Creative, Digital and Design
Business Briefing
July 2018

Contents
Main feature
Innovate UK funding calls
Funding competitions
Upcoming events
Investments
Latest news
Register for updates

Main feature
Opportunities for companies working in immersive
technology are available across the Industrial Strategy
Challenge Fund (ISCF).
There has been a wave of recent
announcements in the Government’s
ISCF. Organisations working in
immersive technologies are well
placed to exploit opportunities.
We’ve produced a handy guide to
the Challenges to help you identify
relevant ones.
READ MORE

Funding
Open grant funding competition round 2
Innovate UK as part of UK Research and Innovation
Opens: 12 July
Closes: 12 September
An investment of up to £20m in the best cutting-edge
or disruptive ideas or concepts with a view to
commercialisation. Applications can come from any
sector and be applied to any part of the economy.
They must be business focused rather than pure
research.
READ MORE

Funding
Creating a network of digital pathology, imaging and
AI centres
Innovate UK as part of UK Research and Innovation
Opens: 6 June
Closes: 1 August
An investment of up to £50m to establish 5-6 centres
of excellence across the UK in digital pathology and/or
medical imaging, including radiology.
READ MORE

Funding
Strength in Places Fund
UK Research and Innovation
Opened: 28 May
Closes: 25 July
An investment of up to £50m for consortia of UK
businesses and publicly funded research organisations
to build on existing research and innovation capability.
They will need to present new activities that have a
demonstrable impact on local economic growth.
READ MORE

Funding
Transforming accountancy, insurance and legal
services with AI and data
UK Research and Innovation
Opened: 18 June
Closes: 15 August
An investment of up to £12m in innovation projects to
support the development of artificial intelligence and
data technology in accountancy, insurance and legal
services.
READ MORE

Funding
Business basics: boosting SME productivity
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy
Opened: 26 June
Closes: 4 September
The government has announced the Business Basics
programme within its Industrial Strategy. Up to £2m is
available to test innovative ways of encouraging micro
and SMEs to adopt existing technologies and business
practices that can boost their productivity. Two
strands of funding are running - proof of concept and a
full-scale trial.
READ MORE

Funding
Connected and autonomous vehicles 4: piloting
passenger services
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
(CCAV)
Opened: 25 June
Closes: 19 September
A share of up to £25m is available for industry-led
collaborative research and development projects that
develop and then pilot CAV services at scale in a UK
setting.
READ MORE

Funding
SBRI: Higher education open data, digital tools for
prospective students
Department for Education
Opened: 25 June
Closes: 8 August
Up to £25,000 is available to develop digital tools using
graduate data and outcomes data to help prospective
higher education students make decisions.
A briefing event for potential applicants is being held
on 18 July.
READ MORE

Funding
Defence and Security Accelerator: open call for
innovation
Defence and Security Accelerator
Opened: 19 March 2018
Closes: 1 March 2019
The open call is looking for innovative ideas to improve
the defence and security of the UK. These could be a
concept, technology, product or service. The aim is to
find novel opportunities to be exploited across the
defence and security sectors.
READ MORE

Funding
Meridian 2: connected vehicles data exchange
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
(CCAV)
Opened: 4 June
Closes: 29 August
Up to £5m is available to develop platforms for the
exchange of connected vehicles data. The aim is to
create the world’s most effective CAV testing
ecosystem.
READ MORE

Funding
Meridian 3: autonomous highway, rural and parking
test facilities
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
(CCAV)
Opened: 4 June
Closes: 29 August
Up to £25m is available to develop CAV testing
infrastructure for autonomous parking and
autonomous driving on rural roads and highways.
READ MORE

Upcoming events
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
6 July, 12:00-12:40 Webinar
Energy Revolution Research
Consortium
9 July, Birmingham
Transport Technology Research
Innovation for International
Development
10 July, 08:00-09:00 Webinar
Energy Revolution Research
Consortium
10 July, Birmingham
Funding Support for Electronic
Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
10 July, London
Funding Support for Electronic
Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
12 July, Manchester
Sustainable Aviation Fuel for Clean
Growth
12 July, Birmingham
Transport Technology Research
Innovation for International
Development
12 July, 14:00-15:00 Webinar

Upcoming events
Early Detection of Cancer In-vitro
Diagnostics
13 July, London
Innovation Loans Open
Competition Briefing
23 July, Cambridge
Innovation Loans Open
Competition Briefing
24 July, London
Innovation Loans Open
Competition Briefing
26 July, Leeds
Robots and AI for Agriculture
26 July, London
Innovation Loans Open
Competition Briefing
27 July, Liverpool
Innovation Loans Open
Competition Briefing
30 July, Nottingham
Innovation Loans Open
Competition Briefing
31 July, Bath

Upcoming events
Digital Business Drop-in
6 September, London
Gov-tech Conference: Connecting
Innovation
9 October, London
Keep up-to-date with KTN events here

Investment
Private Investment Directory
Digital Refer now includes more than 250 organisations
that provide private investment to digital and creative
businesses in the UK including:
• Accelerator programmes
• Business incubators
• Start-up studios
• Venture Capital funds
• Angel investor networks
• Corporate Venture Capital firms
READ MORE

Latest news
The Immersive Economy in the
UK Report Launched
The first ever report mapping the
UK’s immersive specialist businesses
has been launched by Immerse UK. It
quantifies and describes a fast-
growing, confident and export-
intensive industry that is already
adding economic value to the UK.
READ MORE

Latest news
Knife Crime Market Exploration
The Defence and Security Accelerator
and the Home Office are scoping the
potential for an innovation challenge
addressing knife crime. In 2017 knife
crime rose by 22% across England
and Wales. The Home Office is
interested in solutions to detect
people carrying knives in open-
spaces and crowds.
READ MORE

Latest news
4Manufacturing Site Launch
KTN launched 4Manufacturing at the
recent International Business
Festival. The site is designed to help
manufacturers manage their first
steps into digital manufacturing.
READ MORE

Latest news
nDreams Case Study
With its game Shooty Fruity, a leading
VR games developer has taken
checkouts to a whole new level. The
first shoot ‘em up game from
nDreams has received phenomenal
reviews and will launch globally later
this year.
READ MORE

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