Roundup of grants and funding - March

Welcome to the first of Renée’s Grants and Funding Roundups. Each month the Business Surrey team receives a wealth of information about new grants and funding.

We want to share these with you in the most helpful way, so Enterprise Mentor, Renée will collate and summarise them into a monthly roundup. Check back regularly (or sign up to our monthly newsletter) to be kept informed of both national and local grants and funding that could benefit your business.

For each item, Renée has shared an overview but also links for you to double check the eligibility and requirements of each individual grant. Note the closing dates and times, as some are very specific!

The Surrey Economic Growth Fund

This is funding to drive growth across Surrey. The Surrey Economic Growth Fund has been created by pooling a range of public and investment streams, such as UK Shared Prosperity Funding from government, into one Economic Growth Fund.

The Fund is administered by Surrey County Council and is now open for applications across three funding streams: Business Growth Grants, Future Surrey Fund, and Innovation Spaces Fund. The Council is seeking bold, innovative ideas that will drive sustainable economic growth across the county and align with Surrey’s strategic priorities.

Closing date: the current round of applications is open until 31 May 2025. Other rounds may follow.

Start your application for funding from the Surrey Economic Growth Fund here.

Surrey Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) grants

The Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme provides grants to farmers and land managers in the Surrey Hills for one-off projects to make improvements to the natural environment, climate change mitigation, cultural heritage and public access on their land.

Closing date : has been extended but to be confirmed

Apply here for a Farming in Protected Landscapes grant.

B Corp: Creating Positive Impacts through Business Competition

Channel 4, in partnership with B Lab UK, has launched a competition to support B Corporations (businesses that are certified for their social impact) by providing winners with commercial airtime. The initiative aims to help businesses highlight their social and environmental impact to a wider audience.

Up to five B Corps will each receive £100,000 worth of advertising spend on Channel 4. The funding is intended to assist businesses in showcasing their purpose-driven work while reaching new customers.

Closing date: 11 April 2025

Apply here to enter the Channel 4 B Corp initiative.

F100 Growth Fund

Through the F100 Growth Fund, Sky and BEO are supporting Black entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. The most innovative businesses applying will be able to pitch for funding up to £15,000 and also be offered a free Sky Business broadband and phone package for 12 months. Additionally, they will take part in a tailored 10-week programme to help them scale their operations through a series of workshops, mentorship, supply chain support and investment readiness support.

Closing Date : 14 April 2025 (24:00 hours).

Applications are made online at the programme website.

The Elevator of Dreams Campaign

The Elevator of Dreams campaign allows individuals to submit a short pitch via a video doorbell outside the Founders Room at the Virgin Hotels London in Shoreditch. Selected pitches will receive feedback from Richard Branson and Simon Squibb, with insights shared through their social media channels. Available prizes include:

One pitch will be selected every week to win £1,000 that will be supplied by HelpBnk.

At the Judges’ discretion, one pitch during the campaign duration may be chosen to receive the following prizes instead of the £1,000:

Entrepreneurs Getaway (includes a one-night stay at Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch in a standard room, no blackout dates).

Virgin StartUp mentor access (30 minutes of mentoring with Simon Squibb, date and time TBD).

Closing Date: 17 April 2025 (subject to extension beyond this closing date)

All submissions must be made through the Ring doorbell at the Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch. More information is available at the Elevator Of Dreams website.

Innovate UK – BridgeAI Competition

Innovate UK’s BridgeAI competition is for grants between £25,000 – £50,000 for innovation projects that address a business challenge or opportunity within one of their challenge holder organisations:

The Bicycle Association, United Living, Sustrans and Lichfields

The winning projects will be used to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) driven proof concepts. More details can be found in the Innovate UK competition brief.

Closing Date : 23 April 2025 at 11am

Apply on the Innovation Funding Service (gov) website.

UK Games Fund – Transfuzer

Tranzfuser is intended to support new UK games graduates, taking ideas from concept and prototyping through to publishing.

Teams will have the opportunity to pitch from the UK Games Fund for up to £25,000 of grant support for the commercial development of their game. All teams will receive £7,500 prize during the course of the competition.

Tranzfuser is specifically aimed at teams who wish to explore the possibility of establishing an indie development business. Teams must have between three and six members. Applicants may be skilled developers, but need support in the business development side of setting up a studio.

Closing Date: 28 April at 12 noon.

Apply on the Tranzfuser website.

AXA StartUp Angel Competition

The AXA Startup Angel Competition has been created to support entrepreneurs hoping to realise their business ambitions. The contest offers a variety of prizes to would-be businesses from across the UK to help them through the next phase of their startup journey.

There are six opportunities to win in 2025. Two winners will receive the top prize of £25,000 to fund their business idea. These winners will also be awarded mentoring from the AXA Startup Angels and business insurance for a year.

There are also four runners-up prizes featuring over £18,000 of media, mentoring and exposure. Each runner-up will receive a profile on their business in The Standard, mentoring with a member of The Standard team, plus VIP access to SME XPO 2026.

Closing Date : 6 July 2025 (23:59 hrs)

Apply on the Axa Startup Angel webpage.

Future Leaders Fellowships

Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) support talented people in universities, businesses, and other research and innovation environments. They also allow universities, research institutes, independent research organisations and businesses to develop their most talented early career researchers and innovators or to attract new people to their organisations.

The aim of this competition is to:

Support ambitious research and innovation to tackle difficult and novel challenges.

Support excellence in innovation, across interdisciplinary boundaries and sectors.

Develop, retain, and attract the next wave of research and innovation leaders.

Working with a host organisation a Future Leaders Fellow will receive at least four years’ of funding to pursue an ambitious programme of innovation.

Applications will open on 23 June 2025 and close on 5 November 2025 at 11am.

More information can be accessed at the IUK website.

The Workplace Charging Scheme

The Workplace Charging Scheme provides support for organisations towards the cost of installing up to 40 electric vehicle chargepoint sockets at their sites.

The scheme covers up to 75% of the total costs of the purchase and installation of EV chargepoints (including VAT), capped at a maximum of:

£350 per socket

40 sockets across all sites per applicant – for instance, if you want to install them at 40 sites, you will have 1 socket available per site

All chargepoints must be installed by an OZEV authorised installer.

Closing Date: 31^st March 2026

Apply here for a Workplace Charging Scheme Voucher.

Business support in Surrey

If you can’t see anything in this roundup that suits your specific needs, check out our Support Directory, or contact our team of experts via our Business Support Form.