What to Expect when Applying for Innovation Grant Funding - SPRK Capital

1. What to Expect when Applying for Innovation Grant Funding If you have a cutting-edge idea for innovation, grant funding can help you take it to the next level. Whether the grant funding comes from the government, or another organisation, this cash flow can be a key part of ensuring that you’re able to make your project happen. But what can you expect during the process of applying for innovation grant funding? The Timeline One of the most important details to grasp about innovation grant funding is how long this is likely to take. You can expect the process of preparing the application to take around six weeks. In terms of waiting to find out whether the application has been successful, this can be anywhere between one and three months. It’s important to make sure that you factor these timings into your application process. What’s Involved in the Application? The process will usually require a written application to be submitted, often followed by an interview or interviews. Administration. One very important part of the application will be the administration element. This is where you will be able to provide a background summary of the innovation that your project is based on, as well as manage any relevant online portal and invite collaborators. Budgets and finances. If you’re going to be successful when it comes to innovation grant funding then you need to have a solid grasp of the numbers that are involved in making your innovation happen. Assessors tend to focus in detail on finances and budgets, looking at whether these are reasonable as well as how much value components deliver. Those components should include overheads, labour costs, travel, subcontractor costs, and the cost of materials. What’s the problem –and what’s your solution? This is going to be a basic element in any innovation grant funding application. It’s an opportunity to set out clearly the challenge or problem in your market that drove you to develop your innovation. It is also where you get to outline the solution that you’re providing, including the unique selling points of a service or product and the ways in which it is better than competitors.

2. Project team. It’s essential to clearly set out your project team during the application, including who will build and test your innovation and any other partners or collaborators you may have. The project plan. These are the stages, goals, and objectives that are going to bring your project to life. It should combine milestones, resources, deliverables, budgetary requirements, and a timeline. Commercialisation and marketing strategy. This is all about being able to clearly identify both the target market for your innovation and the business model you’re going to use to exploit it. You should be able to show a route to market, as well as plans for early revenue generation and mitigating any risks to this. When you’re applying for innovation grant funding you can expect to have to provide data and information to support everything, from the financials to how the innovation is going to be monetised. Innovation Grant Funding Expertise Applying for innovation grant funding can be intimidating. Here at SPRK Capital, we understand the challenges of fast-growing businesses and are here to support you. Contact us today, and we can progress your funding together. For more information, please visit: https://www.sprkcapital.co.uk/what-to-expect- when-applying-for-innovation-grant-funding/