£30m Welsh Government funding in attempt to boost innovation

Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

Thirty million pounds of Welsh Government money is being put into new programmes to help Welsh organisations develop new products and services.

The funding, announced by economy minister Vaughan Gething and climate change minister Julie James, will be split between two programmes.

The first of those programmes is the SMART Flexible Innovation Support (SMART FIS) scheme, which is currently open to applications.

It’s aim is to help businesses, research organisations and academia, as well as public bodies and third sector bodies, innovate and create new products and services – developing skills and improving research and development capabilities.

The programme is open to any organisation with eligible projects, including local authorities and health boards.

Meanwhile, the next round of the Circular Economy Innovation Fund has also been launched by the Welsh Government, with £10m being invested into the fund over the next two years.

This fund will support investment in manufacturing processes to increase the use of recycled and reused materials in products – with businesses able to apply for up to £200,000.

Mr Gething said: “The Welsh Government is committed to stimulating innovation to improve the lives of people across Wales. We’re doing that by building a Welsh economy based on the principles of sustainability, fair work and on developing the industries and services of the future.

“The new funds we are launching will help turbo-charge innovations in Wales by supporting organisations to develop new innovative products and services that help us deliver that vision – helping to improve people’s lives, boosting the economy and help protect our environment for future generations.”

Ms James said: “Continuing our transition to a circular economy is a critical element of decarbonisation. By keeping resources in use for as long as possible and avoiding waste, it not only benefits the environment, but will enable Wales to take advantage of economic opportunities by shortening supply chains, increasing competitiveness, and improving our resource efficiency.