Innovate UK are launching the infocus awards for women in innovation

Women with potential to be successful entrepreneurs and leaders in innovation can apply for support and funding to help them to succeed. This is the first women-only Innovate UK competition and is part of a new ‘infocus’ initiative to encourage diversity in innovation.

Innovate UK has up to £200,000 and a package of tailored support to award to businesswomen who have exciting ideas and the potential to become leaders in innovation and deliver significant economic growth.

Each of the 12 finalists in the competition will receive a package of support tailored to their needs, and the four winners will each receive £50,000 to support their innovation project or activities.

The role for Innovate UK is to identify and nurture the next generation of brilliant innovators. Women are under-represented in the field of innovation, and that means that our nation is failing to harness, capitalise on and celebrate the entrepreneurial talent of female innovators to the detriment of our economy. Boosting female entrepreneurship could deliver approximately £60bn extra to the UK economy.

What are the infocus awards?

The infocus awards will celebrate and reward women working across 4 key sectors:

• Materials & Manufacturing
• Health & Life Sciences
• Infrastructure Systems
• Emerging & Enabling Technologies.

The twelve winners will benefit from a valuable tailor-made package of support, and four of these will each receive a £50,000 grant to get a brilliant idea up and running.

Key information

• The competition opens on 1 June 2016 and the deadline for registration is noon on 24 August 2016
• The awards are open to any woman in the UK working in business innovation in any of Innovate UK’s four sectors
• Applicants can be a company owner, employee or sole trader in any size of business and must be legally and contractually able to use the grant funding on offer
• A briefing for potential applicants will be held on 20 June 2016

Find out more about the infocus awards here and follow the conversation on twitter #infocus