NWDA Innovation Voucher Award to boost Euprotec's areas of expertise

Innovation Vouchers are designed to help Northwest business owners, entrepreneurs and social enterprises to purchase a knowledge provider's expertise to develop innovation and enhance business

The scheme provides voucher of £3,000 and £7,000 to growing businesses and social enterprises and was set up to encourage and make it easier for more people to engage with the knowledge base; in particular universities and further education colleges.

The scheme is funded by the NWDA and ERDF, so is a credible and stable way to fund an organisation's growth. There are 2 levels of voucher to apply for;

• A voucher up to the value of £3,000, being a 100% grant from NWDA.

• A voucher up to the value of £7,000 which is a 70% grant from NWDA, with the business contributing the remaining 30%, to make the total value of the voucher up to £10,000. 

Euprotec already offers a range of sophisticated models to test drugs against a range of highly dangerous infections such as MRSA, but are keen to address additional specific areas of need. Great interest has already been expressed by the industry into new models of MRSA, targeting nasal colonisation and skin infection as these are seen as key clinical markets for new ‘blockbuster drugs’.

Euprotec has won an Innovation Voucher in the January 2010 round of applications to "purchase" technical and scientific assistance in order to develop new in vivo models of infection, including experimental protocols and reproducibility data of sufficient quality to offer the experimental platform as a further contract research service.

Due to the high level of bids in the latest 2 rounds, Manchester City Council has stepped in to increase the availability of vouchers for city-based companies, and have made it possible for Euprotec to benefit from an Innovation Voucher Award.

For further information visit:  http://www.nwdabusinessfinance.co.uk/innovation-vouchers