March 2023

29 Mar Launch of the London West Innovation Network Shines a Spotlight on Ealing and Hillingdon High Growth Businesses

Businesses based in the London boroughs of Ealing and Hillingdon were out in full force this week at the launch of the London West Innovation Network, as they celebrated qualifying for competitive business grants that will help them achieve high growth and increased employment locally in presence of dignitaries including Seema Malhotra, MP, Steven Wilding from Hounslow Council, Nigel Cramb from Hillingdon Council and Andrea Laffey from Borough of Ealing, at the Central Research Laboratory, Plus X, one of LWIN’s delivery partners.

In 2022, LWIN, with staff-support from West London Business was commissioned by the Boroughs of Ealing and Hillingdon to devise and manage an innovation grant programme to deliver over £3 million of funding to local fast-growth SMEs. At the end of a rigorous and competitive application process, 34 businesses were awarded grants across sectors as diverse as Health & Wellbeing, Creative & Media, Aviation & Logistics and Food & Drink. This Tuesday represented the official launch of the London West Innovation Network, when it brought together all of the grant winners representing some of the most innovative minds in West London, for an evening of networking and celebration.

Seema Malhotra, MP of Feltham and Heston, who is also the co-chair of London West Innovation Board addressing the grant winners

Andrew Dakers, CEO of West London Businesses and co-chair, London West Innovation Innovation Network addressing the crowd live from Australia

Andrew Dakers, CEO, West London Business and Co-chair, London West Innovation Network (LWIN) said:

“It is an astounding group of highly innovative companies that we have been able to support to date.  Post-launch, LWIN is now focused on long-term development funding and mobilising business support for the 2000+ fast growth businesses across its geography, including our recent grant winners.”

Other dignitaries including Seema Malhotra, Toby Kress and Borough representatives touched upon the power of innovation, and how local government leaning into support local companies has the power to bring together innovators, industry and academia to unlock potential opportunities in the region.

Ealing Grant Winners with Amelia Grant, Project Manager of LWIN

Cohort of Hillingdon Grant Winners with Amelia Grant, Toby Kress and Nigel Cramb

The Ealing and Hillingdon grant winners are carrying out innovation in diverse fields from agriculture, education, pet welfare to hydrogen production. Read more about the businesses here.

Toby Kress, Programme Director of Plus X, also the host of the evening. Most of the Hillingdon grant-winning businesses are based in CRL.

Steven Wilding from Hounslow Borough talking to the crowd about the various business support program provided by Hounslow Council

Andrea Laffey from Ealing Borough addressing the crowd

Nigel Cramb, Partnerships Manager at London Borough of Hillingdon addressing the grant winners

The network’s  first interactive workshop on early-stage fundraising will take place on Wednesday 19 April, and aims to help businesses understand the funding options available to them and learn from a panel of experts representing leading venture capitalists, active Angel networks, plus universities, and explore the different kinds of flexible capital support available from the banking sector.

To find out more about the London West Innovation Network, visit www.londonwestinnovation.global, or follow LWIN on LinkedIn and Twitter.

17 Mar London West Innovation Network all set for its official launch at the Ealing and Hillingdon Grant Winners’ Networking Event

London West Innovation Network to be officially launched on the 28^th of March, at the *invite only* networking event that will bring together their Innovation Grant Winners, a program LWIN coordinated with staff support from West London Business, and dignitaries including Seema Malhotra MP and other government representatives.

In 2022, London West Innovation Network with a staff team at West London Business was commissioned by the Boroughs of Ealing and Hillingdon to devise and manage a business support competition to deliver over £3million of grant funding to their SMEs to support accelerated growth and local employment.

The innovation funds: Ealing Pioneers Fund and Hillingdon Enterprises Fund, was part of the Government’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), aimed at supporting businesses impacted by COVID-19, and was launched by the respective boroughs to deliver targeted innovators in their geography to boost economic growth and employment. The schemes designed to support innovation in products and services, provided grants to entrepreneurs, micro and small businesses to be used for testing, prototyping innovations, supporting adaptations and diversifications of products or services.

At the end of a rigorous and competitive application process, 34 diverse businesses were awarded grants totalling over £3 million aimed at delivering innovation from sectors including Health & Wellbeing, Creative & Media, Aviation & Logistics, Food & Drink.

This closed, invite-only, networking event will mark the official launch of a rebranded and updated London West Innovation Network.  The evening will bring together all grant winners representing some of the most innovative minds in West London, for an evening of networking and celebration.

14 Mar Sustainability Beyond the Environment: Incorporating Notions of Economy and Wellbeing

With sustainability gaining prominence in business agendas and motives, with more and more businesses and organisations realising the impact the rhetoric has on their long-term success, it might be time to understand sustainability from a much comprehensive lens. Fujitsu is setting the stage by incorporate a comprehensive sustainability strategy in their business model focusing on the environment, economies and wellbeing aspects of sustainability.

The climate crisis requires urgent notice, and businesses and corporations have a crucial role to play, not just by contributing towards the environment, but also by setting the stage, for others to follow suit. Fujitsu, by surveying 1000 businesses across 15 countries and 10 industries tried to evaluate how different companies are making a different to three pillars of sustainability.

The findings showed that companies have a wide-ranging view on Sustainability Transformation, with different objectives, although, the environment pillar had the most weight reflected on companies’ compliance with sustainability regulations. The trend lately is also significantly influenced by the new sustainability disclosure coming into effect across the globe like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. However, organisation are also focusing on other pillars of sustainability, by committing to developing sustainable supply chains and ecosystems, and putting enough emphasis on societal issues like employee health and wellbeing, equality and the broader health sector.

