Granted Consultancy is a delivery partner for the StartUp Studio, a virtual accelerator for early stage startups in the South West.
Sometimes it can be hard to navigate through the jargon to identify what the funder actually wants and whether the grant funding opportunity is a good match for your project. This blog will help you to get a better understanding of eligibility by focusing on 3 key requirements.
Scope
Every funding competition will have important scope details that need to be met for your project to be classed as eligible. A good way to know if your project matches the scope of the competition is to look at examples of what the funder will not fund as part of the project. You could have the most innovative project in your sector but if it doesn’t meet the scope your application would not even be passed through to assessment.
Example: Innovate UK SMART Grants
*We will not fund proposals that do not:
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meet the competition eligibility or scope
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address the size, potential and access to market for the innovation
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evidence the potential for their idea or concept to lead to significant return on investment (ROI), positive economic impact, growth and scale-up of the business
Project requirements
Applying for grant funding is a big commitment and is an activity that should be considered when planning business growth strategies so you can identify whether your business/project is ready for the challenge.
Consider these core project requirements:
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Project start date- Will my company/project have all the right resources in place to be able to start on this specific date?
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Project duration- Can I commit to the amount of work that needs to be done within this set timescale?
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Total project budget- Can I achieve project outcomes within this budget?
Eligible project costs
The funding rates you can receive will depend on the size and type of your organisation and your role in the project.
Project costs that are classed as eligible for a typical Innovate UK projects include:
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Labour costs
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Overheads
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Materials costs
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Capital usage
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Subcontractor costs
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Travel and subsistence costs
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Other costs- Workshop/lab usage charge outs, Training costs, Preparation of technical reports, Market assessment, Licensing in new technologies and Patent filing costs of new IP.
One of the most frequently asked questions is “If the fund is £500k should I apply for the maximum amount?”. The answer is to work from the ground up, build costs based on the work plan that achieves the project outputs – how much do you need to achieve the ambitious project in the best form?
Still need guidance?
If you’ve seen a grant funding opportunity that you’re interested in but would like clarification on whether your project is eligible, contact the Granted Consultancy team on info@grantedltd.co.uk. With over 10 years experience in the grant funding consultancy market, they can match a grant opportunity to your project in minutes.