The Sustainable Finance Innovation Fund

ARE YOU A FINTECH OR SPACETECH SME DEVELOPING A SERVICE USING SATELLITE DATA FOR THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR?

The Sustainable Finance Innovation Fund can offer up to £20,000 worth of our Earth Observation technical expertise. This funded support can help you to evaluate satellite imagery requirements or create a proof of concept, accelerating you to market.

This scheme is open to any UK-based SME business. To apply, you need to submit a business plan for review.

We have up to 5 support funds available for award, all with no match funding requirements.

What can you access with the fund?

Geospatial Insight Technical expertise
Area of Interest technical evaluation
Proof of Concept Delivery
Introductions to our networks and showcasing opportunities

If you have a project that meets our suitability criteria or would like to know more, we would be excited to hear from you and look forward to receiving your application. If you have any questions, please contact sce@sa.catapult.org.uk

The fund will be open for applications until 31st August 2024. The scheme may close earlier if all funds are awarded before stated end date.

SUITABILITY CRITERIA:

The application’s suitability criteria for businesses includes:

Being either a registered UK limited company or other appropriate UK registered trading entity looking to commercialise a new technology, with a scalable innovative idea that helps solve an agriculture or environmental monitoring problem within the Sustainable Finance market sector
Demonstrates clear benefit that can be realised through access to Technical Expertise
Proposing a project that can be delivered by the 31st of November 2024

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Fill in the application form, making sure to highlight how the fund might help you develop your technology
The Catapult team will review each application based on the assessment criteria to progress applicants to the next stage, a scoping call. This is a 30-minute call with the Business Innovation Manager to discuss your application
Successful applicants will be invited to a 1.5-hour diagnostic to enable SAC to identify the areas of key support required and impact expected from the support
Applicants will then be reviewed and scored based on the assessment criteria by our expert pane. Applicants will subsequently be informed whether they have been successful
Applicants will be sent scope of works to review and agree, before delivery of the project takes place
The fund is delivered through the Satellite Applications Catapult’s Space Commercialisation Engine and Geospatial Insight Team