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Creative, Digital & Design Business Briefing
A digest of useful information for UK businesses seeking funding and support, updated monthly
March / April 2016
@KTN_Creative
Brought to you by the following organisations:
Contents
• Public funding calls• Horizon 2020• Other public funding• KTN events• Other events• Public investment• Accelerator programmes• Private financing • Other financing mechanisms• Launching a new business?• Non-financial support for your business • Training & skills
Public funding calls
Key feature: Innovate UK is investing £180K to encourage innovation in the sharing economy, across the themes of trust, tourism and travel, opening up new sectors, home improvement, construction, and data and analytics.
Scale: Up to £30K for each of the selected 6 businesses
Closes: 12 April 2016, 12:00
More info on: innovateuk.org
Digital Innovation in the Sharing Economy
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.
Briefing event: London – 6 April 2016
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. Closes: 24 November 2020More 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
Creative England Interest Free Business LoansThis scheme offers loans of between £60,000 and £150,000 per application. A small arrangement fee of 5% of the loan value will be charged to cover assessment, due diligence, and legal and administration costs.
The loan will be interest free for three years with very low repayments for the first 12 months, followed by equal repayments for 24 months. Established digital companies based in the English regions outside of Greater London may apply.
Interested parties should submit applications at your earliest convenience, before the end of March 2016.
More info at creativeengland.co.uk
Public funding calls
Public funding calls
UK Games Fund – second roundKey feature: The UK Games Fund will provide grants up to £25,000 to help new and young games development businesses create working prototype games. On occasion a limited number of £50,000 grants may be provided to projects that are further advanced, to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
The deadline for full completion of applications is Monday 18th April 2016, 12 noon. UKGF intend to hold application workshops for this round details of which will be added here when they become available.More info on: ukgamesfund.com
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 Design-Based Consumer GoodsKey feature: This European Commission call for design-based consumer goods aims to shorten the time-to-market of innovative solutions, remove obstacles to wider application of creative solutions, create or enlarge markets for related products (or services) and finally improve the competitiveness of European SMEs in world markets.Scale: Up to EUR 4,000,000. The typical size of the EU contribution will be between EUR 800 000 and 1 million per selected project. The call expects to fund between 4-5 proposals.
Closes: 14 April 2016More info on: ec.europa.eu
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 21: Support Technology Transfer to the Creative Industries - Deadline 12 April 2016
ICT 36: Boost Synergies between Artists, Creative People and Technologists - Deadline 12 April 2016
Horizon 2020Upcoming calls:
ICT 24: Gaming and Gamification Deadline - Deadline 12 April 2016, 5pm
ICT 10: Future Internet Software Technologies - Deadline 12 April 2016, 5pm
ICT 22: Call Technologies for Learning and Skills - Deadline 12 April 2016, 5pm
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.
There is general recognition that health data analytics will play a critical role in transforming health and social care, but relatively poor understanding of the current UK landscape, research priorities and barriers to translation.
Therefore the KTN and UK Health Data Analytics Network (UK-HDAN) are inviting practitioners and industry experts to attend a regional workshop to contribute to a UK health data analytics roadmap for funders and policy-makers.
UK-HDAN are keen to draw on insights from industry colleagues to ensure they present a holistic picture and develop partnerships that will drive innovation and put the UK at the forefront of the field internationally.
Events are taking place in Sheffield 14 March, Birmingham 17 March and Newcastle 23 March
Further information and registration details available here.
KTN Events
Engaging with the UK Digital Health Industry: Getting Health Data Analytics onto the Map
Pilot event: 2-5pm 30 March 2016 KTN Suite 220, Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QH.
KTN are launching a series of regional events at which selected designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and manufacturers can obtain confidential expert feedback and guidance on developing/commercialising their dementia-friendly product ideas.
