Funding and finance support for your business

To help businesses focus on growing and scaling the business (a key priority for you, according to our recent membership survey) and to navigate an uncertain economy, we’ve been working with our national and local partners to find funding and finance support for your business.

Here are the latest opportunities, from getting your business ready for funding, finding an overview of what financial support is available, to more bespoke support to help you innovate, grow, and scale.  

Eagle Labs Funding Readiness Programme

Learn how to navigate the funding landscape, with Barclays Eagle Lab’s Funding Readiness Programme - helping to demystify funding by supporting founders and entrepreneurs to get the skills they need to fund business growth. Their online sessions cover grant funding, crowdfunding, equity investment and alternative ways of funding your business.

Find out what makes a compelling grant application, a compelling pitch, and understand how to plan, market and deliver a successful crowdfunding campaign. Plus, get 1:1 mentoring support from a grant or crowdfunding expert, with additional support from the Eagle Lab team once the programme ends.

Applications of interest for Funding Readiness Programme are now open for spring 2023.

Or, if you think you’re ready for funding and are looking for a more direct link to investors, Barclays’ Demo Directory connects businesses looking for funding to investors (it’s also open to investors, too).

For more information on any of these programmes from Eagle Labs, get in touch with the Brighton Eagle Lab team:

Lab Manager, Rohun Bouri: rohun@eaglelabsnetwork.com

Ecosystems Manager, Andy Roberts: andrew.roberts2@barclays.com  

Innovate Edge UK

Part of the UK innovation agency, Innovate Edge UK offers bespoke support that helps to grow and scale innovative businesses. Your business might be working in tech and innovation, or you might be changing a process or product, and innovating within your own business.

Get bespoke support to help your business grow through a range of programmes and initiatives:

• South East Create Growth Programme – supporting creative businesses to explore and secure commercial investment opportunities
• Net Zero Make and Use Programme - helping put in place the key building blocks to help businesses transform to a resource efficient future
• Future Economy Round 7 - loans for micro, small and medium sized businesses with projects focused on the future economy
• Investment readiness and support - bespoke support to help you develop an approach to securing funding

Find out more about Innovate Edge UK, and more support programmes available, on their website.  

GRANTfinder at the Business & IP Centre

If you’re looking for a general overview of the funding and grant opportunities available to businesses, the Business & IP Centre based out of Jubilee Library in Brighton has a handy free to use database: GRANTfinder.

Filter, search and refine results by type, location, sector and stage of business to find the right funding for your business. Their database resources also include topical articles, how-to guides and tips for application writing.

They’ve also got plenty of other databases available to help you research a business idea, understand your market and customers, or keep track of your competitors.

Find out more and get in touch with the BIPC team here.  

Use the Chamber website for expert tips

The Chamber community is full of experts in funding and finance and luckily for us, they have shared their expertise on the Chamber website. Head over to the Chamber website for insights including help with approaching pricing in a recession and a guide to investment.

Have a look at the finance and funding category on our blog here.  

And lastly, we’re here to help!

The Chamber team are always here to help with signposting to support and make connections and introductions to other members if you need advice from an expert. Make use of the Chamber community if you need some support. Odds are, if we can’t help directly, we’ll know someone who can.

Pop me an email if you’d like any help finding business support. 

The above information is correct as of January 2023.

Hannah Jackson is Membership & Marketing Manager at Brighton Chamber.

Find more business support on the Chamber’s business support page.  

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk