Innovative small and medium-sized Bristol firms can apply for grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 to carry out research and development following the relaunch of an established funding programme.
Innovation 4 Growth (I4G) funding totalling £500,000 is available to businesses from across the West of England in all sectors who are developing new products, technologies, processes and services. 
Eligible businesses, which include start-ups, social enterprises and sole traders, can apply for grants covering up to 35% of total project costs. This can take in consultancy, the purchase of equipment, technology, machinery and materials, testing, trials, market assessment and training. Projects must be completed by June next year.
Over the past five years, the UWE Bristol initiative has issued £7.4m of grants to 98 innovative SMEs. These enterprises have, in turn, invested £16m of their own private sector funds into R&D activity and have created or safeguarded more than 900 jobs across the region.
I4G is financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and grant recipients will need to commit to the creation of new jobs in the West of England, so contributing to the area’s economic health.
To be eligible for a grant, the R&D projects must be aimed at developing new products, technologies, processes and services.
The programme opened earlier this week for firms based in the Bristol City, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset council areas. Interested businesses must submit grant applications by midday on Monday July 30.
Expressions of interest can be made online at www.innovation4growth.co.uk
For a confidential discussion about a potential application, or more general information about the scheme, contact the I4G Team on innovation4growth@uwe.ac.uk
The programme is one strand of UWE Bristol’s wider innovation, enterprise and business growth offering in the region. The University Enterprise Zone on its Frenchay Campus houses the Future Space business incubator and Bristol Robotics Laboratory – the UK’s largest multi-disciplinary robotics research centre with its own incubation facilities.
The university’s other ERDF-funded initiatives include Launch Space, which provides desk space and support for graduate entrepreneurs and is also based in the Enterprise Zone, and the Network for Creative Enterprise, operated in partnership with Watershed and offering free workspace and business support in the creative sector.
