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Creative, Digital & Design Business Briefing
A digest of useful information for UK businesses seeking funding and support, updated monthly
September 2015
@KTN_Creative
Brought to you by the following organisations:
Contents• KTN events• Other events• Public funding calls• Other public funding• Public investment• Accelerator programmes• Private financing • Other financing mechanisms• Launching a new business?• Non-financial support for your business • Training & skills• Useful reports
09:30-15:00, Wednesday 3 September – Digital Catapult Centre, 101 Euston Rd, Kings Cross, London NW1 2RA
The Research Councils UK (RCUK) Digital Economy Theme and the cyber security strand of the Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security are investing up to £10 million to support user-driven and interdisciplinary research that solves real problems in the broad areas of trust, identity, privacy and security. To facilitate collaboration KTN are hosting this brokerage event aimed at both academics and users.
More info and how to register available here.
Trust Identity, Privacy and Security Research Funding
09:30-15:00, Thursday 4 September – Digital Catapult Centre, 101 Euston Rd, Kings Cross, London NW1 2RA
Distributed-ledger technology refers to the use of an electronic ledger that has no central repository; the ledger is distributed between multiple nodes on a network providing an electronic transaction record of integrity without need for a central authority. Entrepreneurs and innovators are now beginning to deploy these techniques beyond Bitcoin and unlock the broader potential. This event will bring businesses, researchers and public services together to explore the opportunities and challenges of distributed ledger technologies.
More info and how to register available here.
Personal Data & Trust - Distributed Ledger Technologies
12:30-15:00, Wednesday 16 September – 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.
More info on: Digital Catapult
Digital Business Drop-In
11:00-14:30, Thursday 17 September – Techhub Swansea, 11 Wind St, Swansea SA1 1DP
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.
More info and how to register available here.
Regional Digital Business Drop-In
Thursday, 24 September 2015 from 09:30 to 16:00 at Ambassadors Bloomsbury, 12 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0HX Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) as one of the core technology platform for IoT plays a key role on the recent development of ‘smart things’ over a wide range of social and industrial sectors, from ‘smart wearable’ to ‘smart home’ to ‘smart cities’, from ‘smart Labs’ to ‘smart factories’.
This workshop brings together the user community, WSNs providers, and WSNs research community in urban living and health sectors, to share their knowledge on challenges, technology needs, and technology in development, and to identify news opportunities important to the WSNs businesses in the UK.
More info and how to register available here.
Wireless Sensors Network in Urban Living and Health Workshop
12:00 Friday 25 September – 16:00 Sunday 27 September at Wallacespace, 18 Clerkenwell Green , London EC1R 0DP MODHack is a unique opportunity to collaborate with software developers, data scientists and innovators to develop ideas and solutions for mining of the Deep Web, using a range of open source tools and services and build something that has the potential to support the national security of the UK.
All you need do is bring your laptop and be up for it! Please note dstl/MOD will not have a claim on any Intellectual Property you create. You build it, you keep it. Support will be given to the most promising proofs of concept to get a market ready MVP.
More info and how to register available here.
MODHack - Mining the Deep Web
17:30 – 20:30 Wednesday 30 September – Urban Innovation Centre, Future Cities Catapult, One Sekforde St, London EC1R 0BE Innovate UK's IC tomorrow programme, in partnership with the Knowledge Transfer Network, is hosting an exclusive Smart Spaces Speed Networking event to connect leading industry partners with entrepreneurs developing innovative sensors and analytics solutions to better manage resources, deliver services more effectively, and enhance experiences for their customers.
How to apply: If you are a digital company and would like to be considered for this opportunity or are an established brand and would like to attend as an industry partner further details, more info on IC tomorrow.
Smart Spaces Speed Networking
Other Events
Interlaced 2015 – London 3, September
Next steps for creative industries in Scotland – Edinburgh, 8September
UX Cambridge 2015 – Cambridge, 9 September
Venturefest Scotland – Glasgow, 9 September
VRTGO Labs Demo Day – Gateshead, 10 September
Mind the Product – London, 10-11 September
London Design Festival – London, 19-27 September
Other Events contd.Artful Spark – London 15 September
IOT – Internet of Things or Islands of Things? – Cambridge, 16 September
Funding for Innovation for Creative and Cultural Enterprises –22 September, Brighton
GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit 2015 – 24 September, Birmingham
The Technology Expo – London, 5-6 October
Power to the Pixel: The Cross-Media Forum – London 13-15 October
Innovate 2015 – London, 9-10 November
Public funding calls
Key feature: Investment by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in a single collaborative R&D project to demonstrate the capability of the Internet of Things (IoT) in a city region. Projects must be collaborative and led by a local authority or local enterprise partnership (or an equivalent body outside England). Projects should involve at least one local authority, one local enterprise partnership and several businesses.Scale: up to £10m
Closes: 23 September 2015 More info on: innovateuk.org
Internet of Things - cities demonstrator
Public funding calls
Key feature: The challenge from the Home Office’s Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT), is to improve the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of recovering and automatically analysing data from the seized digital devices of suspects under investigation.Scale: up to £300K
Briefing event: A competition briefing event will be held on 14 September in London - click here to register.
