CreaTech Frontiers
20 May 2025
Funding information session
Find out about the funding opportunities available to West Midlands-based freelancers, micros & SMEs working in the creative tech space.
Thursday 5 June 1pm - 2.30pm
ONLINE
CreaTech Frontiers is a £7.2 million, five-year initiative funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to boost innovation and growth across the West Midlands’ creative industries. Led by Birmingham City University in collaboration with Coventry University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company, CreaTech Frontiers will support collaborative R&D in creative applications of technology, from immersive to virtual production, screen, performance, gaming digital heritage etc.
This online session will provide an overview of CreaTech Frontiers, the first R&D funding call, and the application process. It will include practical tips for developing project ideas and translating them effectively into a strong application. Also discussed will be the wider aims of the cluster in building a collaborative ecosystem, why and how participants might want to engage with the university/ies, and the opportunities available through the cluster.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Freelancers, micro-businesses and SMEs based in the West Midlands region (Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands county, Worcestershire)
Two or more freelancers, micro-businesses or SMEs are welcome to apply separately and mention their collaboration on the application form.
WHAT’S ON OFFER?
Workshops and mentoring
Free access to the createch labs and other core partner resources
Academic support for R&D - 5-10 days with EXPLORE grants and 10-20 days with EXPERIMENT grants.
EXPLORE £5k - Development of initial ideas for innovative content/products/services and introduction to collaborative R&D. Testing your ideas for human-centred applications of creative technologies.
EXPERIMENT £10k - Development of existing concepts/prototypes for innovative content/products/services through collaborative R&D. Progress your concepts, projects or prototypes for human-centred applications of creative technologies.
The total budget of this initial call is £250k for 30-40 grants.
