Access to Finance to Support Marketing Communication Activities

At Onyx Health, we work with healthcare business of various sizes all with one aim of growing their business.

Often the stumbling block to them realising the vision for their innovative products is funding.

We look at funding that is available to healthcare companies in three of the most innovative healthcare areas in England.

Regional grants and funds

In most parts of the country, local funding is available to support business development and growth.

A grant can be a great source of start-up funding, primarily as there is no interest to be paid. These are available from various government, councils, charitable bodies.

North East of England

• The North East Business Support Fund (NBSL) offers grants of up to £2,800 for North East business improvement projects, including assistance with communication and digital activities

North West of England

• Liverpool City Region LEP provides grants of up to 35% towards the cost of marketing services and a broad range of other disciplines, on projects up to the value of £10,000

East of England

• Signpost 2 Grants, offers grants of between £2,000 and £20,000 to support capital investment projects, including purchasing new equipment or investment in your premises – freeing up your finances on other business priorities!

There are also a number debt and equity finance options available for small businesses.

North East of England

• North East Finance provides debt and equity finance from £1,000 to £1.25m to SMEs based in, or relocating to, the north east of England
• The North East Growth Fund offers funding solutions to north east businesses, making investments between £50k – £400k
• The North East Microloan Fund supports small businesses and start-ups looking for simple loans to start or build their operations

North West of England

• The Rosebud Micro Loan Fund, offers competitive loans from £10,000 to £49,000 for Lancashire based healthcare start-ups

East of England

• Foundation East provides loans of up to £100,000 aimed at businesses looking to grow and take their company to the next level
• NWES offers loans of up to £25,000 to pre-start and start-up businesses in the East of England aged up to two years old to help set up and grow their company

These grants and funds are supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Regional Growth Fund.

Business angels

Individuals who invest their personal money, are emerging as noteworthy investors. The UK Government offers tax breaks to UK taxpayers who invest in start-ups, small and early stage companies.

Corporate venture funds

The investment arms of large healthcare corporations such as Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis, like to invest money into health technology SMEs developing innovative, disruptive technologies.

European Funding

The European Commission finances projects that are highly innovative. Innovation is understood to mean as something novel on an European scale, but preferably also on the global scale. The UK is among one of the top beneficiaries for this source of funding.

Crowdfunding

This is now considered a viable funding option for health start-ups and SMEs. However, because of the limited amount of money that can be raised, crowdfunding is normally used in tandem with raising money from other sources of funding.

At Onyx Health, we work with healthcare businesses of various sizes with one aim of growing their business. We look at funding that is available to healthcare companies in some of the most innovative areas in England.