A summary of useful funding, support and research for UK digital businesses for October 2014.

1. Digital Business Briefing
October 2014

2. What is this briefing?
• A digest of useful information for UK digital
businesses seeking funding and support,
updated every month
• Brought to you by the following organisations:

3. Contents
• Public funding calls
• Other public funding
• Private financing
• Other financing mechanisms
• Non-financial support for your business
• Relevant events
• Other information
• Useful reports

4. Open funding calls
IC tomorrow Connected Cities
Key feature: Grant funding to work with industrial partners to develop
new solutions for connected cities
Scale:
• Up to £35k grants, 100% funded
• Specifically for micro, small or medium sized businesses
Closes: 14th October 2014
More info on innovateuk.org

5. Public funding calls
Innovation Vouchers
Key feature: Innovation voucher scheme funding for start-up, micro, small
and medium-sized enterprises to work with an external expert to gain the
knowledge to innovate and grow.
Scale:
• Up to £5k funding for SMEs
Closes: on 22 October 2014
More info on innovateuk.org

6. Public funding calls
Food open data challenge
Key feature: A grant to use available open data to develop products and
services to support people to make better choices with their food.
Scale:
• Finalists receive £5k
• A “Grand prize” of up to £40k for successfully evidenced services
Closes: 27th October 2014
More info on Nesta website

7. Open funding calls
Design the Future
Key feature: Researching how designers use the integration of new
engineering and technologies leading to develop future products and
processes.
Scale:
• Up to £3m to fund a number of small, feasibility-style projects (up
to £300,000 and 18-months duration)
Closes: on 29 October 2014
More info on epsrc.ac.uk

8. Open funding calls
Digital Healthcare Innovation
Key feature: The fund is for small creative and digital businesses
(SMEs) with innovative concepts or prototypes using digital
technology to improve patient care and health services in areas such
as dementia, social care, and cardiovascular and medication
management.
Scale:
• £1m over four programmes – £250 per programme, x5
investments of £50k per programme
Closes: 31st October, 2014 (West Midlands Interactive Healthcare
Fund – 1st programme)
More info on creativeengland.co.uk

9. Public funding calls
Horizon 2020 ICT-19-2015
Key feature: R&D funding of new or emerging technologies (e.g. 3D and
augmented reality technologies) for digital content creation to support the
creative and media industries and for unlocking complex information and
media and interacting with them.
Scale: €561,000,000
Opens:15th October 2014 Closes: 14th April 2015
Further info: Horizon 2020 website, UK list of National Contact Points for
Horizon 2020 and the Enterprise Europe Networks

10. Public funding calls
Horizon 2020 ICT-20-2015
Key feature: This challenge encourages public procurement of innovative
solutions to address the needs of the digital learning ecosystem in making
better use of educational cloud solutions, mobile technology, learning
analytics and big data, and to facilitate the use, re-use and creation of
learning material and new ways to educate and learn online.
Scale: €561,000,000
Opens:15th October 2014 Closes: 14th April 2015
Further info: Horizon 2020 website, UK list of National Contact Points for
Horizon 2020 and the Enterprise Europe Networks

11. Public funding calls
"Smart" grants for start-ups and small businesses
Key feature: A grant scheme which offers funding to small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in the strategically
important areas of science, engineering and technology.
Scale:
• Proof of market - up to £25k - 60% of project cost
• Proof of concept - up to £100k - 60% of project cost
• Prototype development - up to £250k - up to 45% of project cost
Closes: 27th November 2014
More info on innovateuk.org

12. Public funding calls
An integrated future for cities
Key feature: large-scale SBRI contracts to encourage new ways of
achieving better integration of infrastructure and services across a
city. Contracts will be to develop prototypes, must link up cities and
will enable users to interact with multiple models to tackle different city
problems.
Scale:
• Contracts of between £1.5 - 2m – 100% funded
• Single contract, but able to sub-contract out work
Closes: registration closes on 7 January 2015
More info on innovateuk.org

13. Public funding calls
Social Seed Fund
Key feature: Funding and mentoring support for new digital ventures for
social impact
Scale:
• Between £15-50k
• A “Grand prize” of up to £40k for successfully evidenced services
Opened: 22nd September 2014
Closes: on-going
More info on Nominet Trust website

14. Public funding calls
Nesta Impact Investment
Key feature: An equity investment fund investing in social ventures with
innovative products or services that are addressing some of the UK’s most
pressing challenges. Investments are made in areas that tackle:
• the health and wellbeing of an ageing population
• the educational attainment and employability of children and young people
• the social and environmental sustainability of communities.
Scale: between £150k - £1m
Closes: on-going
More info on Nesta Investments

15. Other public funding
Funding Central and Finance Finder websites
Key features: Online guide to over 4,000 grants, contracts and other
forms of finance:
• Fully searchable based on finance type, scale and your
geographical location
• Constantly updated – especially good for businesses seeking
charitable or grant funding
More info on Funding Central and Finance Finder

