GovGrant collaborated with four other firms aiming to help SMEs maximise their innovation opportunities at a June event in partnership with Business Funding Show. It was the first in a programme of GovGrant sponsored events. We invited the other organisations to share the platform in order to give innovative companies a fully-rounded insight into available funding sources (debt, equity, grant and, of course, the R&D tax credits and Patent Box schemes) to support a continuous cycle of innovation within their organisations, and all the business benefits that ensue.
Joining GovGrant’s Annie Hunter at the event- which attracted representatives from around 60 SMEs to Newable’s Barbican offices- were speakers from Newable, Innovate UK, Rocking Horse Group and Hoffmann Eitle.
Annie, who was joined at the seminar by Tony Crawford and Phil Steel from our sales team, challenged the audience with the key questions…
- Do you think what you are doing is innovative?
- Do you want to sustainably improve and grow your business?
- Are you developing new products that represent a scientific or technological advance in their field?
- Or wanting to create commercial value from your intellectual property?
…and then discussed how GovGrant successfully helps businesses answer those questions and achieve their aims.
“The aim was to give delegates a clearer understanding of the innovation funding schemes they could be entitled to, all the funding streams a scaling business needs to be aware of, the short-term funding that’s available before their R&D claims have been processed, and what they should be doing to create IP rights and increase company valuation,” said Annie.
“It was a really worthwhile event, with an engaged audience who were keen to learn more about how we could help them.
“We’ve already had interest and approaches on the back of it, so it shows that going out there to get our messages across directly is an approach that works.”
The overall theme was “innovate or decline”, with a focus on creating value rather than just protection for IP, and some clear pointers about the benefits of the Patent Box scheme.
Annie also promoted a clear message that a maximised R&D claim is a function of technical understanding, not of tax or accountancy.
