Bids welcome for £1m creative technology funding pot

Businesses and organisations interested in investing in creative technology, known as ‘createch,’ now have access to a funding pot of up to £250,000 from the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which has allocated £1m for this purpose.

This investment in the creative economy is part of Cornwall’s bid to become City of Culture 2025. The LEP is actively seeking funding proposals, ranging from a minimum of £100,000 to a maximum of £250,000.

Designed to promote commercial opportunities and innovation in the immersive and creative industries, the £1m fund aims to support new product, experience, or service developments. The funding is available to businesses and organisations based or operating in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Projects eligible for funding may involve the development and application of creative technologies, such as augmented and mixed reality, motion capture, game engines, and 3D environments.

Additionally, the fund supports cluster development, including knowledge transfer, supply chain development, and initiatives to attract talent and investment.

This targets businesses and organisations across various sectors, including creative industries, video game development, the screen sector, healthcare, education, future mobility, manufacturing, retail, tourism, leisure, and sport.

Professor Emma Hunt said: “When Cornwall bid to become City of Culture 2025, the LEP pledged to provide £1m to support the growth of our creative industries, regardless of the bid outcome. We are now making good on that promise with this open call through which we aim to identify and co-fund a small number of impactful createch projects.

Chief executive Caroline Norbury OBE said: “We know from our work in Cornwall and Scilly that businesses are innovative, diverse and inventive, with a growing reputation for melding creativity and tech to deliver imaginative solutions, products and services. This new fund will be a huge boost to the sector and we look forward to seeing exciting new projects come forward.”