Launchpad: immersive & creative, Coventry & Warwickshire
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2m for immersive & creative industries projects around Coventry & Warwickshire.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
23/10/2023
Registration Closes
06/12/2023
Award
MFA strand: single organisations only. Your project’s grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £100,000, which can cover up to 100% of costs. CR&D strand: collaborative projects only. Your project’s total grant funding request must be between £150,000 and £1m, which can cover up to 70% of costs depending on business size.
Organisation
Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is to invest up to £2 million to support innovation projects across the three Launchpad competition strands that target the innovation cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire.
The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands.
This Launchpad competition supports the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper. The projects will contribute to the ambitions of the cluster to develop, fuse and transfer existing research excellence, industrial innovation capability and sectoral strengths. Building market-orientated opportunities in immersive and creative industries.
This competition is split into three strands:
- Launchpad: immersive and creative industries, Coventry and Warwickshire – Round 1 Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA)
- Launchpad: immersive and creative industries, Coventry and Warwickshire – Round 1 Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D)
- Launchpad: Coventry and Warwickshire, Cluster Management
The MFA strand is open to single organisations only, and your project’s grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £100,000. This can cover up to 100% of costs.
The CR&D strand is for collaborative projects, and your project’s total grant funding request must be between £150,000 and £1 million. This can cover up to 70% of costs depending on business size.
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To lead a project in the MFA strand (single applicants) your organisation must:
- be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- be active or growing your work activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands
A business can lead on only one MFA strand application for this competition.
To lead a project in the CR&D strand, your organisation must:
- be a UK registered business of any size
- be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- collaborate with other UK registered organisations
- be active or growing your work activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands
Any UK registered organisation can collaborate in the CR&D strand, on any number of applications.
A business can lead on only one CR&D strand application for this competition, but can be included as a collaborator in any number of applications.
If you apply to the CR&D strand of this competition, as well as this MFA strand, each project must be clearly distinctive and separate. We will monitor closely for this separation if you are awarded funding in both competition strands.
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For the MFA strand, your project must:
- have a total grant funding request of between £25,000 and £100,000
- last between 6 and 12 months
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- start at the earliest on 1 April 2024
- end by 30 April 2025
For the CR&D strand, your project must:
- be collaborative
- have a total grant funding request of between £150,000 and £1 million
- last between 6 and 18 months
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- start at the earliest on 1 April 2024
- end by 30 March 2026
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The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands.
The geographical requirement is set to align this competition to the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Your project must focus on immersive and creative industries.
Your project must lead to increased investment into research and innovation. It must contribute to growing business activities and economic impact in the cluster.
Your proposal must explain how your team and project will contribute to equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in the cluster.
In support of the Government’s Levelling Up goals, we reserve the right to prioritise projects that:
- are shorter in duration
- significantly advance innovation in immersive and creative industries in priority markets
- are led by businesses already based in the innovation cluster
- have greater levels of activity outside the Greater South East
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Your project can focus on developing and applying technologies including one or more of the following:
- digital media
- mixed media
- augmented reality
- virtual reality
- virtual production
- game engine and 3D environments
- simulations and data visualisations
- performance and motion capture
- gesture and facial recognition
Your project can be aimed at application in one or more of the following market sectors and industries:
- creative industries
- video game development
- screen sector
- healthcare
- education
- future mobility
- manufacturing
- retail
- tourism, leisure and sport
These lists are not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this competition you can focus on other technologies, sectors and industries.
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Innovate UK held an online briefing on Wednesday 1 November: click here to watch the recording.
If you would like help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Creative Industries team.
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In considering the eligibility of your proposal you are encouraged to review:
- Warwickshire County Council’s economic growth strategy
- Coventry City Council’s economic growth strategy
- Invest Coventry & Warwickshire
- Coventry & Warwickshire LEP’s Blueprint for Growth
Further information about the cluster was provided in an online briefing event on 1 November: click here to watch the recording.