Closes: 7 October 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
Digital forensics
Public funding calls
Key feature: The purpose of this call for research proposals is to identify innovative technologies or approaches to meet the security challenges created by the Internet of Things.
Scale: Up to £1 million is available for phase 1 of this competition. A number of projects will be funded between £60,000 to £90,000 for a duration of around 3 months. Up to a further £1 million will be made available for phase 2. Funding will be considered on a per-project basis. Closes: 29 October 2015
More info: innovateuk.org
Security for the internet of things
Public funding calls
Key feature: investment by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in collaborative R&D projects and feasibility studies (delivered by Innovate UK on behalf of BIS) to stimulate developments in autonomous vehicles and connected transport systems.
Scale: up to £20m
Closes: 23 September 2015
More info: innovateuk.org
Connected and autonomous vehicles
Public funding calls
Key feature: Investment in collaborative R&D projects to catalyse innovation to improve the efficiency and experience of the end-to-end journey for people and freight.
Scale: Up to £1 million
Briefing events: Register here for the Manchester event on 17 September and here for the Edinburgh event on 22 September.
Closes: 11 November, 2015
More info: innovateuk.org
Enhancing the end-to-end journey
Public funding calls
Key feature: This Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) themed competition seeks to address the challenge of providing information about the layout and situation inside a building using novel techniques, remotely.
Scale: £650,000 of funding is available for this Phase 1 competition.
Closes: 10 September 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
What’s inside that building?
Public funding calls
Key feature: This CDE themed competition seeks research proposals for innovative approaches to improve the way humans interact with data to allow them to understand what’s going on in cyberspace.
Scale: £500,000 of funding is available for Phase 1 of this competition.
Closes: 10 September 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
Understand and interact with cyberspace
Public funding calls
Key feature: Investment in collaborative research and development projects to stimulate innovation in response to Malaysia’s urbanisation challenges.
Scale: Up to £14.4m
Closes: 30 September 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
Malaysia-UK Research and Innovation Bridges Competition
Public funding calls
Key feature: investment by Innovate UK and the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT) in collaborative research and development projects to stimulate innovation across three sectors that underpin future Mexican socio-economic growth.
Scale: Up to £6 million
Applicant briefing recording is available here. The passcode to access this recording Mexico. Applicants are strongly recommended to view these alongside the other competition documentation.
Closes: 27 January, 2016
More info: innovateuk.org
Mexico-UK Collaborative Industrial R&D Competition
Public funding calls
Key feature: Innovate UK is to invest up to £10 million in collaborative research and development and feasibility studies to accelerate the commercialisation of highly innovative technologies for civil aerospace.
Scale: Up to £10m
Closes: 9 September 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
Game-changing technologies for aerospace
Public funding calls
Key feature: Investment in feasibility studies to stimulate innovation across four enabling technology areas that underpin future UK growth: advanced materials; biosciences; electronics, sensors and photonics; and information and communication technology (ICT).
Scale: up to £3m
Closes: 2 September 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
Technology inspired innovation
Public funding calls
Key feature: IC tomorrow’s ‘Quantified Self Innovation Contest’ will offer up to £175K to businesses to explore and encourage innovation around health and wellbeing. Through a range of challenges, including themes of nutrition, older people, younger people, mental health and data capture, IC tomorrow are looking for innovative proposals from companies with digital solutions relevant to these themes.
Briefing events: These will give applicants the opportunity to hear more about each individual challenge and network with the industry challenge partners. Register now:
London, 21 September & Online Webinar, 21 September
Cambridge, 22 September
Quantified Self Innovation Contest
Public funding calls
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. All calls will be published in October 2015.
Info days: ICT 2015 – Lisbon, 20-22 OctoberThe key EC Info Day of 2015 for all calls under ICT (under which many are relevant to creative, digital and design businesses). A great way to meet potential partners, programme officers and to find out more about calls. Registration is free but fills up fast.
