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Please contact us to discuss how working with Myriad Associates can maximise and secure R&D funding opportunities for your business.
Helping businesses secure and maximise R&D tax credits and grants
Helping businesses secure and maximise R&D tax credits and grants
Grants are a lucrative way of gaining non-repayable funding that can speed up the process of bringing a new product, service or process to market. This in turn can give your company a strong competitive edge, and bring about a healthy bottom line.
There are a number of research and development (R&D) grants on offer for smaller companies looking to commercialise a disruptive idea or cutting-edge innovation.
Well the obvious one is cash in your company’s pocket. But grant funding can also help to attract new investors to your company, as successfully achieving government-backed grants put it in an excellent light.
The R&D costs that these grants can offer are also many and varied. They include staff wages, subcontractor and freelancer costs, expenses such as travel, materials, labour, other R&D-related overheads and more.
Innovate UK is the UK government’s innovation agency. It’s the go-to place for R&D grant funding if your company is looking to finance technological and/or scientific projects that will ultimately make the country more globally competitive.
Innovate UK grants and other supports are open to companies of any size and in any sector, and are run like competitions - only the best applications will ‘win’. A very specific assessment process is used to consider each grant application, which Innovate UK has explained here.
So, putting together the most compelling case that really ticks the boxes is essential (and this is where Myriad Associates comes in).
This type of funding can help companies to:
Take a look at our tips:
Innovate UK regularly launches new competitions and it’s important to know which ones are right for your business. Each one also has very specific criteria, and there’s no point in applying for one that actually isn’t relevant. Again, when you work with the Myriad team we’ll go through your projects and goals to identify which competitions would suit.
Don’t leave it too close to the deadline to apply. Instead, give yourself time to plan your application and avoid rushing through it. Look at previous projects by other companies that have successfully won the funding, and take some inspiration.
How much grant funding do you realistically need? What are your plans for the funding and how will you quantify the success of your project? What scientific or technological challenge is going to be addressed?
Include all your goals and objectives in your application, and make them detailed but concise. Try to avoid too much jargon where possible too.
When you’re looking to develop a brand new product, service or process - or indeed improve an existing one - ask yourself who your consumers will be. What age range are they, and what is their socio-economic status? Also, what is the size of your target market (use data to back this up!) and how are you going to break into it? And what will both your company and the wider field gain from this innovation, in terms of revenue and R&D knowledge? There’s plenty to consider!
It’s easy to wonder if your company or your project is actually relevant to Innovate UK finding streams. Perhaps your ideas are just too bold or too risky?
Well, that’s ok! Innovate UK funding is there to support technical risk, and it’s all about standing out from the crowd. Only the most bold, cutting edge projects will win so don’t be put off.
Innovate UK also offers a range of free resources that companies can use in securing their funding. Together with its partner Knowledge Transfer Network, companies can get help in understanding whether their application idea satisfies the competition scope. They can also receive feedback on their application as it takes shape, and there are briefings and workshops available too.
Throughout our years in business, we’ve found that for first time applicants gaining Innovate UK grant funding isn’t as successful as hoped. And it’s not through a lack of trying. Many have spent weeks painstakingly getting everything down and making sure it’s submitted on time. But unfortunately, it’s all too easy to misunderstand the instructions or go off on a tangent. You can also inadvertently exclude certain details that would have otherwise seriously impressed the judges.
That’s why it’s strongly recommended you work with experienced R&D grant funding specialists like us at Myriad Associates so we can support you.
Our technical and creative skills are second to none. Not only will we work to get to know your company and your R&D project in depth, we’ll then help you select the ideal Innovate UK funding available and see you through to success.
The Myriad Associates team boasts an exceptional track record in achieving a huge range of government-backed R&D grants and funding for business of all sizes. We will help you to put together a claim of the very highest standard offering the best chances of success, so you can make your R&D plans a reality.
You can find more about innovation grants in general on our R&D grants page, as well as on our Innovate UK page. Then when you’re ready, why not call us to discuss your plans and get the ball rolling on 0207 118 6045. Alternatively, please feel free to use our contact page so we can ring you back.
This post was written by Barrie Dowsett who is Chief Executive Officer at Myriad Associates. Click here to read more about Barrie and the Myriad team.
Please contact us to discuss how working with Myriad Associates can maximise and secure R&D funding opportunities for your business.