42
Creative, Digital & Design Business Briefing A digest of useful information for UK businesses seeking funding and support, updated monthly April 2016 @KTN_Creative
| Date post: | 15-Apr-2017 |
| Category: |
Business |
| Upload: | the-knowledge-transfer-network |
| View: | 6,875 times |
| Download: | 3 times |
Creative, Digital & Design Business Briefing
A digest of useful information for UK businesses seeking funding and support, updated monthly
April 2016
@KTN_Creative
Brought to you by the following organisations:
Contents
• Public funding calls• Horizon 2020• Other public funding• KTN & other events• Public investment / private financing• Launching a new business?• Non-financial support for your business • Training & skills
Public funding calls
Key feature: Innovate UK and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is jointly investing up to £0.5m to help UK companies establish new Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) in the area of cyber security. The funding is aimed at supporting collaborations between HEIs and SMEs.
Scale: up to £500K
Closes: The final deadline for proposals will be 11 May 2016 but it is strongly recommended to apply as soon as possible.
More info on: _connect
Cyber Security KTP
Public funding calls
Key feature: Innovate UK is investing up to £1.5m in technical feasibility studies to encourage new entrants to the energy sector and stimulate the adoption of disruptive technologies. In order to encourage novel and radical solutions, projects must be led by an SME whose main business lies outside the energy sector.
Opens: 28 March 2016 Closes: 4 May 2016, 12:00
More info on: innovateuk.org
Energy Game Changer
Public funding calls Knowledge Transfer PartnershipsKey feature: A scheme to help businesses innovate and grow by linking them with a university and a graduate to work on a specific project. Each KTP is a three-way partnership between a business, an academic institution and a graduate. The academic institution employs the recently-qualified graduate who works at the company. The graduate, known as the ‘associate', brings new skills and knowledge to the business.
A KTP is part-funded by a grant. You will need to contribute to the cost of the supervisor and the salary of the associate. 2016 deadlines are: 11 May, 6 July, 7 September & 2 NovemberMore info on: innovateuk.org
Creative England Production FundThe Creative England Production Fund is targeted at feature films with budgets of up to £2 million from up-and-coming talent or from established directors looking to experiment with innovative approaches. The fund is particularly interested in projects from regionally-based filmmakers or those which have a strong regional voice.
The fund is looking to support around three to five features per annum over the next four years, with production awards of up to £200,000 per project.
More info at creativeengland.co.uk
Public funding calls
Public funding calls
Human Dimensions of Cyber Security
Key feature: This EPSRC call is looking to support academic researchers, businesses and government users to develop around six collaborative, international and problem-driven projects which address the human dimensions of cyber security.
Scale: up to £5m
Closes: 8 June 2016
More info at: epsrc.ac.uk
Public funding calls
Nesta Impact Investment FundKey feature: An equity investment fund investing in social ventures with innovative products or services that are addressing some of the UK’s most pressing challenges. Investments are made in areas that tackle:
• the health and wellbeing of an ageing population• the educational attainment and employability of children and
young people• the social and environmental sustainability of communities.Scale: between £150k - £1mCloses: on-goingMore info on: Nesta Investments
Public funding calls Interactive Healthcare ProgrammeCreative England has announced the extension of its Interactive Healthcare Programme, pledging £750k for digital companies outside of London to develop innovative healthcare technology and solutions.
Key information: - Programmes will run in the North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber- £250,000 will be available via investments of up to £50,000 per application - Funding will support the development of innovative concepts or prototypes using digital technology to improve patient care and health servicesMore info on: creativeengland.co.uk
Public funding calls Vocational Learning Technology Fund
Ufi Charitable Trust is currently inviting applications to its Vocational Learning Technology Fund.
The aim of this investment programme is to offer early-stage funding of up to £50k to organisations that are looking to develop new services or improve access to and delivery of adult learning through the imaginative use of digital technology. This programme will provide funding and support to help ventures in developing their ideas into a more robust digital product or service.
