Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, has launched (12 June 2020) the £3m LCR Future Innovation Fund to support businesses in the region to adapt and innovate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delivered through Growth Platform, the new fund will provide grants to support SMEs that have reacted innovatively to the changed business environment created by COVID-19.
Eligible projects must demonstrate alignment to the following priority areas for the LCR:
- Delivering a sustainable industrial future: businesses seeking to take advantage of new opportunities in materials, manufacturing and engineering.
- Open health innovation: business initiatives to enhance health & wellbeing, during and following the pandemic.
- Global cultural capital: activities to support the resilience of LCR’s cultural vibrancy during and following the pandemic.
- Zero carbon economy: businesses pioneering sustainable approaches to living, travel and doing business in a post-pandemic world, for example linking to the circular economy, mitigating single-use plastic and non-reusable PPE.
- Tech for good: businesses that use technology and data to drive growth and improve society, including but not limited to “smart city” applications, high performance computing, data science and AI.
- Digitalisation: initiatives in any other sector that will yield a clear improvement in business productivity, adaptability and/or diversification.
The fund is part of a wider response by the Metro Mayor and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, to re-purpose and re-shape the funding available for businesses. These funds are being made available via the Strategic Investment Fund to meet the needs of the city region’s business community.
The first wave of the fund will provide £1m of funding with grants of between £25,000 and £100,000 available. The deadline to apply is July 6th.
For more information https://growthplatform.org/future-innovation-fund/