Innovation Vouchers are distributed through a programme of activity managed by Aston University, in partnership with Birmingham City University.
An Innovation Voucher is up to £2,500 of part-funding offered to eligible companies by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to spend on business innovation and business growth activities.
The Innovation Vouchers programme targets SMART specialisation sectors in the West Midlands Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. It aims to develop new processes and systems to improve the efficiency of small to medium-sized companies (SMEs), helping them bring new products and services to market faster.
The Voucher
The value of the Innovation Voucher is matched by the recipient with a £1 contribution for every £1 received, creating a total business innovation fund of £5,000.
As well as financial support, the scheme offers access external to expertise with knowledge base organisations (research institutes) to support and deliver innovation projects.
Workshops
Innovation workshops are also available through the innovations vouchers programme, helping companies become more competitive and able to manage business innovation and growth more effectively. The workshops are funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and therefore eligible companies can participate for free.
To find out more, visit www.innovation-vouchers.com
- Eligibility
Businesses that meet the following criteria can apply:
- Located in one of the target LEP areas
- Have received less than Euros 200,000 de minimis state aid in the last three years
- Meet the European Union definition of a small and medium sized enterprise i.e. employ less than 250 full time staff (or equivalent), have an annual turnover of no more than 50 million euros and/or annual balance sheet no more than 43 million euros
- Able to contribute a minimum of £2,500 to match fund the grant
- Meet the eligibility guidelines for use of the Innovation Voucher
- Suitable Business Types
- Start-ups of all sizes, whether or not VAT registered
- Self-employed and sole traders
- Partnerships/limited liability partnerships
- Companies (private or public limited companies; private unlimited companies)
- Independent spin-outs from established businesses, universities and other research and development organisations
- Not-for-profit companies, co-operatives, community enterprises, social enterprises
- Farm enterprises
- New to the region branches of businesses which remain established elsewhere in the UK (i.e. expansions)
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) bringing new enterprises to the region; time investment and subsequent expansions
- Eligible Activities
- New product/service development and new service delivery
- Customer interface
- Process improvement
- Market research
- Innovation planning and business model development
- Quality improvement
- Supply chain management and logistics
- Exploiting advanced information technologies
- Ineligible Activities
- Marketing and web design
- Travel expenses/subsistence
- General business expenses
- Property expenses
- Professional fees
For the full list, please visit: www.innovation-vouchers.com/eligible-activities-2/
- Eligible Sectors
Priority sectors
- Advanced Manufacturing including Automotive and Aerospace
- Low Carbon
- ICT
- Digital and Creative
- Life Science
Districts covered
- Birmingham
- Solihull
- Redditch
- Bromsgrove
- Wyre Forest (based upon Kidderminster)
Companies from priority sectors will be given priority access to grants. To find out more, visit https://www.innovation-vouchers.com/faqs/
Staff
Programme Director
Prof. Nicholas Theodorakopoulos – (Associate Dean International) Innovation Vouchers
ERDF Programmes Manager
Kavita Jeerh
Innovation Vouchers Project Manager
Graham Vasquez
Innovation Vouchers Project Coordinator
Alexander Lamle