CreaTech Innovation Scale-Up Lab
9 July 2026
CreaTech Innovation Scale-Up Lab (CISL) for Creative and Immersive Technologies
CISL is part of the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF) which provides funding and support to commercialise at scale for companies developing new products and services in creative industries, advanced manufacturing and health and life sciences.
It’s open to innovative businesses in the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) area with strong scale-up potential.
Businesses operating in the high growth cluster creative technology can now submit expressions of interest (EOI) for research and development funding support from the £50 million allocated to the West Midlands through the UK government’s £500 million Local Innovation Partnerships Fund.
CISL unifies the West Midlands CreaTech ecosystem, integrating screen and games innovation through R&D platforms, adoption labs and a scaling fund to accelerate SME growth, drive cross-sector spillovers, boost investment readiness and strengthen a nationally significant creative technology sector.
Benefits to businesses:
Highly tailored support from industry and innovation experts, public sector and academia.
Access to funding, investment readiness support, internationalisation support and cutting-edge R&D facilities.
Opportunities for direct collaboration with major industry anchors such as BBC, Banijay, Sony and Cisco.
Tailored commercialisation and IP support, including specialist help with product development and market readiness.
User-testing, access to shared facilities, virtual production, immersive tech and cross-sector market access.
Cross-sector spillover opportunities, such as routes into Advanced Manufacturing and Health & Life Sciences markets.
Networking & brokerage, including rapid introductions, cluster events and ecosystem integration.
Led by the University of Warwick, working in partnership with Aston University, Birmingham City University, University of Birmingham, Coventry University and University of Wolverhampton and supported by Digital Catapult and specialist regional and national agencies.