News

Yorkshire & Humber AHSN has been awarded a £20,000 grant from Leeds City Council as part of its Innovation@Leeds scheme.

The council launched its Innovation@Leeds scheme earlier this year when it invited grant applications from organisations that provide training, mentoring and other forms of support for people aiming to develop their own innovation-led businesses.

The grant will be used by the AHSN for its Propel@YH programme – a digital accelerator that helps small and medium enterprises develop digital health tech innovations.

Eight other companies successfully bid for the grants including:

• Open Innovations
• FinTech North
• Paceline
• Whitecap Consulting
• AI Tech North
• The Grad Soc
• No Code Lab
• Nexus in collaboration with NorthInvest.

The grants, ranging from £5,000 – £25,000, will be used to fund conferences, workshops and peer support groups for a diverse set of innovators from across the city, giving them access to the latest information on technology trends as well as opportunities to build valuable business connections.

This mix of knowledge sharing, networking and enterprise-friendly activity will, it is hoped, provide a launchpad for aspiring entrepreneurs with ideas that can help tackle problems such as climate change and poverty, while also driving Leeds’s recovery from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scheme underlines the council’s long-standing commitment to the city’s innovation ecosystem and its role in ensuring that people from different backgrounds have the means to make the most of their talents in fields such as digital and other emerging technologies.

The work funded by the grants should also prove timely for start-ups that, for a variety of reasons, came into existence during the pandemic and are looking for guidance and advice as they find their feet in a much-changed business world.

Tim East, Digital Navigator at Yorkshire & Humber AHSN said:

“We are honoured to receive funding support from Leeds City Council through its innovation@Leeds Grant. The Grant is a fantastic example of how local investment in Leeds will support the Propel@YH programme to drive health tech innovation and economic growth within our region”

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s executive member for economy, culture and education, said:

“Leeds is a city brimming with talent, and we want to do everything we can to help people put that creativity, spark and passion to use in ways that benefit both them and the local economy.

“These Innovation@Leeds grants will play a part in that important process by supporting some of the many local organisations that provide the training and mentoring needed to make ideas become a reality.

“We already have a fast-growing digital sector and plenty of fantastic, forward-thinking companies. Innovation@Leeds should now help shape a new generation of entrepreneurs who will write the next chapter in the city’s burgeoning tech success story.”

The grants have been funded by the council’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) budget in recognition of the challenges created by the pandemic and the need to drive economic recovery.