Through the North East Culture and Creative Investment Programme, funded by the North East Combined Authority, we are investing £500,000 through equity finance in the region’s cultural and creative industries.
We are looking for commercially viable, growth-minded businesses that are innovative, operate in the creative sectors, and are able to deliver meaningful impact in the region.
Who can apply? What are the eligibility criteria?
To be eligible to apply, businesses must:
- Operating in the North East Combined Authority region (Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Gateshead, County Durham and Northumberland)
- Operating in the cultural or creative industries
- Registered on Companies House
- Investment ready: able to provide management accounts, a business plan, an integrated financial model and other application materials
- Able to demonstrate a compelling case for return on investment
- Able to demonstrate a case for meeting the wider aims of the programme
Can businesses outside the North East area apply?
We are primarily looking to invest in businesses that are registered and trading in the North East region and contributing to the local creative and cultural economy. However, we will also consider investment into businesses:
- that are looking to relocate to the region and can demonstrate a committed timeframe to do so, and make a strong case for economic, creative and cultural impact
- who are registered outside the region, but their main business/trading activity takes place in the North East area and can demonstrate that the investment will drive significant economic, creative and cultural benefit to the region
What do we mean by the ‘Cultural and Creative Industries?’
We mean businesses working in the Visuals arts, Performing arts, Music, Film, TV, Media, Immersive and Video Games, Advertising & Marketing, Digital & Creative Tech, Creative Software Solutions, Fashion, Architecture, Heritage, Publishing, Museums, Libraries and Galleries.
How much is available?
Through the North East Culture and Creative Investment Programme we will invest £500k of equity finance in the North East’s cultural and creative industries. We will make equity investments of up to £150,000.
Is match required?
Yes. The Fund will participate in your funding round, normally to a maximum of 50% of the round. The Fund will only release our investment as part of a funding round. You will need to provide us with visibility of the co-investors as part of your proposal.
What can the investment be used towards?
We are interested in commercially viable, growth-minded businesses that are innovative, operate in the creative and cultural sector, and able to deliver meaningful impact in the region.
In line with this, permitted use of funds are:
- Developing revenue-generating products and services
- Developing or diversifying into new business models
- Other general expenditures that enable business growth such as recruitment, marketing and equipment costs etc.
How do I apply?
1. Expression of Interest (EOI)
Applicants need to register on our online system and submit an EOI explaining what the company does and why they want investment. You will need to provide some top line financial information to help us understand the financial health of your business.
Click here to submit an Equity EOI.
2. Full Application
We will review EOI submissions and eligible applicants will be sent a link enabling them to apply via our online system.
Applicants will need to tell us:
- what it is your company does and how it makes money
- about your company’s output within the creative industries
- how much equity are you offering for the requested investment sum?
- what is the proposed use of investment?
- how does your product or service meet market demand?
- what is the USP relative to the competitive landscape?
- how do you propose to return funds to equity shareholders and over what timeframe?
- about your board make-up and outline key staff, their responsibilities and experience
- about any risks and mitigations
Applicants will need to provide:
- an investment deck
- a business plan
- a financial forecast for 24 months
- company bank statements from previous three months
- annual company accounts filed at Companies House from previous year (if available)
- latest management accounts (produced in the last 2 months)
We will also ask how the proposed activity meets the wider aims of Culture and Creative Investment Programme.
What is the decision process?
We will complete a comprehensive due diligence of the business and undertake an assessment of the company’s management and governance structure, commerciality and finances. This process can take several weeks, and we might contact you with queries and may request additional information after full application has been received.
All final investment decisions are made by an independent Investment Committee who will consider the proposal/business in terms of financial viability and investment potential. We are expecting more demand for this programme than we have resources available. The Investment Committee will also consider a range of additional balancing criteria to ensure we are achieving the right spread of investment.
How long does the process take?
Once we receive your full application, we might contact you with queries and may request additional information. Once we have the required information, we will aim to give you a decision in within 6-8 weeks.
What are the wider aims of the programme?
The wider aims of the North East Culture and Creative Investment Programme are as follows:
- Creating news jobs in the region
- Safeguarding jobs in the region
- Creating new products
We are thrilled to have received this investment from the Culture & Creative Investment Programme. The award will enable us to employ two more incredibly talented developers, Chris Honniball (CIO & co-founder) and Kamil Zurek – as well as giving us the funds to bolster our marketing team and strategy.
This is our second investment round but significantly larger than the first, with more complex mechanisms involved. Creative UK were patient, transparent and incredibly helpful throughout the whole process and it’s a huge boost to know that they have our best interests at heart and are just as motivated to see the business succeed as we are.
