£50 million of support from the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund

£50 million of support from the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund to help businesses develop and scale near-to-market products and services

This fund brings together local leaders, businesses and research organisations to build on regional strengths; creating high-quality jobs, driving innovation-led productivity, and attracting additional public and private investment into communities nationwide. 

Funding will be delivered across three flagship innovation programmes: 

• FORGE for Advanced Manufacturing: Led by the University of Warwick, the FORGE project will drive technology-enabled industrial transformation and supply-chain agility across future mobility and the clean energy transition. 
• Clinical Trials Catalyst for Health and Life Sciences: Led by the University of Birmingham, the WM Clinical Commercial Catalyst strengthens regional expertise in clinical trials, and near-to-patient biomanufacturing and regulation, leveraging regional strengths into global markets. 
• Creative Industries Scale-up Lab (CISL) for Creative and Immersive Technologies: Led by the University of Warwick, WM CISL targets a fast growth regional opportunity in immersive, AI-enabled and design-led innovation, diffusing adoption, with skills and market pull across multiple areas. 

It’s open to innovative businesses in the West Midlands Combined Authority area with strong scale-up potential. To be eligible, your organisation should be developing, commercialising or scaling technology in one of the three priority areas (Advanced Manufacturing, Health and Life Sciences and Creative Industries). Businesses must also be part of a “triple helix” partnership – a collaborative network between private industry, academic research partners, and the public sector. 

Businesses can now register an expression of interest for funding and partnership opportunities.