The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) has relaunched its highly successful Innovation 4 Growth (I4G) programme this June, which will benefit startups and SMEs with a whopping £1m in funding, financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
“Any SME in the area that is undertaking an innovation or research and development project should consider applying”
Aimed at startups based in Bristol, Bath, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, the fund will support businesses to create new jobs by part-funding the development of innovative products, technologies, processes and services.
Startups and SMEs can apply for grants between £10,000 and £75,000. But with its deadline looming on 12 July, it’s time to get those applications in fast.
During the launch of the I4G fund Professor Martin Boddy, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Business Engagement at UWE Bristol, said: “We are delighted to be offering another round of I4G funding, this time focused on the West of England.
“Any SME in the area that is undertaking an innovation or research and development project should consider applying.”
Advice for startups
Any startup or SME considering applying can also head on down to UWE Bristol’s flagship enterprise centre Future Space for drop-in advice sessions every day up until 12 July.
“Our three previous rounds of I4G funding enabled 80 South West SMEs to develop new innovations”
And for anyone unsure about applying, Martin points out the great benefits of the scheme: “Our three previous rounds of I4G funding enabled 80 South West SMEs to develop new innovations, leading to the creation of 542 new jobs and the safeguarding of 283 positions that would otherwise have been at risk of redundancy.
“Grant recipients were responsible for £14.9m of private sector investment being allocated to research and development activities. We are looking forward to this new round delivering similar benefits to the local economy, and helping individual SMEs to innovate and grow.”
Find out more about advice drop-ins and apply for I4G funding on the Innovation 4 Growth website. You can also stay up to date with the universities activities and opportunities by following UWE on Twitter here: @UWEBristol.
Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
She also oversees TechSPARK's social media, sharing the latest updates on everything from investment news to green tech meetups and inspirational stories.
