West of England Growth Hub: Business Innovation Fund
The Business Innovation Fund is designed to help businesses progress research and development (R&D) activity leading to the creation of novel/new products, processes and/or services. Grant funding is available to help with this, which can be applied for via competitive application rounds.
Businesses can apply for grant funding to cover a percentage of their projects costs. The remaining must be provided by the applicant business. Further details can be found in the grant guidance available for each application round.
Grant funding is paid on defrayal, which means if you are awarded support, you must spend money first before making a claim to us. You must therefore be in a position to cashflow your project to completion. Projects should aim to complete within 12 months of being awarded funding.
To be eligible your business must be based in the West of England Combined Authority area – Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, or South Gloucestershire
We are able to fund SMEs from any sector, although those from the following, aligning with our regional innovation cluster strengths and as described in our Plan for Innovation 2024-2029, are particularly encouraged to apply:
- Immersive Creative
- Advanced Engineering
- Health Sciences
- Sustainable Fintech
We are also keen to support SMEs that are contributing to our transition to net zero and equality, diversity and inclusion.
The round 5 application window for grant funding is currently open. Please find a link to the Application Form here. The deadline to apply is 12.00, 20 June.