Early Stage Growth Challenge Fund
The Early Stage Growth Challenge Fund is a new £25 million coronavirus (COVID-19) support fund provided by the Scottish Government and will be managed by the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise. It’s a competitive funding call, meaning funding is NOT being awarded on a first-come-first-served basis. It will be open for applications for a fixed amount of time, from 20 July 2020 to 31 July 2020.
This funding is to support early-stage, high-growth Scottish companies which have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s focused on companies which are engaged in research and development (R&D), developing intellectual property, creating unique products or services, or other innovative activities. These companies will be looking to raise, or have already raised, equity investment from a third party (an investor who doesn’t have a connection with the company).