What we provide
A customised package of expert commercial advice, networking opportunities and grant funding to small enterprises that are developing low carbon technologies in Great Britain.
Commercial Advice is delivered through commercial and technical consultancy services up to the value of £70k. This can be fully funded by us and includes:
- Advising on patenting and intellectual property strategies
- Prioritising markets and providing advice on how to enter them
- Building capable management teams
- Help finding customers, partners and investors
- Developing an investor ready business plan and pitch
- Boosting marketing and PR capabilities
- Providing expert engineering, modelling and product development
- Meeting product tests and regulations
- Assistance with scale-up for manufacture
Networking opportunities are with investors and industry partners through our contacts.
Grant funding is for research and development projects of up to 60% of project costs. Please note, the availability of these grants varies by region; please call our Customer Centre for details.
If you are looking for investment from us, please visit Carbon Trust Investments.
For details on other sources of green finance for your business, see finance for energy saving projects.
Who we help
Micro and Small UK enterprises where any intellectual property being developed or exploited is owned within Great Britain; this may include:
- Entrepreneurial start-up businesses,
- existing businesses wishing to grow through the development of a novel product or service,
- University spin-outs,
- Corporate spin-outs,
- Commercial opportunities being developed within a university that are not yet incorporated into a dedicated company, but where the assistance is intended to lead directly to commercial outcomes for the UK, such as the formation of a company or a licensing deal, and where the arising intellectual property is retained by the university or its spin-out company for the carbon-saving application(s).
Owing to our support restrictions, we are unable to offer any EFT service to applicants from Northern Ireland.
How we are different
We recognise that time is a precious commodity for small enterprises and thus the Entrepreneurs Fast Track has been designed to be simple, effective and quick:
- It is a continually open, fast and efficient application process
- Majority of the application process involves talking to us, not filling in forms
- You will have a dedicated relationship manager responsible for making sure you get the right support at the right time and make the most of the support on offer
The first step is to call our customer centre on 01789 200 306. Read more about how to apply.