East Devon District Council: Innovation and Resilience Fund

Fund details

Applicants must apply under one of the three funding pathways, with funding available for the following types of projects:

• Net Zero Innovation: allow a business to develop a new product, service, or technology with a strong net zero focus
• Rural Innovation: allow a rural business to grow by significantly increasing productivity or by developing a new product, service, or technology
• Farm Diversification: allow a farm business to diversify by developing a new product, service, or technology not related to agriculture

Applicants cannot use the funding to cover salaries or lost income, to cover normal operational costs such as rent, utility bills, etc or to cover the cost of any goods or services already purchased.

All IRF2 projects must have a transformational impact on the business. A project is considered to be transformational if it can achieve either of the following:

• The creation of new jobs or safeguarding of existing jobs
• The adoption of new technologies or processes to increase productivity

Businesses applying under the Net Zero Innovation pathway can submit a collaborative bid with an education provider or other public sector organisation.

Further information regarding collaborative bids can be found in the Policy.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, applicants must:

• Be seeking capital funding for a specific ‘transformational’ project (see definition below)
• Be trading at the time of their application
• Primarily operate and trade within East Devon
• Not be in administration, insolvent, or has been struck off the Companies House register
• Not have exceeded the permitted subsidy control threshold