Part 3: GRANT AID
If you want to grow your eco business but don’t want to dive into the
shark-infested waters of venture capital and the stock market, there are
plenty of funds available from the government, its agencies, nongovernmental
organisations and the European Union.
Where you go first for funding depends on your “technology-readiness level”, a
government phrase that describes how close your eco product or innovation is
to commercial exploitation.
For example, if you are still at the research and development (R&D) stage,
the best place to go is the Department for Innovation, Universities and
Skills (www.dius.gov.uk ), which works
with the Technology Strategy Board (www.innovateuk.org), the seven Research
Councils (www.rcuk.ac.uk ), and the
Energy Technologies Institute (www.energytechnologies. co.uk).
These can provide funding for basic-level research and product development to
help get your idea to the working prototype stage. However, there are lots
of overlaps between these funding bodies and they often collaborate.
For example, this month the Technology Strategy Board announced a joint
venture with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (www.decc.gov.uk
), and The Northern Way (www.thenorthernway.co. uk), a coalition of northern
regional development agencies, to invest £15m in technologies for reducing
carbon emissions.
The funding competition starts in June and is open to start-ups, research
teams and established businesses alike. The government also provides
financial help in the form of R&D tax credits, which reduce your taxable
profits according to how much you spend on qualifying research and
development.
Since April, the rate of relief has been increased to 175% of qualifying
expenditure. Go to the website of the Department for Business Enterprise &
Regulatory Reform (www.berr.gov.uk )
for more details.
Once you can demonstrate the potential of your product and convince people
that it is reliable, you can move on to higher stages of funding. Berr and
the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (www.defra.gov.uk
) jointly run a £400m Environmental Transformation Fund to support the
development of low-carbon and energy-efficient technologies in the UK.
Regional Development Agencies (www.englandsrds.com
), as mentioned above, will also fund commercial-stage eco projects, as will
the Carbon Trust (www.carbontrust.co.uk
) in conjunction with its four commercial business partners.
The European Union also offers many funding opportunities, including its €28m
(£25m) Eco-Innovation fund (www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/address.html
)for proven technologies in materials recycling, sustainable building and
waste reduction.
The key to all this is making sure that your business fulfils the funding
criteria and that your application ticks all the boxes.
This takes time and effort but could pay dividends in the long run.
