£15k investment funding opens for North East businesses

Innovative businesses across the North East could access up to £15k of investment with the launch of new business support programme, Innovate:Grow.

Jointly conceived by Generator and Auxin OKR in May 2018, the latest funding programme, Innovate:Grow, has investment from the North East Innovation Fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

The programme is managed by Northstar Ventures.

It will run two funding cohorts in May and September and is now open to SMEs operating in the North East LEP area across all sectors.

CEO at Generator, Jim Mawdsley said: “We’re pleased to support our region’s innovative businesses with the launch of this new programme of investment which will provide an invaluable platform for future business success.

“What we want to see are ambitious entrepreneurs with interesting and potentially market-disruptive ideas, who are confident in their product and their ability to turn it into a scalable business.”

Applicants with innovative business ideas are asked to apply, along with more established entrepreneurs with proven ideas, now looking to scale their business.

Businesses will have the opportunity to access up to £15k of investment which will provide access to expert business advice covering issues such as how to articulate ideas to potential investors, business processes and planning, as well as best practice.

Innovate:Grow launches on the back of the success of the last North East Innovation Fund supported programme, which saw 50 per cent of businesses from the first cohort go on to be considered for further investment by Northstar.

Alastair Greig, director at Northstar Ventures, added: “We are delighted to be able to support more innovators and start-ups through these kinds of programmes.

“The quality and passion of the entrepreneurs and businesses coming through show how much innovation there is in the region.”

Street data provider, Almere Streets Systems, benefitted from the last programme and has since gone on to expand its work in London and Scotland, whilst consolidating their position as the North East’s most innovative provider of Healthy Streets Data.

For bespoke education intervention provider, Nudge Education, taking part in the previous programme acted as the catalyst to significantly grow the business.

Applications for the new Innovate:Grow programme, powered by Generator and Auxin OKR, are now open.

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