For a long time at Electronics Weekly we have admired the Proof of Concept scheme that is run by Scottish Enterprise, supporting very early stage companies at a stage where venture capital firms are not always interested.
The fund always seemed to fill a vital gap. Yet you could argue – what successful companies have come out of this environment? The big UK successes - CSR and ARM – were not grown with such funding.
Indeed VCs tend to scoff when you mention Government schemes supporting enterprise or at best concede they ‘have their place’. Maybe they just think the Government can’t or shouldn’t do what they do and that businesses should stand or fall on their own merits.
Now it looks like the Proof of Concept scheme could become nationally instituted. In Lord Sainsbury's recent review of science and innovation recommends the roll out of such a scheme.
Better support for early-stage high-technology companies through a reformed Small Business Research Initiative with more effective use of Government procurement to drive business innovation, a national ‘proof-of-concept’ fund, and the support of RDA for incubators, high-technology clusters and business readiness services.
We must welcome this and not scoff. If the firms they award are assessed by people who know what they are about it surely must increases the chances of growing the big successful firms we want and need in the UK.