Investing in Kent's businesses

An angel investor network that welcomes applications from businesses in any sector with investments of £50k to £2m considered. Products must be beyond proof of concept stage. Business model is key.

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Growth grants of £1,000 to maximum of £10,000 for SMEs in Kent. The programme can fund up to 30% of the costs of qualifying projects, with the remaining 70% being met by the business. Available to new and existing SMEs (including start-ups) in all sectors who are looking to access in-depth, specialist business support and grant funding. This project provides an enhanced, complementary service to SELEP’s core Growth Hub activities.

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The Kent Life Science Fund is a new £50m venture capital fund backed by Kent County Council supporting small high-growth companies active in life sciences. KLSF will offer equity investments with a focus on game-changing medical technologies and advanced therapeutics.

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Offering 0% loans between £50,000 and £500,000 to small and medium sized businesses. The scheme aims to deliver investment to businesses across Kent and Medway and is funded by loan repayments from our previous Regional Growth Fund schemes (Expansion East Kent, Tiger and Escalate).

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Kent LEADER is a source of funding available to farmers, growers, foresters, rural businesses and communities to help secure a sustainable future for the rural economy of Kent. The fund has a minimum grant award of £2,500 and a maximum of usually £50,000-£100,000 at a rate of 40% of eligible costs for commercial projects. SME’s only.

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Innovation 0% loans between £100,000 and £999,999 towards the development of innovation incubator spaces and other workspaces for start-ups and small businesses within Kent. SME’s only.

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Patent Box enables a 10% Corporation Tax rate to apply to business profits attributed to patents and intellectual property registered in the UK. Applies to any business size. You can only benefit from the Patent Box if your company is liable to Corporation Tax and makes a profit from exploiting patented inventions.

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The Manufacturing Growth Programme is the UKs largest and leading business support programme aimed at making improvements to manufacturing SMEs. It is a £10m ERDF funded programme that delivers support across 15 LEP regions. The programme will deliver over 3400 improvement projects and create over 4000 new jobs whilst supporting business to create new products, open up new markets, improve productivity and become more competitive..

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R&D reliefs support companies that work on innovative projects in science and technology. It can be claimed by a range of companies that seek to research or develop an advance in their field. It can even be claimed on unsuccessful projects. The work that qualifies for R&D relief must be part of a specific project to make an advance in science or technology.

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Enterprise Zone rate relief North Kent Enterprise Zone, made up of six sites across Ebbsfleet, Medway and Maidstone offers business rate relief of up to £55,000 a year for five years – a total of up to £275,000. Applies to any business size.

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Low carbon across the South East (LoCASE) Business development, growth and competitiveness initiatives for SMEs in the Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services sector. £1, 000 – £20,000 match-funded grants for SMEs to cover 40% of your energy efficiency project costs.

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Innovate UK offers funding of between £25,000 and £10 million for the development of an innovative product, process or service by a UK-based company. Awards are made on a competition basis. Any business size.

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A government-backed personal loan available to individuals looking to start or grow a business in the UK. With a fixed interest rate of just 6% per annum and the ability to borrow between £500 and £25,000, start up Loans offer an affordable source of finance to help new and early stage business owners bring their plans to life. SME’s only.

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Transport and Logistical Efficiencies is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by the Haven Gateway Partnership. This project will support SMEs in the Logistics sector to better understand and analyse their data to increase their efficiency. It will also help them to understand cyber security and the implications on their data. Specialist expertise is provided by the University of Essex and University of Kent.

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EIRA (Enabling Innovation: Research to Application) is a 3 year project, building on the success of Eastern ARC, funded by Research England to drive forward world-class university commercialisation. EIRA will support innovation in the East of England by helping businesses to access research expertise from universities and colleges in the region. The project has a specific focus on three themes: artificial intelligence, biotechnology and digital creative.

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BGF (Business Growth Fund) is the UK’s most active provider of growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses*. Providing long-term funding support, BGF makes initial investments of up to £10m in return for a minority equity stake and can provide additional funding to support further growth. Available for businesses established for over 3 years.

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