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UK: Female Founders Funding Opportunity

Deadline: 31-Jan-22

Based in Northern Ireland? Have an innovative Business Idea? Looking to kick start your idea and could use some Grant Funding and Business Support? Then don’t miss out on this Female Founders Funding Opportunity!

Techstart Ventures and Women in Business is excited to partner together to invite Females across Northern Ireland, with an innovative Business Idea, to apply for a Grant of up to £35k to help kickstart their Business.

Whether you are an individual with an exciting, novel idea or an established business looking to explore a new product or market you could receive a grant to support your innovation.

This Female Founders Funding Opportunity will seek to support female entrepreneurs with a grant and business mentoring support directed towards exploring the viability and commercial potential of their innovative business idea.

Funding Information

Grants of up to £35k. (Grants of different values will be awarded, but the maximum grant awarded to any one applicant will be £35k)

Can the Grant be used to cover employment costs?

Yes – however, if you are applying for employment costs to be covered within the grant please note the following-

  • The application must be made by a Limited Company, and not a Sole Trader or Partnership.
  • You must clearly detail within the application form what work will be done during the PoC project under employment costs and what the output will be.
  • Administration time, project management time and similar activities will not be an eligible employment cost activity.
  • There will be a cap on the amount of grant that can cover employment costs, which will be 30% of the grant awarded.
  • There will be a set daily rate of £200.
  • To drawdown the grant for employment costs the beneficiary will submit self-certified timesheets.
What activities are Eligible within the Grant?

Eligible activities for support include but are not limited to:

  • Concept/Prototype Development – i.e. Costs directed towards designing and developing either a software or hardware based product such as UI/UX, platform development, building a web/mobile application, producing an MVP or construction/manufacturing work.
  • Market Research – i.e. Activities around further understanding and sizing of the addressable market, such as Focus Groups, Domain Expert Consultancy and/or Attendance to relevant Trade Shows.
  • Market Validation – i.e. Costs associated with testing the concept with potential customers and end-users.
  • Market Testing Activities – i.e. Expenditure incurred in testing the best way to take the product to market.
  • Assessment of uniqueness of IP – i.e. A patent search.
  • Employment costs where a clear output will be delivered – If the Applicant has the expertise to carry out some of the activities  they may do so as long as it falls within the 30% limit previously explained.
Eligibility Criteria
  • Applicants must be a Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company to apply. Applications from Community Interest Companies and Social Enterprises will not be considered.
  • You (i.e. Sole Trader, Partnership, Limited Company) must have an innovative business idea.
  • You must be resident in Northern Ireland, and if the principal applicant is applying through a Limited Company then the Company must be registered in Northern Ireland, with the principal applicant being the majority shareholder in the Limited Company.
  • If you are applying for some of the grant to cover the employment costs of people promoting the project, then the application must be made by a Limited Company.
  • For independent third-party costs, at application stage you must identify your proposed supplier. If your proposed supplier has provided you with a quotation, you should append to your application.
  • Successful applicants will be required to provide formal quotations from the proposed Suppliers in advance of a Letter of Offer being issued.
  • Up to 30% of the grant awarded is available to cover the employment costs of the people promoting the project with a set daily rate of £200. For such costs to be approved, your application must clearly detail what work will be done during the PoC project under these costs and what the output will be. Please note that Administration Time, Project Management Time and similar Overhead activities will not be eligible activities to be covered within employment costs.

For more information, visit https://www.techstartgrants.com/femalefounders