Launchpad: digital technologies, North East England
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2m for business led projects in the digital technologies cluster in North East England.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
30/10/2023
Registration Closes
13/12/2023
Award
MFA strand: single organisations only. Your project’s grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £100,000, which can cover up to 100% of costs. CR&D strand: collaborative projects only. Your project’s total grant funding request must be between £150,000 and £1m, which can cover up to 70% of costs depending on business size.
Organisation
Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is to invest up to £2 million in innovation projects across three Launchpad competition strands that target the innovation cluster in North East England.
The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the digital technologies cluster in North East England, consisting of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham.
This Launchpad competition supports the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.
The projects will contribute to North East England’s ambitions to build a more productive region, fostering a competitive and embedded business base and solving social and economic challenges.
This competition is split into three strands:
- Launchpad: digital technologies, North East England, Round 1 Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D)
- Launchpad: digital technologies, North East England, Round 1 Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA)
- Launchpad: North East England, Cluster Management
The MFA strand is open to single organisations only, and your project’s grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £100,000. This can cover up to 100% of costs.
The CR&D strand is for collaborative projects, and your project’s total grant funding request must be between £150,000 and £1 million. This can cover up to 70% of costs depending on business size.
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To lead a project in the MFA strand, your organisation must:
- be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- be active or growing your work activities in the digital technologies innovation cluster in North East England
A business can lead on only one MFA strand application for this competition.
To lead a project in the CR&D strand, your organisation must:
- be a UK registered business of any size
- be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- collaborate with other UK registered organisations
- be active or growing your work activities in the digital technologies innovation cluster in North East England
A business can lead on only one CR&D strand application for this competition, but can be included as a collaborator in any number of applications.
If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.
If you apply to the MFA strand of this competition, as well as this CR&D strand, each project must be clearly distinctive and separate. We will monitor closely for this separation if you are awarded funding in both competition strands.
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For the MFA strand, your project must:
- have a total grant funding request of between £25,000 and £100,000
- last between 6 and 12 months
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- start at the earliest on 1 April 2024
- end by 30 April 2025
For the CR&D strand, your project must:
- be collaborative
- have a total grant funding request of between £150,000 and £1 million
- last between 6 and 18 months
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- start at the earliest on 1 April 2024
- end by 31 March 2026
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The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the digital technologies innovation cluster in North East England, consisting of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham.
The geographical requirement is set to align this competition to the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Your project must focus on digital technologies that can be applied in growing and emerging markets.
Growing or emerging markets, include but are not limited to:
- advanced manufacturing
- agriculture and forestry
- automotive and transportation
- creative industries
- culture, tourism, leisure and sport
- green industries
- health
- offshore industries
- retail and town centre
Your project must lead to increased investment into research and innovation. It must contribute to growing business activities and economic impact in the cluster.
Your proposal must explain how your team and project will contribute to equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in the cluster.
In support of the Government’s Levelling Up goals, we reserve the right to prioritise projects that:
- are shorter in duration
- significantly advance innovation in digital technologies for growing and emerging markets
- are led by businesses already based in the innovation cluster
- have greater levels of activity outside the Greater South East
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Your project can focus on one or more of the following technologies:
Immersive technologies
- extended reality
- digital twins
- games engines
- virtual production
Artificial intelligence
- data science
- machine learning
- neural networks
- computer vision
- robotics
- large language models
- quantum computing
These lists are not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this competition, you can focus on other technologies.
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Innovate UK held an online briefing on Thursday 2 November: click here to watch the recording.
If you would like help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Digital team.
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In considering the eligibility of your proposal you are encouraged to review:
- The North East Strategic Economic Plan
- North East devolution deal
- North East Evidence Hub
- DIT High Potential Opportunity: Immersive Technology in the North East
Further information about the cluster was provided in an online briefing event on 2 November. Click here to watch the recording.