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Kent and Medway Growth Hub (I3 Innovation Project)

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Approval Status

 

Fully Approved

Delivery Status

 

Project In Progress

Expected Completion Date

 

Autumn 2023

i3 will provide loan and equity investment to small businesses with the appetite and potential for long-term growth. It will support 60 businesses to increase productivity and invest in innovation in the first cycle of funding and will help to create 450 jobs

A recyclable fund offering loan and equity finance to small businesses

The Kent and Medway Growth Hub (Capital) project will fund the establishment of an Innovation Investment Initiative (i3). This will be a recyclable fund offering loan and equity finance to small businesses with the appetite and potential for long-term growth. i3 will invest in projects which enable businesses to create and adopt innovative products, processes and services, improve productivity and deliver sustainable employment over the long term.

Supporting strong business cases

The i3 scheme will not replace commercial sources of finance or offer operating subsidies. Rather, it will support projects with strong business cases for which commercial finance is unavailable on viable terms (for example, because the product or technology involved is untested). The scheme will normally only provide finance for up to 50% of project costs, with the balance funded through private sources, including bank lending.

Interest free

Loans will be generally offered interest-free, although arrangement charges will be levied to pay for administration costs. As the Fund offers a subsidised product, all loans and equity investments will be offered as state aid under the General Block Exemption Regulation and the de minimis rule. The i3 scheme will build on the success of – and the lessons that we have learned from – existing schemes in Kent and Medway funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. It will operate county-wide and will be supplementary to the existing schemes.

Capital Programme delivery update

Take a look at our update on the delivery of the Local Growth Fund (LGF) and Growing Places Fund (GPF) capital programmes.

SELEP Capital Investment Programme

£579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock

In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock. Over the lifetime of the Growth Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes across the SELEP area, with the Deal set to attract a further £960m of investment into the South East over the six year period.

Find out more here
Funding value: £6m
Total Project cost: £15m
Return to Capital Investment