Stimulating economic success

Southampton Science Park is delighted to receive funding as part of Hampshire County Council’s ‘Investing in Hampshire’ scheme which aims to enhance economic recovery, innovation and sustainability across the county.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Keith Mans, commented: “The future prosperity of Hampshire centres around encouraging business to locate, grow and succeed here; ensuring tomorrow’s workforce has the right skills to thrive; and creating an environment which is attractive for people of all ages and backgrounds. With its focus on technology and innovation in Hampshire, the Southampton Science Park project has an exciting part to play in this ambition.”

The major grant of £61,000 will be used alongside matched funds to build on the success of the Science Park’s Catalyst business accelerator programme.

Science Park CEO, Robin Chave, said: “Our Catalyst initiative stands apart from other business growth schemes in that there is no cost to participants and no equity is taken from their companies. That’s why this funding from Hampshire County Council is so valuable and we are most grateful to Councillor Mans and his team for acknowledging the work that we are doing in stimulating innovation in Hampshire.

“Access to funding is absolutely critical for early-stage businesses and unfortunately this is the reason that many start-ups – even those with the most exciting ideas, novel technologies and credible entrepreneurs at the helm – ultimately fail. That’s why the money we have received will be targeted at companies that show considerable potential for growth and job creation. Importantly, we can strengthen the Catalyst programme in this way with immediate effect, with the current Catalyst cohort having access to this fund straight away.”