Leeds City Council provides new funding to support business innovation

Leeds City Council has confirmed new funding for a range of initiatives designed to help aspiring business innovators make their mark on the world. The council’s Innovation@Leeds programme recently launched a scheme offering grants to organisations that are ready, willing and able to provide expert support to grassroots entrepreneurs looking to develop their own trailblazing businesses.

Applications were opened in the autumn as part of Innovation@Leeds’s ongoing mission to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds in Leeds have the means and motivation to follow their dreams in fields such as digital and other emerging technologies.

Now a dozen successful bids have been announced, with grants ranging from £5,000 to £25,000 being used to fund initiatives called No Code Lab, Launchpad Music Innovators, OneTech Leeds, Super Squad, Digital Sport North, LegalTech In Leeds, D-List, VMC2023, Sustainable Leeds, FinTech North: Challenge Leeds, AI Accelerator Leeds and Fund Her Leeds.

Running over the next few months, these events and programmes will give people access to the kind of know-how, training and networking opportunities that can improve their personal investability, while also strengthening Leeds’s reputation as a place with a thriving innovation ecosystem that connects world-class research and development with high-growth businesses and a skilled labour market.

This collaborative work with a new generation of entrepreneurs is the latest stage in a series of systematic and strategic investments by the council in Leeds’s innovation ecosystem. It also ties in with a city-wide vision co-created by the council with key local partners that aims to drive innovation in a way that has a positive social and environmental impact.

One crucial element of that vision is the further development and transformation of the Leeds Innovation Arc, an area on the west side of the city centre that is home to globally-renowned educational, health and cultural establishments as well as an array of start-ups, scale-ups and major businesses.

Prestigious ‘anchor’ institutions in the area include the University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Teaching Hospitals, all working alongside the council to fly the flag for the city as a leader in cutting-edge sectors such as health innovation and financial, creative and digital tech.

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s executive member for economy, culture and education, said: “Leeds is a city bursting with ideas and talent, and the council is determined to do everything it can to harness that energy in a way that benefits us all.

“We therefore want to encourage innovative business activity which makes a real difference to people’s lives by driving inclusive growth, promoting collaboration and tackling inequalities. We also want to make sure that people from all backgrounds across the city have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, and these Innovation@Leeds grants will help us achieve that.

“In addition, the awards underline our commitment to building a world-class innovation ecosystem that involves a diverse range of partners and fosters close links between education, business and local communities. I look forward to seeing how the various initiatives take shape over the coming months.”

The pilot events attracted hundreds of in-person attendees, supported around 100 innovative start-ups and gave dozens of students the opportunity to hone their business development skills.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily