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Welcome to the Electronics Weekly funding guide for the technology entrepreneur.

Finding start-up funding is a complex process all the way from an early stage company to more developed technology firms. There are so many grants, schemes, investor angels and venture capitalists to negotiate until you find the right partner for your business, it is a daunting task. Here Electronics Weekly presents its guide for funding opportunities in the UK.

University schemes
UK Universities in many cases have their own funding schemes, can point the way to funding in the wider world and will have intimate knowledge of the funding available from the UK’s Research Councils. They are an excellent place to start if you are really coming to the question of funding your business without much previous experience or knowledge. Electronics Weekly has compiled a list of links to university commercialisation departments.

Research Councils
The UK’s Research Councils provide funding for a variety of research activities through a number of different schemes. Funding available covers a breadth of research areas, including blue skies research, long-term research and applied research. An annual business plan competition is also intended for researchers who want to develop a business proposition based around their work.

The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the Research Council most applicable for technology in the electronics sector. Much of the money available from of the Council is to provide backing for research work but some funds are available for commercialising funding. The fund intended particularly for commercialising research work is known as the Follow-on Fund. Have a look at the Electronics Weekly guide to Research Council funding, which contains links to the relevant funds.

Government funds
There are a variety of funds available through the Government and it can be difficult negotiating through the variety of schemes to find the right one for your idea. For example, in England the longstanding SMART awards were replaced by the Grant for Research and Development, now administered by the English Regional Development Agencies. In Scotland the Proof of Concept Fund is one part of Scottish Enterprise's strategy to promote technology start-up activity and in Wales the Technium initiative serves the enterprise community in the region. Our guide to Government funding available to start-up firms contains many useful links for the entrepreneur.

Back to Electronics Weekly's technology start-up page