Looking to commercialise a grant-funded project? An Innovation Loan may be exactly what you’re looking for.
Winning a grant is a major milestone for any business. It provides the resources you need to accelerate development work while signalling that your technology has true disruptive potential.
However, after completing a grant-funded project, many companies find themselves in financial limbo, their innovation both too mature for another grant and too early for reasonably-priced outside investment.
Enter Innovation Loans, an under-utilised scheme helping startups and scaleups bring nascent technologies to market.
What are Innovation Loans?
Innovation Loans are an Innovate UK competition offering up to £2 million in debt financing to help SMEs fund late-stage R&D.
They come with a range of favourable conditions, like repayment terms of up to 5 years after project-end, and a below-market interest rate of 7.4%, half of which is deferred until after you’ve completed your development work.
Innovation Loans cover up to 100% of project costs, more than most grants, and extend to capital expenditure, making them particularly beneficial for capex-intensive projects.
Since its launch in 2019, the Innovation Loans scheme has provided more than 250 companies with over £450 million worth of loans.
Why Innovation Loans are a fantastic follow-on for grant winners
If you’ve recently wrapped up a grant-funded project, an Innovation Loan can help you bridge the gap between a validated innovation and a commercial success. Here are three key reasons to consider applying.
Reason 1: Innovation Loans are tailored to grant-winning projects
Most grants are designed to support early and mid-stage R&D, where technologies have been validated in a relevant environment but need additional testing and refinement before they can be rolled out to customers.
This is precisely the level of advancement Innovation Loans are designed to support. So, if you’ve recently completed a grant-funded project, chances are your innovation will be well-suited to an Innovation Loan.
Reason 2: Winning a grant can increase your funding chances
Innovate UK needs to spend its money wisely. This means funding companies it thinks will be able to complete a project on time, on budget, and in line with their proposal.
Completing a grant-funded project shows you can do just that, giving you extra credibility in the eyes of Innovate UK’s assessors, especially if your grant came from Innovate UK.
This extra credibility can significantly improve your chances of winning an Innovation Loan.
Reason 3: Protect your equity and maintain control
Innovation Loans give you the funding to turn your nascent innovation into a revenue-generating success.
Having a revenue-generating technology with demonstrable market traction can dramatically improve your valuation. So, if and when you decide to raise investment, you can give away less equity and maintain more control of your business.
Find out if Innovation Loans are right for you
Innovation Loans can be an excellent next step for companies looking to take a grant-funded technology to market.
If you want to find out if you’re eligible for an Innovation Loan and understand whether you have a good chance of winning, we can perform a free, 30-minute Eligibility and Competitiveness Assessment, covering:
- Whether you and your project meet the Innovation Loans’ eligibility criteria
- How likely we feel you are to win an Innovation Loan, based on our extensive experience securing funding from Innovate UK
- What other competitions and types of government funding you’re eligible for, including grants and tax reliefs
Book your free assessment today and take your first step towards securing a game-changing loan for your business.