On the environmental front, Fujitsu is fueling environment change through digital innovation, focusing on AI, computing, network, data and security, and converging technologies. Together with IHI, they are also leveraging blockchain technology to create carbon trading and tracking ecosystem to identify energy savings in client’s supply chains. This could significantly contribute to a reduction of CO2 emissions.

On the economic front, studies have shows that the demand for sustainable goods have been on the rise, the cultural shift is visible in Fujitsu’s research, with more than half of the organisations expressing worry in their long term success if they don’t address sustainability issues today. In terms of social wellbeing, Fujitsu’s research shows that societal change has become a crucial part of social sustainability.

The SEVP and Chief Revenue Officer at Fujistsu, argues that, “The concept of Sustainability Transformation covers not only short-term goals, but also initiatives for the future. Large enterprises have a particular responsibility to promote all areas of Sustainable Transformation”

Read more at fujitsu-uvance.ft.com

03 Mar British Business Bank Publishes the Small Business Finance Markets Report

The ninth Small Business Finance Markets 2022/23 Report, published by British Business Bank, highlights the role of finance in driving innovation across the UK’s small business population and in supporting  small businesses to provide solutions to achieve the UK’s net zero targets.

British Business Bank is a government-owned business development bank that aims to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK, and to enable a transition to a net zero economy by ensuring finance markets work better for smaller businesses. They had celebrated distribution of 100K Loans to businesses across the UK earlier this year.

Innovation and Small Businesses

Small Business Finance Markets Report 2023 Infographic

The Small Business Finance Markets also explores the role finance has in supporting innovation. Key findings include:

1. Despite the UK ranking 4th in the 2022 Global Innovation Index, it still has progress to make with around 43% of UK small businesses found to be innovative compared to an average 51% across the G7
2. Economic growth requires both new-to-market and
   new-to-business innovation to flourish, and both categories use more external finance than non-innovative businesses
3. SMEs applying for finance to innovate are most likely to seek grants,
   but other finance products are also commonly sought
4. Lack of finance and funding can hold back companies
   from developing and commercialising innovation

The report summarises that during the Covid-19 pandemic, use of external finance by smaller businesses hit new highs, supported by Covid-19 emergency loan schemes. While this helped businesses to manage and grew during the crisis, there have been other challenges, and external finance remains an important resource for businesses as they navigate through uncertain times.

Key findings

The overall key findings from the report include:

1. 2022 has been a challenging year for the UK’s 5.5m smaller businesses, with high energy prices and inflation. This put pressure on many small businesses’ financial positions.
2. Lending volumes grew in 2022 with challenger and specialist banks accounting for a record share of gross lending in 2022. Use of external finance figures, however, point to increasing signs of difficulties in accessing finance.
3. Equity finance raised by small businesses saw a turning point midway through 2022 following two years of very strong growth.
4. Finance to support both new-to-market and new-to-business innovations are essential to delivering long-term economic growth in the UK economy.
5. Equity flows are supporting smaller businesses to develop net zero solutions, with net-zero related deals making up an increasing share of activity. This points to more equity and debt funded investment in smaller businesses solutions.

The report also throws light on the role of inflation in various macroeconomic developments in the UK, possibility of recession, potential trends in business investments etc. Read the full report here. View the full Small Business Finance Markets report infographic.

01 Mar Applications Closing Soon for The Greenhouse Climate Change Accelerator Programme

The Greenhouse is a 12-month innovation programme for climate positive startups that offers early-stage (“pre-seed”) entrepreneurs access to business coaching with experienced professionals, a range of masterclasses, free workspace at our new headquarters in central London, and equity-free grant funding. Applications are now open for Cohort 5 of The Greenhouse climate accelerator programme, grab the opportunity and become part of their cleantech community! The deadline is the 6th of March 2023.

The Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment is one of the five global institutes at Imperial College London and on of the three Grantham sponsored centres in the UK. It was also a founding partner of Climate-KIC, Climate-KIC Accelerator, Climate Launchpad, The Journey and other initiatives at the Grantham Institute.

What are they looking for?

• Teams who are passionate about climate change, working on something innovative, looking to learn, and 100% committed to achieving their vision.
• Teams with a concrete idea with a potential for significant climate impact ad commercial growth.
• Startups must be a legal entity registered in London not normally more than 12 months old (or register as a UK entity immediately upon selection).

What’s the catch for you?

• Up to £20,000 equity-free grant funding.
• Direct 1-on-1 coaching support with the experienced Greenhouse team
• Masterclasses and workshops
• Talks from relevant stakeholders, including alumni, investors, and others
• Structured mentorship programme
• An opportunity to present your idea to prominent investors in the climate innovation ecosystem
• Office space in the heart of London
• Membership to an increasingly active alumni community.

Teams will be assessed on the basis of their application forms and submitted pitch decks, and scored against the following criteria and quality of application:

• Climate impact / relevance
• Strength and uniqueness of innovation / IP
• Potential to scale / Likelihood of market success
• Team capability
• Overall suitability for The Greenhouse

Instead of a formal interview process, selection will take place through a bootcamp, a 2-day event focused on your business model, getting to know your founder team and presenting to the other shortlisted startups for peer feedback. Following completion of the bootcamp, the final selection of up to 15 startups for The Greenhouse would be made.

Learn more and register today!