20.05.20
Innovative start-up businesses get 40m Government boost
Business Secretary Alok Sharma has announced today (May 20) that the Government is doubling the investment into the Fast Start Competition to £40m.
Start-up companies and innovative businesses are due for a £40m boost from government to support new technological advances.
The Competition was originally set at £20m, with a virtual-reality surgical training simulator and an online farmers’ market platform among the successful projects.
Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, said:
“The coronavirus crisis has created challenges that impact the way we live, work and travel but has also prompted a wave of new innovations as businesses look at ways to solve some of the challenges facing our world today.
“This funding will support UK start-ups to deliver potential solutions, services and ways of working and help ensure the long term sustainability of these businesses.”
The additional funding comes through a £211m support package from government to drive business-led innovation as part of a wider package of £1.25bn for innovate UK business announced April 20, 2020.
Projects receiving this funding include a virtual-reality training/teaching platform for medical students to upskill remotely and perform simulation surgeries and social media app that connects the most vulnerable in local communities with volunteers in the neighbourhood.
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Executive Chair, Innovate UK, Dr Ian Campbell, said:
“Businesses from all over the UK have answered our call rapidly to meet the challenges we face today and in the future through the power of innovation.
“The ideas we have seen can truly make a significant impact on society, improve the lives of individuals, especially those in vulnerable groups and enable businesses to prosper in challenging circumstances.”