Closes: 12 May, 9amMore info on: ufi.co.uk
Public funding calls Invest NI £5K Innovation Voucher
An Innovation Voucher provides funding to small and medium sized businesses to access academic skills and expertise from one of the 39 registered knowledge providers throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland listed at www.investni.com/innovation.
The aim is to improve the innovation capability of your business and to build links between public sector knowledge providers and the business community.
Application deadline: 22 April, 3pm
More info on: investni.com
Horizon 2020 (H2020)Key feature: The H2020 programme is the major funding
opportunity for R&D initiatives across Europe running up until 2020. There is a strong emphasis on creative industries, design and digital technologies.
Upcoming calls:
Full details about workplan for the Information and Communication Technologies Call are available here. Calls within the H2020 ICT work plan that are relevant to the creative and digital industries include:
ICT 19: Media Content and Convergence – Deadline 8 November 2016
ICT 4: Smart Anything Everywhere Initiative - Deadline 8 November 2016
Horizon 2020
Upcoming calls:
ICT 8: 5G PPP Convergent Technologies – Deadline 8 November 2016
ICT 11: Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation – Deadline 25 April 2017
ICT 20: Tools for smart digital content in the creative industries - Deadline 25 April 2017
Further information on H2020 Work Programmes can also be found here.
Horizon 2020 A list of all upcoming Knowledge Transfer Network events offering information and support in connection with H2020 funding programmes is available here.
KTN Guide to Horizon 2020 and Other European Funding for the Creative Industries
This is a short guide to help you submit a proposal for the Horizon 2020 funding programme (H2020), as well as describing other European Commission funding sources. It provides a brief overview of how to apply, things to think about, where to get support and useful links.
You can also keep up to date with the latest info via our Creative, Digital and Design portal and by joining our dedicated LinkedIn group.
H2020 SME Innovation AssociateKey feature: The H2020 SME Innovation Associate is a new pilot action under the EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme 'Horizon 2020’ that will support 90 European SMEs and Start-ups to recruit post-doctoral research associates from other countries to explore an innovation business idea. The following costs are eligible under this programme: salary of the researcher for a period of one year; relocation cost for the researcher up to a maximum total of €5000; travel and subsistence costs related to the training.
Deadline to apply: 30 June 2016
More info at ec.europa.eu
Other public funding
• Creative Europe - here you can find relevant information concerning funding opportunities within the Creative Europe programme.
• Arts Council of Wales – offer a selection of arts grants for creative professionals and organisations.
• Wellcome Trust Arts Awards – offer two levels of funding to encourage collaboration between arts and science.
• Creative Scotland Open Project Funding - This fund supports the arts, screen and creative industries, with projects that help them explore, realise and develop their creative potential.
Other public funding• Funding Central and Finance Funder - Online guide to over
4,000 grants, contracts and other forms of finance: fully searchable based on finance type, scale and your geographical location; especially good for businesses seeking charitable or grant funding.
• Creative Skillset - Creative Skillset directs collective investment through the Skills Investment Fund to create new and innovative training in priority skills and in-demand roles to ensure growth in the UK’s Creative Industries.
• Creative Industry Finance - Delivered by Creative United and funded by Arts Council England, this programme is designed to assist creative and cultural enterprises in securing access to loan finance from £2,500 upwards.
11:00-16:00, Thursday 28 April 2016 – Innovation Birmingham Campus, 6 Holt St, Birmingham Science Park, Birmingham B7 4BP
Are you looking to grow your digital business? Please join us in Birmingham for the April Regional Digital Business Drop-In event with hosted by the Knowledge Transfer Network.
This event is for creative, digital and design companies looking to access funding and support to grow. There will be presentations from Innovate UK and the KTN on the types of support and funding available the event is followed by a networking lunch.
Further info and registration details available here.
