Innovation

Challenge Fund

Status: Delivery

Re-building local wealth through sourcing innovative solutions to tackling some of the CCR’s most urgent societal problems.

What is the project about?

The CCR £10m Challenge Fund is aimed at re-building local wealth through bringing innovative solutions to tackling some of the CCR’s most urgent societal problems. Working in partnership with Cardiff University and YLab, the fund will invite our public sector bodies to develop challenges and connect with organisations that are able to provide innovative solutions to the challenges identified. This approach aims to draw on the region’s creativity and ingenuity and bring together the public and private sector in order to deliver novel solutions, where no commercial solution currently exists, and to provide a route to market for the solution.

Building local wealth and stimulating economic growth through three priority areas:

Accelerating decarbonisation to help frame and deliver targeted clean energy challenges which draw on business innovation and creativity centres around meeting the climate emergency and net zero targets.

Improving the health and wellbeing of the region’s citizens, making the best use of our Public Sector buying power to procure innovative prototypes and scale new models of health and social care, while unlocking business innovation and economic growth through engaging and supporting our existing and new supplier communities.

Supporting, enhancing, and transforming communities, the challenge approach lends itself to taking an innovative approach to the regeneration of our community spaces, stimulating new opportunities to tackle the impacts of decentralised retail, responding to the reduced footfall on our highstreets and embracing opportunities in the new and ways of working brought about by the pandemic.

Who is Eligible to Apply?

Public sector organisations which may include Local Authorities, Health Boards, and Police Forces etc. However, for challenges to receive funding each challenge must demonstrate scope to:

Solve the greatest societal challenges
Create innovative solutions
Deliver economic impact for the region
Drive commercial scalable opportunities
Build local wealth

Investment and leverage

£10m

CCR Investment

£6m

Match Funding

£3m

Projected Leverage

Expected benefits and outcomes

Benefits of getting involved include:

Opportunity to explore creative solutions to local economic challenges
Investment to find and develop innovative solutions
Improved local service delivery that benefits from tailored solutions
New market creation and ability to ‘break through’ public procurement frameworks
Potential for commercial solutions which can be scaled and sold both locally and beyond
Local supply chain growth and development