Metro Mayor announces £1.1m boost for innovative local businesses
Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced £1.1m of funding from the Future Innovation Fund Pilot to 22 local SMEs who have continued to innovate during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the city region’s economic recovery.
This is the second round of funding from the £3m Future Innovation Fund Pilot, which distributed £1m to 14 local SMEs back in August.
Among those awarded funding are companies developing digital applications supporting the music and fashion sectors, offering coronavirus testing and vaccination products, and a range of socially trading organisations in areas including urban farming.
Launched by the Mayor in mid-June, the £3m Future Innovation Fund is providing grants to support SMEs that are continuing to innovate in the changed business environment created by COVID-19.
Steve Rotheram said: “The past few months have thrown up challenges for local businesses of a variety and scale that I don’t think any of us could ever have predicted. Local businesses have shown a remarkable ability to change and adapt to these ever-changing circumstances.
“We have moved quickly alongside them, launching the Future Innovation Fund to give them the support that they need to continue to innovate through and, ultimately, survive this difficult period and get our region flourishing again in the future.”
Cllr Janette Williamson, portfolio holder for inclusive economy and third sector, said: “The ingenuity and adaptability of our local businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of inspirational. The range and quality of applicants to this fund is testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of our city region. I’m proud that we have been able to support these 22 projects and I’m sure they will make a huge contribution to our economic recovery.”
The 22 successful applicants are: Draw & Code; Future Yard CIC; Farm Urban; TMM Commercial (t/a The Mind Map); GoJoe App; Sepsis; Make Thread; Damibu; CNC Robotics; Daresbury Proteins; Mobile GIS Services; Acorn 2 Oak Innovation Solutions (t/a A2O Technology Group); DPRV (t/a DefProc Engineering); Nidor Diagnostics; Revivocell; ProNetix (t/a DriverNet); Wellbeing Enterprises; IoT Horizon; Spin Up Science; NeedleSmart; Machfab Engineering.
Sarah O’Brien, co-founder of Make Thread, said: “We are thrilled to have the support from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and its latest contribution to local businesses in their Future Innovation Fund.
“At Make Thread our aim is to combat unsustainability and inaccessibility within fashion by making social and environmental process changes in how it is produced and consumed.
“The FIF will accelerate our mission to digitally scale and optimise the business in creating a sustainable and fairer solution to fashion’s outdated ecosystem, as well as driving exciting opportunities to the LCR.”
Make Thread is developing a sustainable social marketplace for fashion designers/creatives addressing issues with ‘fast fashion’, incorporating process efficiencies to allow scale-up/response to increased demand.
Jennet Beesley, director, Daresbury Proteins, said: “This is truly fantastic news. The importance of this support from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority cannot be overstated.
“It has arrived at the time when we needed it most to realise our potential for underpinning the domestic diagnostic industry in the fight with the COVID-19.
“The funding will enable our much-needed scale-up to manufacture the most valuable key reagent for COVID-19 antibody diagnostic kits. We are very proud to be part of this ambitious, dynamic and pioneering community.”
Daresbury Proteins is working on rapid diagnostic antigen testing for coronaviral infections.
Craig Pennington, founder, Future Yard CIC, said: “We are thrilled to receive the news of this support. COVID-19 has presented an acute challenge to the music and creative industries.
“Support from the Future Innovation Fund will be invaluable as we look to develop new digital resources for artists from all social backgrounds, allowing them to flourish in their careers, post-COVID.”
Future Yard CIC is developing an innovative digital application to help artists starting up in the music industry access mentoring and support.
Paul Myers, managing director, Farm Urban, said: “We are absolutely delighted that our application to the Future Innovation Fund has been successful.
“This funding will be transformational in our recovery plans post-COVID – it will allow us to increase resilience, improve efficiency and adapt to new markets presented to us through the pandemic.
“This will, in turn, allow us to expand our vertical farm in The Baltic Triangle, increasing the amount of hyper local, fresh and nutritious food we are able to provide to local residents.”
Farm Urban was born out of the Life Sciences Department at the University of Liverpool and is improving efficiency in vertical farming to help grow sustainable fresh produce in the heart of urban areas.
The proportion of successful applications from under-represented groups within the innovation sector has increased from the first round – 38% of successful applications are from female-led organisations, 14% from ethnic minority-led organisations and 18% from organisations with leaders who identified as having a disability or impairment.
This compares favourably as against the diversity monitoring information collected from the 140 applicants in this heavily oversubscribed round, which comprised 29% female-led, 14% ethnic minority led and seven per cent identifying as having a disability or impairment.
While this represents progress in terms of securing equality of opportunity and improved outcomes for under-represented groups, the combined authority continues to explore whether any further improvements can be made for the third round under the pilot. This is in the spirit of continuous improvement based on the data collected under the pilot approach.
Unsuccessful applicants are encouraged to work with Growth Platform or their Local Growth Hub to find alternative support.