KTN Events
Regional Digital Business Drop-In
09:30-12:00, Thursday 5 May 2016 – Digital Catapult Centre, 101 Euston Rd, London NW1 2RA
The Knowledge Transfer Network will be organising an informal information sharing Business Drop-in session in London. The session is designed to support digital companies and learn more about Innovate UK, the Digital Catapult and other organisations and businesses that have opportunities and support for UK based businesses.
Representatives from across Innovate UK’s programmes will highlight a range of upcoming funding opportunities for digital companies, researchers and academic institutions working across a diverse range of sectors.
Please note: If you are interested in giving a 5 minute presentation, slots are given on a first come first served basis at the event.
Further info and registration details available here.
KTN Events
Digital Business Drop-In
10:00-16:00, Thursday 26 May 2016 – Digital Catapult Centre, 101 Euston Rd, Kings Cross, London NW1 2RA
This event will see eighteen quick-fire pitches from high potential entrepreneurs to a panel of industry experts, journalists and investors, as well as representatives from the contest challenge partners: Sharing Economy UK, Nesta, Kingfisher, Crossrail, Peterborough City Council and Cranfield University. This £180K contest will award up to £30K to each successful business, to fund the development of their solutions and trial their technology with the respective challenge partner.
This event will give you the opportunity to gain insider insight into the latest innovations in the sharing economy and get a preview of the developments before they are publicised more widely.
This is an open event for anyone interested in digital innovation within or outside the scope the sharing economy. The event is also an opportunity to gain insight into the support on offer from Innovate UK. By attending you will make valuable new connections with professionals that share the goals of commercialising innovative ideas.
Further info and registration details available here
Digital Innovation in the Sharing Economy Final Event
KTN Entrepreneur’s Forum is a group in the North of England formed by Freshly Squeezed in collaboration with the Knowledge Transfer Network with the aim of bringing local innovative businesses together to meet, share ideas and collaborate. There are a number of events taking place from February to April in Sheffield and Liverpool.
The Entrepreneurs' Forum events are intended to promote and support entrepreneurship and innovation in the North and will feature discussion forums with case studies from fellow entrepreneurs, opportunities to learn from other professionals as well as share inspiring stories and have questions answered in real-time.
The Funding Surgery events are monthly one-to-one drop-in sessions offering free advice on a range of business finance including grants, loans and investment.
Places are limited so register now to avoid disappointment.
KTN Entrepreneurs' Forum in the North - Meet, Share Ideas & Collaborate
Think Startup Conference 2016 – Luton, 20 April
#StartYourWeekend with KTN – London, 22 April
LeanConf 2016 – Manchester, 23 April
Creativeworks London Festival – London, 29 April
Eco-Design and Product Sustainability in the Transport Sector – London, 17 May
Sónar+D – Barcelona, 16-18 June (KTN discount available)
IFB 2016 Creative and Digital Week – Liverpool, 26 June-1 July
Other events
Public Investment
Arts Impact Fund
Key feature: Funded by Arts Coucil England, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Nesta, the Arts Impact Fund is a new £7million initiative set up to demonstrate the potential for social investment in arts. It offers repayable finance to arts organisations working in England that can show how they are sustainable, have great artistic ambitions and have a positive impact on society in at least one of the following areas: citizenship & community, young people & educational attainment, health & wellbeing.Scale: between £150k - £600k
Closes: on-goingMore info on: Arts Impact Fund
Public Investment Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund
Key feature: The Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund is dedicated to supporting film-specific training. You can benefit directly through funding for training - grants of money towards the costs of courses.
Craft and Technical Bursaries – up to £800 for film professionals working in eligible craft and technical departments to spend on training
International Scholarships – up to £5,000 for experienced film professionals to attend intensive and high-level developmental programmes in the UK or overseas
Management and Leadership Bursaries – up to £1,000 for film professionals to spend on training and professional development
More info on creativeskillset.org
Accelerator Programmes
Property Innovation Labs (Pi Labs) is a venture capital platform to investing in early stage ventures in the property tech vertical. This 13-week mentor led programme accelerates the growth of exciting property tech start-ups.