16. Private financing
Connect Ventures, London – invest in mobile, internet and digital media
businesses; invest at the early stage and focus on seed investments;
investment size ranges from £200K-£600k
Edge Investments, London - specialist investment house focused on the
creative industries sector, in particular media and entertainment, which has
raised more than £145m since launch
Growth Accelerator, Cornwall – provided by some of the UK’s leading
growth specialists; works with businesses from a diverse range of sectors;
key eligibility criteria include fewer than 250 employees and annual turnover
under £40m
Index Ventures, London, San Francisco & Geneva – venture capital firm
making investments in information technology and life sciences companies,
since 1996 they have teamed up with technology entrepreneurs in more
than 30 countries

17. Private financing
Ingenious Media, London – a UK media investment and advisory group with
operating divisions of Investments, Ventures, Asset Management and
Corporate Finance; since 1998 they have raised and invested over £9bn in
the media and entertainment, clean energy and real estate sectors
Notion Capital, London – invest in B2B Cloud & SaaS companies who have
sustained 100% Year-over-Year growth; investment areas include adtech,
communications and collaboration tools, ecommerce, enterprise software,
fintech and security; portfolio raised over £200m in 2014
Silicon Valley Bank – global bank dedicated to the innovation sector with
focus on technology businesses; have supported clients such as Shazam,
The Foundry and Cambridge Broadband Networks

18. Other financing mechanisms
Crowdfunder.co.uk – UK’s largest crowdfunding network having launched
1000’s of projects and raised over £2m, platform launched by KEO digital
and partners include Nesta and Plymouth University
Funding Circle – an online marketplace which allows savers to lend money
directly to SMEs; the first site to use peer-to-peer lending for business
funding in the UK; as of February 2014 Funding Circle has facilitated £223
in loans to SMEs
Kickstarter.com – a global crowdfunding platform based in the United
States; the company’s stated mission is to help to bring creative projects to
life; since launching in 2009, 7m people have pledged $1bn, funding 70,000
creative projects
Seedcamp is a London based accelerator that provides startups with seed
money, mentorship, office space, support over a year long programme.

19. Launching a new digital business?
• The Open Data Institute runs a start-up programme that helps
start-ups build business models around open data
• Tech City UK offers advice and support to start-ups looking for
guidance in and around London. It has just launched its Digital
Business Academy. Tech City UK can also endorse visa
applications to help recruit talent to Britain.
• Innovate UK - IC tomorrow connects start-ups and SMEs with
leading commercial partners and investors, through funded
contests, events, and strategic matchmaking opportunities.
• Transmit Start Ups provide financial support and mentoring to
creative and digital entrepreneurs that would not normally be
available via traditional banking relationships.

20. Are you an existing digital business
seeking non-financial advice or support?
• Nesta runs a creative business mentor network for digital
businesses looking to grow
• The UKTI offers advice to help with exporting
• Tech City UK can help advise on inward investment
• The British Business Angels Association can help put you
in touch with relevant business angel investors
• The Digital Catapult can help you showcase your business

21. Are you an existing digital business
seeking advice or support?
• Subsidised costs to work with a specialist to build and
deliver business growth – GrowthAccelerator
• Use the IP Health check to identify commercial IP in your
business
• AngelList – helps source angel investors

22. Training and skills
Develop your skills with these world-class courses:
• Training in Open Data from the Open Data Institute
• Digital Project Management – via @IABUK
• Digital Acceleration – 22-24th October via @hyperisland_uk
• Digital training – via @Econsultancy – e-marketing courses

23. Relevant events in October
• AOP Autumn Conference - London 9th October
• Play Expo – Manchester 11th-12th October
• Bar Camp Manchester – Manchester 18th-19th October
• TechCrunch Disrupt Europe – London 20th October
• User-Centred Design conference (UCD2014) – London 24-25th October
• Bristol digital events – via @goramandvincent
• Wired Sussex events – via @WiredSussex
• Manchester events – via @McrDig
• For all events in and around London, check out Tech City News

24. Other information
• The Digital Catapult Centre opens its doors on November 5th. The
Centre will be the cornerstone of the Connected Digital Economy
Catapult and the many new collaborations it convenes between
business, universities and other digital stakeholders.
• The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) recently published
their Startup Manifesto setting out 24 ways the next government
should make Britain a world leader in digital innovation.
• Tech City UK launches Tech Nation Survey to map the UK’s digital
economy.
• As of 19th August 2014 video games companies across the UK can
now claim corporation tax relief for the production of games
qualifying under new cultural test regulations. Ask your accountant
for more details.

25. Useful reports
• Communications Market report 2014 – via @Ofcom: supporting
Ofcom’s regulatory goal to research markets and to remain at the
forefront of technological understanding, this is their eleventh
annual Communications Market report.
• Digital landscape report via @ukaop (membership required)
• Making Sense of the UK Collaborative Economy – via @nesta_uk
and Collaborative Lab: examines the progress and potential of
the UK's collaborative economy, who is operating and
participating in it, and how it can be supported and managed.

26. Something else we've missed?
Please let us know, plus sign up for monthly updates at:
digitaleconomy@ktn-uk.org