Digital Catapult is delivering the CreaTech Frontiers Growth Lab to support the growth of the creative technology businesses in the West Midlands. Creative companies who are successful in applying for this programme will receive £15,000 worth of bespoke growth and scaling support in accordance with their business needs. This programme offers support in progressing along traditional commercialisation pathways, as well as alternative routes to accessing finance, partnerships and audiences in the creative industries.

CreaTech Frontiers is a 5-year, £7.2 million project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) aiming to establish a thriving CreaTech ecosystem across the West Midlands by developing skills and talent, funding collaborative R&D, and supporting business innovation.

This programme is designed for early-stage companies, who are at or above a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3 and Commercial Readiness Level (CRL) of 3-6. This programme focuses on early-stage development where a business has successfully delivered a Proof of Concept (PoC) and would now benefit from bespoke support to achieve their own specific growth goals.

Each participating company will receive growth support valued at £15,000. This will include access to a combination of the support activities listed below depending on their business needs.

We invite participants to apply who meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Your company product or solution must be at Technology Readiness Level 3 and higher (proof of concept, ready to validate in a lab-controlled environment)
  • Your company product or solution must be at Commercial Readiness Level between 3 and 6 (must have validated the requirement of their solution with real world customers)
  • Your company must sit within the Creative Technology sector. This could include sub-sectors such as:
    – Games and other interactive media (for example world building; game engine development)
    – gamification and AI
    – Enabling technologies for creative outputs (for example AI, ML, data, haptics, robotics, cloud computing, future networks)
    – Immersive (for example XR, immersive audio)
    – Live performance (for example music and AI; augmented performance; digital storytelling)
    – Screen (for example virtual production; sustainability in media productions)
    – Visual arts (for example digital museums and heritage; digital content creation)
    – Other (something amazing we haven’t thought of)
  • Minimum Financial Assistance applicable
  • You must have a registered company, and your company must be registered in the West Midlands (including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Herefordshire, Sandwell, Shropshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Walsall, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire)

We recognise that the West Midlands is made up a diverse community of people from a wide range of backgrounds, and we are working to radically address the inequalities that currently exist in the tech landscape. We encourage those from less represented groups to apply, and to reach out to us as soon as possible with any additional access requirements.

Find out more and apply. Deadline 15 March 2026.