How businesses can get ready to apply for grant funding
Grant funding transforms the fortunes of businesses every year — yet with so many different competitions opening , it can be hard to keep track . In the third in a series of interviews , Laura O ’ Neill , Grant Manager at innovation funding specialist — and Techies awards sponsor — Catax , explains what grants are available and how to get ready to apply .
How much grant funding is available in the UK ?
Those are all very sector-specific — is all funding very specialised ?
Laura O ’ Neill Grant Manager
It amounts to hundreds of millions of pounds each year . Most of it is awarded by the country ’ s innovation agency , Innovate UK . Since 2007 , it has invested around £ 2.5billion to help businesses across the country , with match-funding from industry taking the total value of projects above £ 4.3billion .
Other major grant funding sources included the Government Department for Business , Energy & Industrial Strategy ( BEIS ) and the National Lottery .
What kind of grant schemes are open at the moment ?
Examples of funding rounds closing in the coming months include grants for early-stage agricultural projects with a focus on improving productivity and sustainability , the development of electric or hydrogen-fueled HGVs , and projects that address challenges in the healthcare sector .
A lot of grant funding schemes are aimed at specific sectors , and a lot now also have an environmental focus , but there are much more general funding rounds available too .
For example , Innovate UK sets rolling deadlines for its Smart grants . Any UKregistered organisation can apply for a share of up to £ 25 million for gamechanging innovations that can be rapidly brought to market .
Recent wins for our clients from the latest Smart round related to an IT project , Cannabidiol ( CBD ) production and the development of a new reflective material . Those businesses all came away with between £ 400k and £ 500k to get their projects underway .
What is the application process like ?
Substantial amounts of money are at stake , so the application process is always very thorough . We recommend