Berkshire LEP provides £200,000 funding to local businesses
Businesses in Berkshire were boosted this year by a £200,000 funding package distributed by the Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership from its Getting Building Fund allocation.
The Berkshire Business Capital Grant Fund was set up to target businesses in the county which were identified as either high growth or potential high growth (scale up) enterprises. From a total fund of £211,196, six Berkshire business received grants of between £25,000 to £50,000. These grants were matched by recipients, meaning a total of £439,998 invested in Berkshire.
The fund’s goal was to provide funding to support investment projects which would enable the scale-up businesses to make the most of expansion opportunities or counteract barriers to their growth.
The firms which qualified both did not have sufficient capital of their own to grow and could not access funds from another source. The fund also prioritised business expansion that will facilitate increased productivity, employment generation and greener, cleaner growth.
Alison Webster, CEO of Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We are ambitious for Berkshire and the initiatives we deliver are designed to ensure businesses here have the funding, skills, support and infrastructure to grow.
“On occasions a large amount of finance is required to fund the next stage of an organisation’s growth or it could be that a smaller amount is needed to buy a piece of critical equipment.
“Through our Berkshire Growth Hub we are acutely aware of the support businesses need to grow their business.
“In order to provide the greatest impact and return on investment for the Berkshire economy, the Business Capital Grants were targeted at high growth potential SMEs rather than at those requiring grants for businesses survival which were available during the pandemic through local authorities.
“We are delighted that the Berkshire Business Capital Grant Fund will support the Berkshire scale-up community by helping businesses implement their growth plans.”
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One of the firms to receive funding was Occuity, a Reading-based company researching and developing innovative optical medical devices.
Dr Dan Daly, CEO and co-founder of Occuity, said: “I am delighted that Occuity has received the support of Berkshire Business Capital Grant Fund.
“The grant will allow us to develop seven dedicated test stations which will help us to significantly enhance our production process. This will positively impact revenue generation and the business’ ability to grow profitably.
“Since we were founded in 2019, we’ve grown rapidly and this funding will not only help us bring our first product to market but to continue creating new job opportunities in the Berkshire area and secure the longer-term future for our employees.”
In July, Occuity launched a new funding round to support the advancement of its long-term screening and monitoring products, while finishing the PM1's path to revenue and capitalising on what it describes as "a very attractive new opportunity".
Another Berkshire firm to receive funding was Wokingham’s Tepeo, which we recently featured as a sustainable tech firm to watch.
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