About Us 
About Us
Recognising the need to support innovation from its earliest stages, Advantage West Midlands created the Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund to provide pre-commercialisation capital for technical and commercial proof of concept. The Fund supplies grants, typically between £15k and £30k to support the third party costs associated with commercialising new products and processes.
The Fund became active on the 10th October 2008 based out of the University of Warwick Science Park and is expected to award grants until 31st March 2010 on a rolling basis. It is managed by UWSP Concepts Limited on behalf of Advantage West Midlands.
The Fund is also delivered through four satellite offices based at UWSP/Connect Midlands, Malvern Hills Science Park, the University of Wolverhampton and Staffordshire BIC. The majority of interaction with applicants to the Fund will be handled by these satellite offices due to the volume of applicants that we must process and so that the Central Office can be demonstrably objective and fair in its scrutiny of applications.
Naturally, the Fund is selective since the Fund receives many more requests for funding than we have funds available to satisfy. We must ensure that only the best applications progress and, occasionally, we may have to place applicants on a waiting list if demand is particularly high. We undertake a desk based due diligence and assessment of every application received. The process that we use for selecting candidates is based on a set of fixed criteria and a selection process, which takes into account the impact of the project, the riskiness of the project and an opportunity assessment system that helps us screen for the most promising innovations and business opportunities.
The final step of the process involves an independent Grant Award Panel who scrutinise both applications and the selection process that they have been through. This Panel is the final arbiter as to whether grants should be awarded and, as this is a discretionary fund, the decision of the fund is final.
The Fund also works with upstream funders, such as venture capitalists and business angel networks, to facilitate a smooth transition from the proof of concept stage to commercially funded project launch and exploitation. We are heavily involved with other support networks such as Business Link, Manufacturing Advisory Service, Medilink and Connect Midlands to ensure that companies who receive our grants are properly supported in managing their projects and bringing their innovations to market.
The Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund is managed using a distributed model by a lean team based across five sites. Click here to find details of how to contact these people.
The Advantage Proof of Concept Grant Fund Team
Central Office
- Project Director: David Grindrod
- Manager: Tom Blount
- Senior Project Administrator: Paula Verma
- Finance Technician: Janet Sharp
Satellite Offices
- University of Warwick Science Park Node Manager: Tim Powell
- Malvern Hills Science Park Node Manager: Nigel Shaw
- Wolverhampton University Node Manager: Karen Shaw
- Staffordshire BIC Node Manager: Geoff Riley