No. The Investment Readiness Programme is equity-free, and there are no fees associated with participation.

Participating or having participated in accelerator or other technology adoption support programmes does not exclude you from taking part in the programme, as long as the timings do not cause a conflict of interest and you are eligible to receive the state aid as outlined in the T&Cs.

If you have been part of any previous Digital Catapult programme, you are welcome to join. For other programmes, your participation will be dependent on the terms of the programme itself and what you have agreed to in the terms and conditions.

Most of the programme will be delivered remotely via online calls and sessions. We expect to organise a small number of in-person events at the Digital Catapult London office over the programme period, including a programme Kick-off and Final Showcase event. Digital Catapult will provide as much notice as possible. 

In general, attending all activities on the programme can be beneficial as it provides you with the opportunity to learn from experienced experts, connect with other entrepreneurs, and develop your business skills. However, we understand that priorities can shift, and therefore, participants must attend a minimum of 80% of all program activities between October 2024 – February 2025.

The application information will only be used for the purposes of the programme and its evaluation and will only be retained for the duration of the programme (two years) and for participants on the programme for the evaluation period (maximum five years) and otherwise to comply with legal requirements.

Your answers to the EDI questionnaire won’t be visible or assessed by the judging panel.
Please see the programme T&Cs for more details.

If you’re having any problems with Skipso and require help, please contact the team on: madesmartersustainability@digicatapult.org.uk. 

Unfortunately, if your application is not successful for the programme, we cannot provide feedback. However, you will be notified of whether the result is successful.

Unfortunately not. To ensure a fair judging process and due to the high volume of applications we expect to receive, we are not able to work with you or provide feedback on applications prior to completion. Please refer to our selection criteria to understand what we expect to see from applications.

Yes, the form we use for the full application process can be modified and saved at any time before the final submission date. Please ensure you do not leave the page idle for long periods (without saving), as this may cause the page to timeout. After full submission and completion forms cannot be altered or edited.

Each criterion will be scored on a range from 0 to 5. 0 being “Unacceptable” and 5 being “Excellent”. This scoring will be applied to all applications and with the weighting outlined in the programme T&Cs.

Here’s an outline of the application process and onboarding stages of the programme:

• Application completion – To be considered for the programme you will need to submit the full online application form before the open call closing Sunday 21 July 2024 at 23:59. You can save and return to your form as required. Once an application has been submitted, the applicant will not be able to make any changes to their application. Applicants must ensure all questions are answered otherwise their application may be rejected.

Should you require any assistance with the application, you can reach out to the team at madesmartersustainability@digicatapult.org.uk to discuss any questions you might have.

• Applications judging and shortlisting – Once applications close, completed applications are judged and assessed based on the selection criteria and shortlist selected for review by the judging panel.

Judges will conduct interviews with all shortlisted applicants w/c 12 August 2024. Up to 15 of the highest-ranked applicants will be accepted into the programme. However, Digital Catapult reserves the right to select applications to balance the portfolio.

• Selection and contracting – Once companies have been reviewed and the proposed teams selected by the judging panel, we’ll communicate to successful and unsuccessful companies on the status of their application and complete our contracting with successful startups. Successful applicants will then be notified and provided with a standard Programme Agreement for review. These contracts are standard and not negotiable. We try to ensure these contracts are fair and reasonable. Invitation to a programme kick-off will then follow provisionally on the completion of this agreement.
• Companies join the cohort – Once onboarded cohort companies will receive £5,000 funding upon completing the milestones, alongside bespoke business and investment health scans and the tailored programme support.

The programme will focus on technology companies with existing clients in the manufacturing sector. However, companies with the ambition and plan to expand into this sector will also be considered.

Yes. This programme is designed for companies who are also looking to grow their business. At the beginning of the programme, there will be a comprehensive business and investment healthscan to identify the company’s specific need for growth. We will use the result to tailor the programme support, such as mentorships, growth coaching, pitch training, business planning…etc.

The focus of the programme is to support the growth of technology companies in the UK. The technology areas that the programme will prioritise include:

• Future networks and advanced digital infrastructure (5G and the internet of things including low powered wide area networks, NB-IoT, LIFI etc. and includes sensors, edge devices, wearables etc.)
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning (natural language processing, machine vision, deep learning)
• Immersive technologies – Extended reality (virtual, augmented, mixed reality and haptics)
• Distributed ledger technologies (Blockchain etc.)

Companies utilising other digital technologies to help the manufacturing sector improve resource and energy efficiency will be considered. However, in the application process, companies are advised to clearly articulate why these technologies are crucial to delivering value for the market for the judging panel’s evaluation.

The Investment Readiness Programme seeks applications from technology innovators from the UK ecosystem who will be interested in developing technology solutions to some of the UK’s core industrial challenges. The programme is designed to help improve the investment and business readiness of these companies.

Designed for startups and SMEs, here are the requirements for application:

• Applicants must be eligible to receive up to £20,000 in State Assistance. This includes £5,000 cash funding and up to £10,000 in-kind support.
• Applicants must have a UK business bank account for any payments to be made.
• Applicants must be a UK-based registered company, or prove they are a company that has an establishment in the UK, and undertake all activity in the UK.
• Applicants must be engaged in developing solutions enabled by at least one of the technologies from the Advanced Digital Technology Stack:
• Artificial Intelligence, Immersive, Internet of Things, Distributed Ledger Technologies and 5G/Future Networks.

For more detailed information on Eligibility, please refer to the programme T&Cs.