Support for Innovative Companies

Alongside funding in the form of R&D tax relief, there are other forms of public support available for innovative companies.

Innovate UK

Innovation Continuity Loans – now until 13 January 2021

Innovate UK have recently issued a third strand of the continuity loans, which are specifically designed to help innovative companies facing funding challenges which are preventing the progression of an innovative project directly as a result of Covid 19. Unlike Strands 1 and 2, there is no requirement that an applicant must have previously been awarded Innovate UK support, and therefore this increases the number of companies who may be eligible.

Broadly, loans of between £250k to £1.6m are available for innovative micro and SMEs who are unable to continue, complete or follow up an innovative project as a result of a lack of funding arising directly from Covid 19. The project must be highly innovative and late stage, with a clear path to commercialisation. This could be the development of new products, processes or services clearly ahead of others in their field, or the innovative use of existing products, processes etc.

Innovate UK Smart Grant – 26 November to 13 January 2021

The next round of the Smart Grant applications opened at the end of last month. £25m is available to innovative companies who are developing game changing, commercially viable innovative and disruptive ideas, in any area of technology and any sector of the economy.

Projects from 6 to 18 months with project costs of between £25k and £500k are eligible, on either a single applicant or collaborative basis. Projects from 19 to 36 months with project costs of £25k to £2m will be considered where the applicant is working on a collaborative basis.

The R&D must be carried out in the UK, and the project must start no later than 1 July 2021.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs)

KTPs are a partnership between a company, a recent graduate and an academic institution, with the aim of increasing the competitiveness and productivity of the company by given them access to specialist support. At Radius we have seen several clients benefit from employing recent graduates under a KTP. KTPs are partly funded by Innovate UK, who currently have a new funding stream available for this, and so now may be a good time to consider whether this is a good option for your business.

The recent graduate is part funded by Innovate UK to work on a strategic innovation project with the company. The graduate will be supervised by academic staff. The company must contribute to the salary and the supervision costs, with the KTP funding the remainder.

Sheffield Innovation Programme

We’ve previously shared details of a local initiative, the Sheffield Innovation Programme. This is a partnership between the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub and is designed to stimulate economic growth by providing local businesses with access to academic expertise. Areas which may benefit include engineering, manufacturing and software. The support can be provided by way of workshops or bespoke innovative consultancy.

If you would like any more information, please get in touch with your usual Radius contact or a member of the Radius team on 0114 2671617 and let us show you how easy it is to make your innovation pay.