The next stop on the Catax Grant Tour brings us to Q2 2022 — April to June.
This is our second quarterly bulletin serving up a rundown of all the best funding opportunities with closing dates over the next three months.
This time there are SEVEN grants to look out for, spanning areas as diverse as the biomedical, automotive, hydrogen and energy efficiency sectors. If any of these strike you as grant calls you need to be involved in, scroll to the bottom and get in touch — winning grant applications can take months to prepare but can transform your business forever.
Grant: Biomedical Catalyst 2022 Round 1
Maximum grant value: £2million
Deadline: 25th May 2022
This industry-led R&D competition is aimed at smaller UK healthcare businesses and is open to single applicants or collaborations. The remit is a broad one — you can apply if you’re working on any innovative health or healthcare-related product or technology. The lead or sole applicant must be a UK-registered micro business or SME. Beyond that, their partners can be larger companies, academic institutions, Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), charities, not-for-profits or public sector organisations.
Grant: Horizon Europe: Innovative Europe — European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator
Maximum grant value: €2.5million (approx £2.1million)
Deadline: 15th June 2022
This is a fantastic example of how grant funding is used to get projects off the ground that would otherwise struggle to secure the necessary finance from the private sector.
This European Innovation Council fund supports start-ups and SMEs working to create revolutionary tech and high-impact innovations. This scheme isn’t afraid of taking on riskier projects. It is even open to individuals who haven’t launched their start-up yet but have big plans when they do. Established businesses can also apply but applications from small mid-cap companies will only succeed where they have fewer than 500 employees and need funds to facilitate rapid scale-up (ie Technology Readiness Level 9).
Grant: Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF)
Maximum grant value: Discretionary
Deadline: 29/04/2022 (next deadline expected to be September 2022)
This grant helps businesses cut their energy use and emissions. It is open to companies of any size in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that want to transition to a low carbon future through energy efficiency. It will particularly suit those working in energy-intensive industries. Applicants can collaborate with other companies, research organisations, academic institutions, Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), charities and public sector organisations.
Grant: Energy Entrepreneurs Fund: phase 9 (EEF9)
Maximum grant value: £1million
Deadline: 11th May 2022
If you’re working in the fields of power generation, heat generation, energy storage, energy efficiency and energy security then this is the grant for you. EEF is now in its ninth round and has already awarded around £100million to 214 cutting-edge businesses developing low carbon technologies. The latest round is worth £10million with £1million guaranteed to be awarded to projects in Cornwall in recognition of its role in hosting the G7 summit in 2021. The EEF is open to businesses of all sizes but is primarily intended to help SMEs, including start-ups. Successful applicants will also receive Acceleration Support together with their grant to help them reach commercialisation.
One of Catax’s clients has already been successful in the last round of this grant scheme.
Grant: Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme
Maximum grant value: Discretionary
Deadline: Opens in April, deadline yet to be confirmed
Full details of this grant are still to be published. What we do know is that this Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) scheme will support UK businesses seeking to bring hydrogen into wider use as an industrial fuel.
Grant: Smart Grants
Maximum grant value: £1.4million
Deadline: 13th April 2022, next deadline expected to be June
UK-registered organisations can bid for a share of up to £25million for disruptive, business-focused and commercially-viable R&D projects. These can be new products, processes or services in any sector. Future rounds will be restricted to businesses targeting fast commercialisation, growth and exports so, if you wouldn’t meet these tests, you haven’t got long to get your application in. The project must be carried out in the UK and applications are welcomed from UK-based businesses of any size and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs). However, sole applicants must be SMEs and, if collaborating, there must be an SME within the partnership. Collaborators can be UK-based businesses, academic organisations, charities, Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) or public sector organisations.
Grant: Automotive Transformative Fund (ATF)
Maximum grant value: Discretionary
Deadline: 20th April 2022 (Round 20)
The ATF is a £1billion fund designed to accelerate the UK’s switch to electric vehicles. The fund is a key cornerstone of the government’s strategy to reach net zero and provides support for investment in the key technology areas of batteries, fuel cells, motors, drives and power electronics. The fund is designed for those businesses seeking support for large scale, capital-focused products.
Get in contact with Karen Taylor, Catax’s Group Head of Grants, at karen.taylor@catax.com.