Startupbootcamp FinTech provides funding, mentorship, London office space and access to a global network of investors and VCs, for up to 10 selected FinTech startups. Applications open 21 March & close 26 June.
TrueStart’s ‘The Collection’ is a six months startup accelerator programme focussed on the retail and consumer sector supporting companies in the early stages of their development. Applications deadline 24 April.
Accelerator ProgrammesDigitalHealth London Accelerator programme is for digital health businesses that would benefit from better engagement with the NHS and the wider health sector, in order to refine and develop products and services. The year-long programme to be run over 3 consecutive years will provide support to around 80 (20-30 in each year) small and medium sized businesses. Deadline for 2016/17 applications 12 noon, 25 April.
TD Ventures is a new business accelerator with equity investment available to facilitate the growth of new digital companies. The programme has a total fund of €5 million to invest. Tradedoubler will invest up to €500,000 in a single company in exchange for equity in the business. Early-stage and start-up firms operating in the digital sector in the UK, France or Germany may qualify for support through this programme.
Private financingEdge Investments is the specialist investment house focused on the creative industries sector, in particular media and entertainment. Launched last month the Edge Creative Enterprise Fund is a £40m fund raised, with UK Government support, to invest in high growth companies in the creative industries.
Balderton has a track record of helping entrepreneurs build substantial businesses – with more $250m+ exits in the past five years than any other European venture firm
Connect Ventures, London – invest in mobile, internet and digital media businesses; invest at the early stage and focus on seed investments; investment size ranges from £200K-£600k
Index Ventures, London, San Francisco & Geneva – venture capital firm making investments in information technology and life sciences companies, since 1996 they have teamed up with technology entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries
Private financingNotion Capital, London – invest in B2B Cloud & SaaS companies who have sustained 100% Year-over-Year growth; investment areas include adtech, communications and collaboration tools, ecommerce, enterprise software, fintech and security; portfolio raised over £200m in 2014
Hoxton Ventures, partners with founders seeking to invent new market categories or transform large, existing industries; their sweet spot is internet, mobile and software startup investing - up to $2m
The Business Finance Guide, devised for businesses and advisers by the ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty together with the British Business Bank and is supported by 17 major professional, membership and representative organisations; outlines sources of finance available to businesses – ranging from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies
The UK Business Angels Association is the national trade association representing angel and early-stage investment in the UK.
Private financingBetter Business Finance is an excellent tool for identifying the right type of finance at all stages of a business as well as identifying providers who can help. This section provides a searchable directory of information about the members of the UK Business Angels Association, what services they provide and how to contact them.
British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association provides an explanation of different types of financing and other resources for entrepreneurs.
The AngelCo Fund is a £100m investment fund with objectives to back promising UK businesses at all stages of development and in most sectors, provided they qualify as an SME.
If you are you a project promoter based in the EU, and want to reach potential investors worldwide, register your project in the European Investment Project Portal (EIPP).
Other financing mechanismsCrowdfunder.co.uk – UK’s largest crowdfunding network having launched 1000’s of projects and raised over £2m, platform launched by KEO digital and partners include Nesta and Creative England
Funding Circle – an online marketplace which allows savers to lend money directly to SMEs; as of February 2014 Funding Circle has facilitated £223m in loans to SMEs
Crowd2Fund – a crowdfunding platform designed to enable a range of funding options, from loans to equity
SyndicateRoom – equity crowdfunding platform for investing in UK startups backed by experience business angels
CrowdShed - covers rewards, lending and donation-based crowdfunding opportunities, focused on creative, academic, charity and cause-based projects.
Launching a new business?• Tech City UK offers advice and support to start-ups looking for
guidance in and around London. It has launched its Digital Business Academy. Tech City UK can also endorse visa applications to help recruit talent to Britain.
• Innovate UK - IC tomorrow connects start-ups and SMEs with leading commercial partners and investors, through funded contests, events, and strategic matchmaking opportunities.
