Create Growth Programme
Helping businesses in England convert their creative potential into creative growth.
Develop your creative potential
The Create Growth Programme was set up in 2022 by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS), with £17.5 million investment in the six original regions, of which £7m was provided to Innovate UK to invest via a series of awarded competitions. In July 2023, the previous government published its Sector vision, in which it announced an additional £10.9 million to support a further six regions, plus a further £6.92m of investment into grant funded competitions to be delivered by Innovate UK.
The challenge
Historically, the Creative Industries have struggled to obtain the necessary level of investment to grow and scale, in part due to investors’ limited understanding of the opportunities for investing in the sector. Investors generally look for scalability and defensible intellectual property (IP) which can be a challenge for creative businesses.
In addition, founders in creative businesses tend to be specialists in their discipline rather than in business, which leads to a broad lack of business skill and understanding. Finally, many smaller businesses aren’t static in terms of size and can have multiple or varied project and IP funding models, such as crowdfunding.
Creative Businesses take centre stage
Highlighting the impact the collaboration is having on supporting creative industries and the broader creative economy, and how the programme is driving growth and innovation across the sector. Read more about the Showcase Day and meet the attendees
Find out more
A regional approach
Delivered by teams in each of the regions, creative businesses with high-growth potential will be able to apply for support to help them prepare for investment and grow their business. Each region has its own distinct approach and bespoke programme, tailored to the businesses in its cohorts. Some regions specialise in certain sub sectors, whereas others pride themselves on a broad range of talent.
Working with each region’s combined authorities, the programme offers targeted support to eligible businesses to help unlock their growth potential. Each region is delivering bespoke support that responds to the specific needs of their local creative businesses.
Regions were selected via an open competition run by DCMS. Each region is led by the local council, partnership or combined authority, and comprises several areas, towns and cities.
Find an investor
We’ve developed a curated list of investors with a focus on specific creative sub-sectors, helping founders and others in the creative start-up ecosystem better understand the funding landscape and prepare to engage with investors effectively.
This initiative aims to close the funding gap for early-stage creative businesses by improving visibility, relevance, and access to aligned investors. It is designed for founders, ecosystem builders, and advisors navigating the UK creative investment landscape.
Innovate UK is supporting this work through a range of investor-focused activities, including networking and showcase events, mapping of current and potential investment in the creative industries, and resources to support investor readiness and understanding of funding routes.
Find an investor
Impact
The collaboration between Investor Networks and Innovate UK has delivered £21 million in grant funding to over 430 creative businesses across all of the regions. Innovate UK has leveraged more than £5 million in private investment through investor partnerships and the larger grant funding available in the final competition.
Businesses supported through this programme. Have seen successes as a result of this investment read about some of the businesses we’ve supported in our case studies.
Related Case Studies
Game on: Beam XR’s secures grant funding and private backing with Innovate UK support
Innovate UK grant funding drives growth for Beam XR’s revolutionary live streaming software for the gaming industry, attracting private investment.
Prorizon is lifting the weight of sports performance with Innovate UK support
Grant funding from Innovate UK has powered Prorizon’s scale-up and entry into creative industries.
De-risking Net-Zu’s vision to revolutionise creative talent sourcing with Innovate UK support
The Create Growth Programme funding has enabled Net-Zu to de-risk their start-up idea, unlocking the creative industries as an investable sector.
Resources
Investor round table
Our key take aways from the first Investor Roundtable we held for the programme.
Download
Understanding the investment opportunities in the creative industries
We are delivering investor focused activities, including networking and pitching events, mapping of current and potential investment in the sector, and resources to support the understanding of investment opportunities. We will be working with investors at a national and local level to better understand the investment opportunities in the creative industries. Investors can apply to become one of Innovate UK’s investor partners so register your interest to hear about further selection processes and other opportunities.
Become an investor
Our Experts
Related Opportunities
Horizon Europe 2026-27: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society (Cluster 2)
Various closing dates from Sep 2026 to Sep 2027
Topics available under cluster 2, with €3m-€5m available for most calls.
More Information
Horizon Europe 2026-27: New European Bauhaus Facility
Various closing dates from Sep 2026 to Dec 2027
Funding available from Horizon Europe for NEB projects in 2026-27, with up to €10m for the largest projects
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Eurostars call for projects – call 10, closing March 2026
Opens: 16/01/2026 Closes: 19/03/2026
Up to €360,000 for SMEs performing innovative R&D as part of a consortium with one or more organisations from other Eurostars countries.
More Information
Related Events and Recordings
Related Sectors and Networks
Creative Industries
Our people have a deep expertise and work with a wide range of companies who are innovating and developing new technologies in sectors like Broadcast, Streaming and Film, VFX, Immersive and VR, Games, Live Events.
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Investment
Through our deep expertise, we can provide insight into emerging markets and technologies to help the investment community – from angels to corporate funds – make informed investments.
Read moreNEWSLETTER
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