Finance and support for innovation 
 
Access to the right financial support is widely recognised - both nationally and regionally - as one of the main barriers to growth for ambitious companies. In this page we outline a number of sources of finance and support for innovation available.  
 
Business Link in the South West provides a Grants and Support Directory that allows you to search for potential sources of help with starting up or business development.  
 
Grants and Loans for Innovation 
 
Grant for Research & Development: The grant helps small and medium sized businesses carry out research and development work that will produce technologically innovative products and processes. The South West RDA is now encouraging businesses to come forward and submit proposals.  
Amount available: £20,000 to £75000 for Research Projects and from £5,000 to £200,000 for Development Projects, and up to £500,000 for Exceptional Development Projects. Full project criterea and Closing dates for applications are published at Grant for Research and Development  
 
Research & Development Tax Credits: The aim of the tax credits is to encourage greater R&D spending in order to promote investment in innovation, by reducing a company's tax bill or, for some small or medium sized companies, provide a cash sum. Amount Available: The R&D tax credit works by allowing companies to deduct 150% (under the SME scheme) or 125% (under the large company scheme) of qualifying expenditure on R&D activities when calculating their profit for tax purposes.  
Web: www.hmrc.gov.uk/randd/ 
 
Process and Marketing Grant (PMG): Enables capital investment in processing and marketing of English primary agricultural products. Encouraging farmers to become more competitive, respond to consumer demand, be more innovative and add value to their products.  
Amount Available: £70,000 - £1,200,000 
Web: http://www.defra.gov.uk/funding/schemes/pmg.htm 
 
Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme (SFLGS): Small Business Services (SBS) scheme to guarantee loans from the banks and other financial institutions for small firms that have viable business proposals but who have tried and failed to get a conventional loan because of a lack of security. 
Amount Available: Up to £250,000 
Web: Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme 
 
Equity Funding 
 
South West Ventures Fund: Regional equity fund worth £25million to support the growth of South West Companies.  
Amount Available:£50,000 - £500,000 
Web: www.southwestventures.co.uk 
 
British Venture Capital Association: Sources of funds and professional advice.  
Amount Available:n/a 
Web: www.bvca.co.uk 
 
South West Business Angel and Investor Network (SWAIN): SWAIN is the Regional Business Angel network for the South West. SWAIN is a recently formed business introduction service which will bring together investors and companies seeking equity finance for growth. 
Amount Available: £30,000 - £250,000 
Web: www.swain.org.uk 
 
Investment Ready Service:. Provides a structured support programme to make your business more attractive for equity investment.  
Amount Available: n/a 
Web: Investment Ready 
 
Finance South West: . Provider of loan and equity funding in Objective Two Areas. To see if your business is in a suitable area click here 
Amount Available: Funds available take the form of loans through to equity - £5,000 - £1,000,000 
Web: www.financesouthwest.co.uk 
 
NESTA: Set up to support and promote talent, innovation and creativity in the fields of science, technology and the arts. Looking at filling the funding gap by investing in outstanding ideas at an early stage.  
Amount Available: 
Web: www.nesta.org.uk 
 
Innovation Support Schemes 
 
A number of other schemes exist, provided by a range of stakeholders, to aid companies innovate and grow, some of these are now outlined below. 
 
Support for Research 
 
CORDIS: Official European Commission site with information on funding innovation to exploit RTD results.  
Web: www.cordis.lu/finance 
 
Framework Program Six (FP6): This is a four year (2002-2006) programme worth approximately EUR 17.5 billion and is designed to boost European research and development activity, ensuring scientific results become economic success. Effectively creating a European Research Area (ERA) to enable scientists, user groups and other interested parties to work more closely together.  
Amount Available: 
Web: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/index_en.cfm?p=0 
 
FP6UK: A series of National Contact Points (NCPs) have been established to provide free advice on how to go about the preparation of FP6 proposal. Has been established by DTI Web: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp6/ncp.htm 
 
Collaborative Research 
 
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: A government-funded scheme that enables businesses to access the skills and resources of high quality graduates. Placements can now range from 12-36 months.  
Web: www.ktponline.org.uk 
 
Great Western Research: GWR is a 5-year, £14m initiative which aims to catalyse and drive research collaboration between South West Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in five research themes: Materials, Applied Mathematics, Sustainability (Social Science Perspectives), Psychology and Creative Arts.  
Web: www.greatwesternresearch.ac.uk 
 
EUREKA: A pan-European network for market-oriented, industrial R&D which supports the competitiveness of European companies through international collaboration, in creating links and networks of innovation. The objective is to bring high quality research and development efforts to the market and to use the multiplying effects of co-operation.  
Web: www.eureka.be 
 
Foresight: Brings together key people, knowledge and ideas to look beyond normal commercial time horizons to identify potential opportunities from new science and technologies and actions needed to help realise those opportunities.  
Web: www.foresight.gov.uk 
 
STEP: Shell Technology Enterprise Programme designed to help SMEs develop their potential by utilising the skills of undergraduates at affordable cost. Aimed at businesses that do no need a placement for 2 years, these can run between 4 to 12 weeks, mainly in the summer but also at any time of the year.  
Web: www.step.org.uk 
 
Other Innovation Schemes 
 
Gate2Growth: A unique portal, bringing together a community of entrepreneurs, investors, Service Providers and Innovation Professionals, and several networks supported by the European Commission. 
Web: www.gate2growth.com 
 
Queen's Award: The UK's top awards for business performance.  
Web: www.queensawards.org.uk 
 
Technology Strategy Board: The Technology Strategy Board is a business-focused organisation dedicated to promoting technology-enabled innovation across the UK. It was established as an executive body at arm's length from Government in July 2007 and is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). 
Web: http://www.innovateuk.org/