Innovating within your business can have great benefits, be that giving you a competitive edge, improving the efficiency of your business, increasing turnover, or solving a problem that will enable further growth. There are also benefits to wider society, and more specifically the economic prosperity of the region.

Solving problems in areas such as sustainability and healthcare, for example, can not only create impactful solutions to some of our biggest challenges, but also in most cases it creates growth in the jobs market. Being aware of the innovation process, and how your business can innovate for growth and new market opportunities is extremely advantageous.

What are the risks?

It’s easy to become accustomed to the way something works and it’s difficult to look at familiar things in a different way. But often, innovation requires more than just a change in mindset. The most obvious hurdle is financial investment. Putting capital towards a project with a high level of unpredictability may not seem feasible and make financial directors and founders resistant to change.

Without external help, businesses in this position are at risk of stagnating, and may be left behind when others in the industry are making advancements in sustainability, efficiency and meeting the needs of the market. To make sure we promote innovation in our region, we must look at the ways in which we can de-risk this process and make it easier for businesses to implement their own innovation projects.

North of Tyne Innovation Recovery Grant

Grant funding is just one of the ways in which we’re able to help. One such example is the North of Tyne Innovation Recovery Grant. Open to businesses across Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle, it offers a 50% contribution towards innovation projects. This is often enough to take the risk out of any cashflow or investment concerns a business might have, helping them complete an innovation project that otherwise would not have progressed.

Providing grants for projects totalling between £10,000 and £20,000, it helps businesses to change something for the better – it could be a new product, an improved service or a new way of working, but it needs to be something the business has never done before. The grant can also support projects that bring something new and innovative to market.



Get funding to bring something new and innovative to your business or the market

The types of projects that could receive funding include:

  • New to business IT equipment that supports new working practices

  • Production machinery that enables a new product to be brought to market

  • Software purchases to help the business work more efficiently

  • CRM purchases to enable the business to operate more efficiently

  • Design, development, coaching or consultancy that supports project delivery

  • Marketing support that helps to bring a new product to market

Aircards

More than 130 businesses have been supported by the North of Tyne Innovation Recovery Grant, one of which is Aircards, a Createch business based in Newcastle that harnesses web-based augmented reality and virtual reality.

When looking at its strategy for international growth, the business found it needed new software and hardware. The grant allowed Aircards to purchase new workstations and specialist software, enabling it to develop and export an innovative patented software platform globally. By removing some of the risk from this project through the North of Tyne Innovation Recovery Grant, Aircards is on its way to meeting set growth targets and has been able to grow the team by hiring local talent.

The Innovation SuperNetwork is delivering the grant in partnership with experienced grant fund managers NBSL on behalf of the North of Tyne Combined Authority. Funded though the North of Tyne Recovery Innovation Fund, the grant was launched in June 2021 to enable a green and sustainable recovery after Covid-19. Projects with the potential to safeguard and create quality jobs, build a more inclusive economy and contribute towards the net zero agenda have all been given funding.

To apply or find out more about how to get 50% grant funding towards innovative projects totalling £10,000 – £20,000, visit: ntca-innovationrecoverygrant.co.uk