Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, runs funding competitions which can help you develop your innovative idea and make it successful. Innovate UK funding competitions provide funding between £25,000 and £10 million.
What is Innovate UK?
Innovate UK’s pilot programme of innovation loans started in 2017 and, through 7 competitions, has now committed £75m to about 100 successful applicants.
As part of the Government’s coronavirus response package that includes changes to timing of projects, continuity grants, additional business advice, a ‘fast-start’ competition and the Sustainable Innovation fund, Innovate UK is offering up to £210 million in loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and third sector organisations that have a challenge in continuing innovation activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Loans are for organisations that find themselves facing a sudden shortage or even unavailability of funds resulting directly from the COVID-19 pandemic. This innovation continuity loan may be suitable if you need funding of between £250,000 and £1,600,000.
Who can apply?
There are three parallel strands for innovation continuity loans:
strand 1: applicants who are continuing and completing a live project with an Innovate UK award
strand 2: applicants who have a new project that follows on from a project with an Innovate UK award that was completed in the last 36 months
strand 3: applicants who are continuing, completing or following on from innovation activity that has not been supported by an Innovate UK award in the last 36 months
You must match all of the criteria:
for strand 1: currently funded project participants in an Innovate UK award
or for strand 2: participants with a project that follows on from a project with an Innovate UK award that completed in the prior 36 months
or for strand 3: participants with a project that is continuing, completing or following on from innovation activity that has not been supported by an Innovate UK award in the last 36 months SMEs (the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) used by Innovate UK is set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003) and third sector organisations, undertakings that find themselves facing a sudden shortage or even unavailability of funding resulting directly from the COVID-19 pandemic undertakings that were not in difficulty (within the meaning of Article 2(18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation) on 31 December 2019, but that faced difficulties or entered in difficulty thereafter as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Temporary Framework has been extended to provide public support to micro and small companies in difficulty. Micro and small companies are exempt from this test unless: they are in insolvency proceedings have received rescue aid that has not been repaid or are subject to a restructuring plan under State aid rules They will offer loans of between £250,000 and £1,600,000. The total loan amount cannot exceed 100% of the eligible project costs of your project providing these costs are not already covered through your existing award. They may consider further reasonable costs arising from an increase in the cost of delivering your R&D activity as a result of Covid-19 that are not already covered by other government support. The Government is actually looking for businesses who can demonstrate that their innovation activities are making the best progress in innovation and have the best potential for the future.
How B&F Services Can Help?
Building on 16+ years of funding experience, B&F Services team has a brilliant background with R&D grant applications. We ensure a significant competitive advantage over other grant applicants. In addition to our writing expertise, we advise clients on the potential eligibility and scope of proposed projects, supporting them in their development of deliverable and appropriately costed project plans.
Initial phase to discuss your project so that our team can best match your project to the most suitable grant funds and assess its chances of success (free consultation)
Our specialist consultants write all the relevant technical, commercial, and financial details of your project, provide your solutions to the gaps existing in the current market, and summarise it as a convincing plan.
We complete the online registration process and submit the grant application on your behalf. Grant assessors provide feedback on both successful and unsuccessful grant applications, and we review this feedback with you to give you on-going advice and guidance.
When your grant application has been assessed, there are some due diligence elements that our team will deliver. Our team will also help you prepare and complete all documentation requests from the grant body.
Over 17 years of experience of working with UK and EU funding bodies means we understand what evidence they want to see and how it should be best presented to speed up the drawdown of funding.
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Why Work With Us
FAQ
Our process is simple, and usually starts with the consultancy to understand better your venture and its goals. See more here…
Absolutely! We pride ourselves with offering a phone, zoom or face to face meeting to discuss your business. We initially offer 40minutes free consultation.
Our prices are highly competitive, scaling up or down depending on task complexity. Price would depend on the depth of the market research, delivery timeline and industry. We offer a free consultancy to discuss initially your business and offer a quotation for you to consider.
We work with many businesses, big and small. We are happy to discuss your initial goals and assist with finding the right pathway for your business, anything from a company formation, feasibility studies or funding. The best way is to get in touch with us to start your journey!