Media Cymru programme strategic pillars are:
- Green – reducing the environmental impact of the sector
- Fair – creating a fair, equal and diverse sector
- Global – increasing international collaborations
- Growth – driving growth and productivity through RD&I
We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, technological maturities, location and research categories. We call this a portfolio approach. We reserve the right to prioritise projects that:
- are shorter in duration
- have more innovation activity taking place within the Cardiff Capital Region’s media innovation cluster
- demonstrate the strongest alignment with the Media Cymru programme strategic pillars
- demonstrate an innovative approach to developing new products, services and experiences within the sector
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Your project can focus on one or more of the following:
- new media formats and the development of innovative content
- advanced media production, including the convergence of virtual production and traditional production
- new and inclusive media business models and production processes
- net zero and the decarbonisation of the screen sector, projects that respond to the findings of the Screen New Deal Transformation Plan for Wales are particularly welcome
- immersive storytelling through extended reality (XR) technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR)
- video game content and production, including convergence with other media
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies as tools for media production
- placemaking, including cultural and media tourism
- bilingual and multilingual production
- news and public information
- music, voice and audio production, including performance and distribution
This list is not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this competition you can focus on other themes.
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A briefing webinar will be held on Thursday 17 October at 11am: click here to register for a place.
If you would like help to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Creative Industries or Digital teams.