South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

1. Only SMEs are Eligible

You must be an individual, micro, small or medium-sized Enterprise (SME) to be eligible for Grant for R&D: The Quick Look guide below provides information on the size of company which can apply for each grant type¹.

• Click here to view the Quick Look Guide
  (Microsoft Word document 35Kb)

In determining whether your business meets the various SME ceilings, you will need to consider whether the enterprise is Autonomous, or is either a 'Partner Enterprise' or a 'Linked Enterprise' (i.e. part of a group). To do this, you must take account of any relationships you have with other enterprises. Depending on the category in which your enterprise fits you may then need to add some, or all, of the headcount, turnover or balance sheet data from those enterprises to your own. The new SME definition document contains further details and can be found here.
(Adobe Acrobat PDF 1.16Mb, PDF help).

2. Projects must involve Technological Innovation

Your project must be technologically innovative and match the project criteria specific to each grant (see the Quick Look guide above for information on each grant type).

Please note that software projects must involve significant technical development (engineering) that produces at least a step change impact on how computers are programmed or used. More information is available in the Guidance Notes for Applicants (below).

3. Which costs are eligible?

Please read the Guidance Notes for Applicants below for advice on other areas of eligibility including a list of eligible and in-eligible costs

• Click here to view Guidance Notes for Applicants
  (Microsoft Word document 563Kb)

¹ Although individuals are eligible to apply, the aim of the grant scheme is to support the growth of new and existing businesses looking to research and develop new and innovative technology as part of an overall business plan to grow and maintain a sustainable business to include full-time employees and sales turnover. Therefore individuals must be planning to set up a sustainable business.