KTN will be running a number of events in London & Europe in 2015-16 to help UK businesses learn more about relevant calls and find consortia partners. More info on the KTN Creative, Digital & Design portal including our ‘Guide to Horizon 2020 and Other European Funding for the Creative Industries’.
H2020
Public funding calls
Key feature: Innovation voucher scheme funding for start-up, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to work with an external expert to gain the knowledge to innovate and grow.
Scale:
• Up to £5k voucher for SMEs
Closes: 20 October 2015, 12:00
More info on: innovateuk.org
Innovation Vouchers – Round 13
Public funding calls Smart 2015/16 – Round 3Key feature: A grant scheme which offers funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology.Scale:• Proof of market - up to £25k - 60% of project cost• Proof of concept - up to £100k - 60% of project cost• Prototype development - up to £250k - up to 45% of
project costCloses: 24 September 2015
More info on: innovateuk.org
Creative England film production fundingKey feature: Creative England now offers two strands of film production funding for both feature and high-end TV drama.
• Lottery-based Production Fund: this is targeted at feature films with budgets of up to £2m and looking to experiment with innovative approaches; the fund has doubled from £500K to £1m for 2014/2015.
• West Midlands Production Fund: invests in the production of feature films and high-end TV drama from companies based in the West Midlands as well as from producers looking to establish a base to film in the region. Circa £4m funding available for 2015, with a maximum investment of £1m per project.
More info at creativeengland.co.uk
Public funding calls
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.
• Screen Yorkshire – Yorkshire Content Fund – production finance available; can invest £1m+ in individual film or TV dramas that will be in production by December 2015.
Other public funding• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
Public Investment
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 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
Open Data Incubator Europe (ODINE) – Round 3
Key feature: ODINE offers financial support to European innovators to grow their open-data idea into a sustainable business. Project proposals from SMEs working with open data are being assessed every two months from 1 May 2015 to 31 August 2016. All proposals are assessed by a panel of external reviewers and selected projects will run for up to six months.
Scale: up to £100K per company plus: expert advice from business mentors, peer-networking and support, brokering introductions to business angels and investors.
Closes: 31 October, 2015
More info on: opendataincubator.eu
Accelerator Programmes• Sheffield Smart Lab invites entrepreneurs and start-ups to
develop and demonstrate their pioneering solutions helping promote Sheffield as a city of innovation. Up to 10 winning teams will be selected to join the Sheffield Smart Lab programme, starting January 2016. Submissions close 30 September 2015.
• Launched by the Design Council and MedCity, and supported by Axa PPP Healthcare, the MedTechSouthEast programme offers south-east based individuals and teams with a technology at proof of concept stage a chance to compete for one of ten places on the intensive coaching course, which will be led by design experts and medical technology industry leaders. Deadline to submit proposals: Friday 23 October.
Private financingBalderton 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
Apply now for Truestart’s startup accelerator programme ‘The Collection’ aimed at retail / consumer entrepreneurs - £25,000-£50,000 per business, deadline to apply 20 September 2015
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, expertise from over a million members in businesses, finance providers and advisory firms and organisations
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.
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; the first site to use peer-to-peer lending for business funding in the UK; 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
Launching a new business?
• The Open Data Institute runs a start-up programme that helps start-ups build business models around open data
• 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.
• Transmit Start Ups provide financial support and mentoring to creative and digital entrepreneurs that would not normally be available via traditional banking relationships.
Launching a new business?• AIM Start Up Loans - Government supported start-up loans
for the Creative Industries.
• Seedcamp is a London based accelerator that provides startups with seed money, mentorship, office space, support over a year long programme.
• The British Business Angels Association can help put you in touch with relevant business angel investors.
• Fintech Innovation Lab is a 12-week mentoring programme run by Accenture and other leading UK financial service institutions; apply by 18 Sep 2015.
• With a focus on the Internet of Things and Smart Cities PITCH@PALACE BOOTCAMP will take place in London on 14 October – apply by 25 September for opportunity to pitch.
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?• Subsidised costs to work with a specialist to build
and deliver business growth – GrowthAccelerator
• Use the IP Health check to identify commercial IP in your business
• AngelList – helps source angel investors
• 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
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
Develop your skills with these world-class courses:
Useful reports/ market research• Ofcom – The Communications Market 2015
• Nesta – A guide to successful corporate-startup collaborations
• UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKES) – Skills & performance challenges in the digital & creative sector
• KTN – A Guide to Horizon 2020 and Other European Funding for the Creative Industries
• Social Media Examiner – Social Media Marketing 2015
• APX – ‘The Periodic Table of Wearable Technology’
• Next Big Sound – ‘Data to Date: The Rapid Rise of Social and Streaming’
