Funding Competition – Mid and North Wales Launchpad: Cluster Management (UK)

The aim of this competition is to support a cluster management project for the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Mid and North Wales. Your proposal must describe how you will develop and manage this emergent innovation cluster.

Your proposal must demonstrate how you will manage your project for maximum impact in the innovation cluster. The funding will support operational costs for up to 24 months, allowing the innovation cluster to become more impactful as part of Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme.

Specific Themes

Your project can focus on one or more of the following:

• knowledge transfer to encourage the development of innovation and to speed its spread throughout the cluster and supply chains
• strengthening local institutions and aligning around priority innovation programmes
• enable cohort meetings with relevant organisations in your cluster and other regional innovation clusters
• helping to secure private finance for businesses in the innovation cluster, including leverage for public investments
• supply chain development, including the capacity to absorb knowledge and innovation, and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
• producing case studies and promotional campaigns
• integrating the activities of other relevant organisations
• attracting people, businesses and investment into the innovation cluster

Project Size

• Your project’s total grant funding request can be up to £150,000.

Who can apply?

• Your project
  • Your funded project must:
    • have a total grant funding request up to £150,000
    • last up to 24 months
    • carry out all of its project work in the UK, and have its impact in the innovation cluster you select
    • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
    • start at the earliest on 1 December 2024
    • end by 31 March 2027
  • Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.
• Lead organisation
  • To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:
    • be a UK registered business of any size, academic institution, a research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit or public sector organisation
    • demonstrate detailed knowledge of the needs of innovative businesses in the innovation cluster
• Project team
  • To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
    • business of any size
    • academic institution
    • charity
    • not for profit
    • public sector organisation
    • research and technology organisation (RTO)
    • The contribution of project partners must add to the innovation led growth of the cluster.
• Non-funded partners
  • Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example, non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total project costs.
• Subcontractors
  • Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
  • Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
  • All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.