• Enterprise Europe Network is a key instrument in the EU's strategy to boost growth and jobs. Bringing together around 600 business support organisations from more than 60 countries, EEN help small companies seize unparalleled business opportunities in the EU Single Market.
• Seedcamp is a London based accelerator that provides startups with seed money, mentorship, office space, support over a year long programme.
Launching a new business?• The British Business Angels Association can help put you in
touch with relevant business angel investors.
• Aimed at creative industries businesses seeking funding and investment from both traditional and non-traditional sources, the ‘Routes to Finance’ guide is a new initiative by the ICAEW’s Corporate Finance Faculty, supported by the Creative Industries Federation and 52 organisations in the UK’s creative economy.
• As the membership body for providers of enterprise support services in London, Capital Enterprise and its members provide a wide range of support services including advice, training, mentoring, accelerator programmes, specialist technical expertise, networking, soft loan finance and incubator accommodation to both pre-start and trading entrepreneurs and small businesses in all 33 London Boroughs.
Launching a new business?• Transmit Start Ups provide financial support and mentoring
to creative and digital entrepreneurs that would not normally be available via traditional banking relationships
• AIM Start Up Loans - Government supported start-up loans for the Creative Industries.
• The Open Data Institute runs a start-up programme that helps start-ups build business models around open data
• The Path Forward features The Path - a practical and interactive methodology to assist entrepreneurs take a valid idea from concept to valuable business in 12 months.
• European Startup Resource Page - a Techstars idea to help founders of European startups save time and internal resources by supplying some useful templates, valuable resources and good examples.
Are you an existing business seeking non-financial advice or support?• Nesta’s creative business mentor network offers
ambitious businesses looking to grow one-one mentoring with some of the creative digital sector’s most successful leaders
• The UKTI offers advice to help with exporting
• Tech City UK can help advise on inward investment
• The Digital Catapult can help you showcase your business
Are you an existing business seeking advice or support?• AngelList – helps source angel investors • Capital List - is an investor-introduction service
available free of charge to London based SMEs as part of the Capital Accelerator Programme
• Interactive Scotland is a Scottish Enterprises project providing specialist expert advice to all Digital and Creative Businesses across Scotland
• Grant Thornton provide a specialist service for R&D tax relief/ credits claims
Industry specific support• The Digital Catapult is working with Innovate UK to
research, develop and deliver datasets and lessons for industry from the Building Performance Evaluation programme through the development of the Building Data Exchange. This is a platform built to provide easy access to data, and stimulate the crossover of digital technology in the built environment in order to create a proactive community that drives rapid improvements in the performance of buildings. More info here.
• Over the next few months Ogilvy Labs is embarking on its Retail Semester to ‘exhibit knowledge’ into five identified ‘pillars’: In-Store, Online, Payments, Operations and Engagement.
Personal Data and Trust Network
The network aims to build and nurture a community that brings together industry, the public sector, funders, research organisations and innovators to support the UK in becoming the global leader in trust and responsible innovation with personal data.
For more information and to join, visit pdtn.org.
Training and skills
• Training in Open Data from the Open Data Institute
• Digital Business Academy – via Tech City
• Digital Project Management – via @IABUK
• Digital Acceleration – via @hyperisland_uk
• Digital training – via @Econsultancy – e-marketing courses
Useful reports/ market research
• Innovate UK - Additive manufacturing: mapping UK research into 3D printing
• KTN – A Guide to Horizon 2020 and Other European Funding for the Creative Industries
• Imperial College / Citi – Releasing The Flow of Digital Money
• Imperial College / Citi – Digital Money Index 2016
• Deloitte – Blockchain: Enigma. Paradox. Opportunity
Useful reports/ market research contd.
• Nesta – Business Insights 2016
• The Open Data Institute - The Open Banking Standard
• Ofcom / Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) - Innovation in UK consumer electronic payments
• Samsung – Smart Things Future Living
