Grants up to £30,000 available for Birmingham firms with bright ideas
Jun 23 2009 by Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post
Businesses in Birmingham are being urged to take advantage of a scheme that could see them awarded up to £30,000 each.
The Advantage Proof of Concept Fund is awarding more than £5.8 million in grants to support small and medium enterprises in the region to develop innovative new products and ideas.
A variety of activities can be funded through the grant, including prototyping, registering intellectual property rights, market assessments and business planning.
The scheme provides grants of up to 75 per cent of a project’s cost – to a maximum of £30,000 – for universities and businesses to prove that their innovations have significant economic potential.
The fund has so far awarded more than £2 million to successful applicants.
Unlike traditional methods of financing, companies which successfully apply to the Advantage Proof of Concept Fund will not have to repay the grant or sacrifice any rights or shareholdings.
Richard Comer, the Advantage Proof of Concept Fund Birmingham node manager, said the funding could boost companies struggling against the credit crunch.
He said: “This fund offers a great opportunity for new and start-up businesses in Birmingham to establish themselves in the marketplace.
“The grants can provide a useful financial boost for companies at a time when alternative sources of funding can be hard to come by.
“There is only a limited amount of funding available so we would encourage business owners to contact us as soon as possible in order to avoid missing out on the chance to develop their ideas and push their organisation towards a successful future.
“We have had some fantastic propositions so far which only underline the creativity and inventiveness of the region.”
An independent Grant Award Panel awards up to 20 grants per month and hopes to have approved more than 200 applications by March 2010.
The fund was set up by the University of Warwick Science Park with capital put up by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund.
It is run as a collaboration between the University of Warwick Science Park, Connect Midlands, the University of Wolverhampton, Malvern Hills Science Park, the Central Technology Belt and the Staffordshire and Black Country Business Innovation Centre.
n For more information contact the Advantage Proof of Concept team at the Birmingham centre on 0845 074 3530.
