The UK government is committed to expanding innovation through all industries. Recently, UK Treasury Secretary  Rishi Sunak has announced plans for  £ 375 million in funding for tech startups. This funding will come through as the Future Fund: Breakthrough scheme.

The Future Fund:Breakthrough scheme encourages private investors to co-invest with the government in high-growth, innovative firms. They believe these R&D intensive companies can accelerate the deployment of breakthrough technologies leading to industry transformations.

The key features and requirements of the program are:

  • Initial £375M fund size
  • R&D intensive companies
  • Minimum investment round size of £20M
  • Company must be UK based with significant UK operations
  • Application must be led by established venture capital investors. 

This funding is intended to help UK technology leaders better compete with the US and China. The money is exchanged with the state’s shares in the companies. To accompany this plan, the government is creating a digital market unit acting as a new competition watchdog. This should help gain the strength of Big Tech companies like Google and Apple, providing a chance for smaller UK startups to have equal access to app stores. It goes further, working to modernize competition law by addressing and contesting software packages and licensing agreements that seem unscrupulous.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the UK’s leading R&D Tax Relief consultancies. We manage all facets of the SR&ED tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

If you would like to find out more about how your business could benefit from R&D Tax Credit, contact a Swanson Reed R&D Tax Advisor today.