Funding & support resources

The SWEF Business Grant supports young people living in County Durham or Tees Valley with a business investment they can’t afford but will transform their business.

Shaping the skills and knowledge of our creative industries

Venture Sunderland provides investment for ambitious, high-growth companies at all stages.

The Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund supports businesses investing in life sciences manufacturing projects in the UK.

Franchise Angels is an investment initiative to assist the rapid growth of proven businesses via franchising.

The Flexible Finance Fund by the Social Investment Business, The Ubele Initiative, and Create Equity offers a blend of grants and loans to Black and Racially Minoritised-led charities and social enterprises in England.

Funding loans of up to £25,000 available to entrepreneurs within their first 3 years of trading, with potential top up loans within years 3-5 of trading.

The Green New Deal Fund (GNDF) is an investment fund established to provide finance to SMEs and the public sector to reduce carbon emissions, create green jobs and develop skills in the region.

Growing inclusive funding opportunities for business

Flexible Social Finance has been designed with the social sector, for the social sector.

Creative Growth Finance provides scale-up loans of £100k to £1m to UK businesses in the Creative Industries.

UK registered micro and small businesses can apply for a share of up to £500,000 to develop adoptable and investable innovations within communication networks. This funding is from the Telecoms Technology Missions Fund programme.

A funding initiative aimed at supporting UK-based artists working with immersive technologies.

LNER is inviting small and medium-sized charities located within 15 miles of the East Coast Main Line to apply for funding through its 2026 Customer and Community Investment Fund (CCIF).

This grant programme will help local growing businesses to access high quality external expertise to deliver business improvement projects.

Local experts providing practical businesses advice