Innovation Loans Open Competition Briefing Event 2019 (Essex)

Innovate UK, the Knowledge Transfer Network and the Enterprise Europe Network are hosting a briefing event for the second of two Open innovation loans competitions in the extension of the award-winning pilot programme, which is currently open for applications here.

Innovate UK is extending its pilot programme of loan competitions. A total of £50 million has been committed to 70 borrowers in the initial pilot and a further £25 million is available for business innovation projects. This is the second competition in the pilot extension. Innovate UK is working to broaden the range of innovation finance support available to businesses, so they can access funding at all stages of innovation. Innovation loans are for UK small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to scale up and grow through innovation, developing new or improved products, processes or services. They can be used for late-stage research and development (R&D) projects, which have not yet reached the point of commercialisation.

The purpose of the briefing event is to provide vital information to enable businesses to decide if an innovation loan is appropriate for them and, if so, to develop a clear and compelling application that shows that they have an innovative project and are suitable for a loan.