Dickson Congratulates NI Businesses Receiving Innovation Funding

East Antrim Alliance MLA, Stewart Dickson, has congratulated 61 businesses across Northern Ireland who have been selected to share in a £3.3million government investment to drive forward innovations on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Dickson said: “The coronavirus pandemic has been hugely damaging for businesses across Northern Ireland. However, the extreme challenges encountered by the business community, have also brought about considerable innovation as industries seek to adapt old practices, and have been forced to think outside the box.”

The £3.3million Innovation Fund is an initiative spear-headed by Innovate UK, which will see the Business-led Innovation Competition fast-track the development of innovations borne out of the coronavirus crisis while supporting businesses of all sizes across the UK.

Mr Dickson concluded: “This competition comes on the heels of the success of the Business-led Innovation in Response to Global Disruption competition, which was launched in April 2020 and resulted in 20 Northern Irish projects receiving funding.

“The innovation and ingenuity that those projects demonstrated was truly inspiring and it will be wonderful to see what businesses have to offer this time round.”

The successful Northern Irish projects in the first wave of the scheme included the provision of online educational support for children with special needs, the development of virtual reality games to help people in isolation stay active, and the creation of a platform for live streamed concerts