Launchpad: immersive & creative, Coventry & Warwickshire Round 2 MFA
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £4.35m for innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
04/11/2024
Registration Closes
11/12/2024
Award
Your project must have a total grant funding request between £25,000 and £100,000. Your total project costs will be up to 100% funded up to the maximum grant of £100,000. Your project costs can be higher than your grant funding request.
Organisation
Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council, and the West Midlands Combined Authority to invest up to £4.35 million in innovation projects. This funding is from Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme which supports the UK government’s goals for local economic growth. This Launchpad is also supporting CWX as the local cluster management organisation.
The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your project will contribute to the ambitions of the cluster to develop, fuse and transfer existing research excellence, industrial innovation capability and sectoral strengths, building market orientated opportunities in immersive and creative industries. Your business must use the funding to grow your innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries innovation cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands, both during and after your project.
This competition is split into two strands:
- Launchpad: immersive and creative industries, Coventry and Warwickshire – Round 2 Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) (this strand – £25k-£100k per project, single applicants only)
- Launchpad: immersive and creative industries, Coventry and Warwickshire – Round 2 Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D) (funding of £150k-£1m per project, must be collaborative)
It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application, and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope. It is possible to apply to both strands, but the projects must be separate and distinct.
If you would like advice about which strand is more appropriate for your project, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Creative Industries or Immersive Tech teams.
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Your business must:
- be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- not have previously been awarded funding from the Round 1 MFA competition strand for this Launchpad for Coventry and Warwickshire
- be growing your innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire
- have a demonstrable ambition for business growth
A business can lead on only one MFA strand application for this competition.
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Your project must:
- have a total grant funding request between £25,000 and £100,000
- last between 6 and 12 months
- carry out all of its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- not start before 1 April 2025
- end by 30 June 2026
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The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be growing your innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands.
Your project must build market-orientated opportunities in immersive and creative industries.
Your project must contribute to growing your innovation activities in the cluster, both during and after your project. This could be demonstrated by:
- your local innovation activities
- the value that your innovation activities create in the cluster
- your engagement with other innovation active organisations in the cluster, such as with CWX, this Launchpad’s cluster management organisation
Your application may be considered ineligible if you do not describe clearly how your main project activities and work packages meet the scope of this competition. This includes the main project activities of any subcontractors. If you do not describe how your activities in the cluster will continue after your project, then you are unlikely to be offered funding in this competition.
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Your project can focus on developing and applying technologies including one or more of the following:
- digital media
- mixed media
- augmented reality
- virtual reality
- virtual production
- game engine and 3D environments
- simulations and data visualisations
- performance and motion capture
- gesture and facial recognition
Your project can be aimed at application in one or more of the following market sectors and industries:
- creative industries
- video game development
- screen sector
- healthcare
- education
- future mobility
- manufacturing
- retail
- tourism, leisure and sport
These lists are not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this competition you can focus on other technologies, sectors and industries.
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Innovate UK have produced a pre-recorded briefing covering Investor Partnerships, CR&D and MFA for all the competitions running in late 2025: click here to watch the recording. They have also supplied briefing slides which can be downloaded here.
In addition, Innovate UK Business Connect will host an online briefing event on Thursday 14 November, 1pm-2.15pm: click here to register for a place. This will start with a plenary overview of the Launchpad programme, alongside information on how to apply to the competitions. Breakout rooms will then follow for each of the seven Launchpads and their respective competitions where delegates will be briefed on the key areas of interest for each cluster.
If you would like advice about which strand is more appropriate for your project, or have any other queries, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Creative Industries or Immersive Tech teams.