This initiative is intended to stimulat the market for everyday products which are inclusive of people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The programme is inspired by the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 and Innovate UK’s Long Term Care Revolution Challenge. It also builds on the Design Council 2012 Dementia Challenge and complements BSI’s Design for Mind initiative.
Further info and details of how to apply available here
KTN innovation panel for dementia-friendly products
9:30-12:00, Thursday 7 April 2016 – Digital Catapult Centre, 101 Euston Rd, Kings Cross, London NW1 2RA
An informal information sharing session designed to support digital companies and learn more about Innovate UK and the Digital Catapult. This session will include representatives from across Innovate UK’s programmes highlighting 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
Digital Business Drop-In
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.
Innovate UK are looking for innovative proposals led by businesses from outside the energy sector such as automotive, defence, aerospace, creative industries, telecommunications and space. They believe this will require expertise in areas such as: inspection, ICT, digital, sensors, virtual reality, gaming, robotics, autonomous vehicles and high value manufacturing/materials.
Briefing event : London – 6 April 2016 (Briefing event)
Energy Game Changer – Brokerage and Briefing Events
10:00-16:00, Wednesday 13 April 2016 – Digital Catapult Centre, 101 Euston Rd, Kings Cross, London NW1 2RA
This event will showcase the fifteen selected finalists creating next generation digital solutions to enhance the retail landscape.
These entrepreneurs will pitch to a panel of expert judges, including a range of industry professionals, journalists, investors, and representatives from the contest challenge partners: Tesco and WRAP, Digital Anthropology Lab, London College of Fashion, UAL, Unilever, Barclays, and the Greater London Authority.
The winner of each challenge will be awarded up to £35k to develop and trial their solution, and will benefit from the expertise and support of the challenge partners in testing their technology. Alongside the industry challenge partners, the competition is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), who have invested millions in retail focused research, training and knowledge exchange over the past five years.
Further info and registration details available here
Future Retail Innovation Contest Final Event
This event offers urban authorities and also business the opportunity to access use cases for future cities solutions, and to have a say on the future of Innovate UK’s Urban Living Programme.
Over the past 2 years, Innovate UK has invested £33m in future cities demonstrators across Glasgow, London, Bristol and Peterborough. This series of workshops, one in each demonstrator city, will draw together the key players who made these interventions fly, sharing their learning and insights with other cities to help address a common challenge of how to mobilise investment in new smart city initiatives.
13 April 2016, Glasgow
KTN events
City Demonstrator Learning 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
MiniBar – London, 25 March
Digital Cream – London, 25 March
Design Day: Future City – London, 7 April
EGX Rezzed – London, 7-9 April
VR World Congress 2016 Brokerage Event – Bristol, 12 April
Smart IoT London – London, 12-13 April
Practical Digital Fundraising – London, 14 April
Eco-Design and Product Sustainability in the Transport Sector – London, 17 May
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 ProgrammesProperty 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. Companies joining the accelerator programme will have two investment options: £50k for 7% equity or 5% warrant. Startupbootcamp FinTech is a leading accelerator focused on financial innovation. It provides funding, mentorship, office space in the heart of London and access to a global network of investors and VCs, for up to 10 selected FinTech startups across the globe. Applications open 21 March & close 26 June.
Accelerator ProgrammesApplications for Cohort 3 of Cyber London (CyLon), Europe’s first business accelerator programme and incubator space dedicated to developing and supporting cyber security startups, are now open. If you are developing innovative cyber security solutions, in anything from blockchain to biometric authentication, apply at cylonlab.com by 27 March.
TrueStart hold The Collection twice a year in winter and summer. The Collection is a startup accelerator programme focussed on the retail and consumer sector. The six months programme is structured to support companies that are in the early stages of their development. Applications for the summer deadline are now open – deadline 24 April.
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
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 UK Business Angels Association is the national trade association representing angel and early-stage investment in the UK.
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.
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
• Subsidised costs to work with a specialist to build and deliver business growth – GrowthAccelerator
• 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
A digital business network 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
