Applications open for DCMS Create Growth Programme Competition 4: Small Projects (UK)

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to invest in innovation projects. This programme has a regional focus.

Aims

• The aim of the Create Growth Programme is to provide a package of targeted support to high growth creative businesses, to scale, build investor networks and reach their potential. This funding is designed to help creative businesses explore new innovation projects as a stimulus for growth.

Specific Themes

• The creative industries are defined by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Your project must focus on one or more of the following sub-sectors:
  • advertising and marketing
  • architecture
  • crafts
  • design and designer fashion
  • film
  • television
  • video
  • radio
  • photography
  • IT, gaming, software and computer services
  • publishing
  • museums, galleries and libraries
  • music, performing and visual art

Funding Information

• They have allocated up to £8 million to fund growth focused innovation projects in the Create Growth Programme Competition 4.
• Your total project costs must be between £20,000 and £50,000 and can be funded up to 100%. Total project costs outside the minimum and maximum limits will be deemed ineligible. The application form will not validate your costs.
• This competition strand is for Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) and you can claim up to 100% of your total project costs, subject to your MFA limit.

Ineligible Projects

• They are not funding projects that:
  • support business as usual (BAU) activities
  • are without evidence that the proposed innovation will lead to business growth
  • do not address how potentially negative outcomes will be considered, for example, on the environment
  • are without innovation, for example, the creation of information only websites
  • sit outside of the creative industries
  • are registered or operational outside of the 12 appointed DCMS regions
  • have registered accountants in the region but are not operational in one of the 12 appointed DCMS regions
• They cannot fund projects that:
  • involve primary production in fishery and aquaculture
  • involve primary production in agriculture
  • are not allowed under De minimis regulation restrictions
  • are not eligible to receive Minimal Financial Assistance
  • are dependent on export performance, for example, giving an award to a baker on the condition that they export a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • are dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, if they give an award to a baker on the condition that they use 50% UK flour in their product

Eligibility Criteria

• Your project
  • Your project must:
    • last between three and six months
    • carry out its project work in the UK
    • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
    • start on or after 1 October 2025
    • end by 31 March 2026
• Lead organisation
  • To lead a project your organisation must:
    • be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME)
    • be registered or operational in one of the 12 Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Create Growth Programme appointed regions
    • have a demonstrable ambition for growth
    • be from the creative industries and focused on one or more of the creative industries sub-sectors
  • The 12 DCMS Create Growth Programme appointed regions are:
    • Greater Manchester
    • Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
    • North East of England
    • West of England and Cornwall
    • South East Coast
    • Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Greater Lincolnshire
    • Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
    • Hull and East Yorkshire
    • West Midlands
    • West Yorkshire
    • Devon
    • Hertfordshire

For more information, visit Innovate UK.