Funding Opportunities

The Sustainable Construction iNet specialises in helping to achieve growth by providing one-to-one, tailored advice and hands-on guidance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the East Midlands. Funding and advice is available to all businesses and organisations that meet specific criteria through sector specific Business Advice, Funding and Collaboration.

Business AdviceBusiness Advice

Innovation Advisors at the Sustainable Construction iNet can help SMEs develop new contacts to progress ideas, as well as with business plans and assistance with a long term strategy, providing a practical framework to manage further innovation generation.

Business Advice is free to interested companies that must:

  • Be based in the East Midlands region
  • Be working on a product or service that will assist the low carbon construction sector and need assistance and/or contacts to progress their idea
  • Be operating commercially in construction or an associated industry sector such as mining, quarrying, waste management, energy or water or in the professional services such as architectural or surveying practice

Contact an Advisor

Funding OpportunitiesInnovation Support Funding

The Sustainable Construction iNet can help support businesses with direct Innovation Support Funding (ISF) worth up to £10,000. This is in the form of match-funding i.e. SMEs match the value of the grant with an equivalent amount of money. If appropriate, innovation advisors can also signpost additional funding from other bodies such as the Technology Strategy Board and Future Factory.

Funding is available to SMEs who:

  • Are based in the East Midlands region
  • Are working on a product or service that will assist the low carbon construction sector and need funding to progress their product or service
  • Have less than 250 employees and turnover less than €50 million
  • Operating commercially in construction or an associated industry sector such as mining, quarrying, waste management, energy or water or in the professional services such as architectural or surveying practice.

Contact an Advisor

 

CollaborationCollaborative Research & Development

The Sustainable Construction iNet can provide funding support for East Midlands’ innovation and business-driven research and development (R&D) projects. Led by an East Midlands Higher Education Institute (HEI), the current collaboration funding (September 2011 – March 2013) available is worth up to £125,000 per project in the form of 50% match-funding, enabling businesses to work with HEIs and other research organisations to develop products or services with commercial potential. Through Collaboration funding, the iNet aims to facilitate larger scale projects to provide information that is beneficial to the low carbon construction sector to benefit the region’s economy.

Funding is available for collaboration projects that:

  • Involve one or more of the East Midlands’ Universities
  • Involve and be of benefit to at least one East Midlands’ SME
  • Secure additional leverage funding, up to ten times the value of grant support from other public sector sources
  • Are part-funded by the collaborating organisations
  • Demonstrate economic benefits for the region

Contact an Advisor