Advantage Proof of Concept Fund

Welcome to the temporary website for the Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund. The Fund is now open and is accepting applications.

The Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund is backed by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund and is designed to support innovation and product development in the West Midlands. It provides grants of up to £30k representing up to 75% of total project costs to move proof of concept ventures toward commercial viability.

What can the Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund support?

The Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund is designed to support established and start-up businesses developing innovative new products and processes and to assist in the spin-out of new enterprises from universities in the West Midlands. It supports applicants to investigate, advance and protect early stage innovative business ideas and to commercialise new innovations.

Projects that can be supported by the fund must fall into one of the five categories below;

• Market assessment;
• IPR protection of innovative ideas;
• Outline business planning;
• Basic prototyping;
• Limited management support to establish the commercial viability of business concepts.

All high quality applications will be considered regardless of sector, however, priority may be given to the five key technology areas;

• Advanced Materials;
• Healthcare Technology;
• Energy Technology;
• Transportation Technology;
• Digital Media.

Applicants must be located in the West Midlands and must either conform to the European Small and Medium Enterprise definition or be a university.

How much grant is available?

The Fund is worth approximately £5.8m and will be awarding grants on a rolling basis until 31st March 2010. Applicants may apply for up to £30k representing up to 75% of total project costs, however, the Fund is only able to award money toward costs external to the company and will only pay grants retrospectively based on 75% of the value of defrayed invoices.

An independent Grant Award Panel, that will award up to 20 grants per month, considers each application on its own merits. The Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund does not take any shareholdings, rights or expect any repayment as long as the grant is used in the way described in the application and approved by the Grant Award Panel.

Our Philosophy

The Fund is limited in the number of grants that it can award in any given month, however, we will endeavour to make the process as straightforward as possible for applicants;

• By discussing the project with you early on, we will ensure that you will only be asked to fill out detailed application forms when we are confident that there is a realistic prospect of success;
• We will provide you with a consultant to help guide you in the completion of our detailed application form;
• We will work with you in structuring your project to ensure that the grant fits in with your business needs.

An independent Grant Award Panel, however, always makes the final decision,, so whilst we will do everything we can to support your application, we cannot guarantee success!

How to apply?

The Fund has offices across the West Midlands and we would encourage you to call the office closest to you.

Once your enquiry has been logged one of our local representatives will call you to discuss the project and your eligibility. If at this stage, your application appears to be suitable for the fund they will ask you to fill in an outline application and begin the formal application process. From this point, we will seek to process your application within six weeks and, if suitable, present it to the Grant Award Panel at the first available opportunity.

The Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund is funded by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund. It is a collaboration between the University of Warwick Science Park, Connect Midlands, the University of Wolverhampton, Malvern Hills Science Park, Staffordshire and Black Country BIC and the Central Technology Belt.