Innovate UK has temporarily stopped his Smart Grants program to revise £ 25 million a year-out how small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) support.
The break is intended to tackle oversub -subs, whereby the success rates are said to fall below 10 percent for applicants, and possibly as low as 2 percent according to some.
According to the existing scheme, SMEs could claim up to 70 percent of the costs for commercially viable research projects. The final round of successful receivers has already been informed, but no further prizes will be awarded until a renewed initiative is revealed – anticipated before the summer.
A spokesperson for Innovate UK said that the assessment is partly a response to “incredibly low” success rates. “We know the effort and often the costs that go in these applications,” she added. “We want to ensure that our support goes to companies with real growth potential, while we also make it easier for them to apply.”
The assessment also comes in accordance with government guidelines to concentrate on companies with strong prospects for scaling and creating jobs. Currently, applicants do not have to prove their potential for future growth. This can change when the new schedule is rolled out, although Innovate UK it says that the break is not powered by financing reductions guided by Treasury.
Companies have increasingly turned to specialized consultants to improve their subsidy applications, a trend that recognizes Innovate UK can empty resources. Some figures in the industry, including risk capital chairman Ewan Kirk, label the practice a “tax on innovation”. The agency wants to make future application processes “more accessible and inclusive” to reduce these extra costs.
Innovate UK manages a budget of £ 1.1 billion, with more than 450,000 “innovators” annually, including more than 10,600 technical companies through its business growth program. However, lower than expected success rates recently led to online criticism when the organization initially only 25 subsidies in its £ 4 million women in innovation schedule; It later increased the total to 50.
The agency now collects feedback from SMEs as part of the assessment. Interested companies can participate in a survey that is accessible via the Innovate UK website.