The tool aims to efficiently match businesses with the most suitable funding bodies, addressing the challenges of the UK’s complex funding terrain.

Funding Finder assists companies in swiftly pinpointing available financial support in both Scotland and the rest of the UK. It operates through a concise three-stage online form, wherein the input from businesses is analysed by the tool’s AI component. This ensures the delivery of the most pertinent search results, increasing the chances of successful applications and cutting down on time-consuming and unsuitable bids.

After an encouraging two-month trial period exclusively with The Data Lab’s Community members, where numerous participants identified new financial opportunities, the tool has been opened to businesses nationwide. There’s also potential for its services to expand internationally.

Users of the tool will also benefit from bespoke support, events news, weekly updates from the innovation centre and access to useful networks and connections, including the European Space Agency, UKRI, Innovate UK, and Find Business Support Scotland.

Adam Turner, head of external funding services at The Data Lab, said: “It’s impossible to ignore the crucial role grant funding plays for all stages of a business, but particularly during the start-up and scale-up phases. Scotland has always produced high-quality, innovative organisations and this is something we want to nurture with the deployment of this tool.

“While the funding landscape for SMEs is positive, the application process has never been straightforward. As well as being time-consuming, it’s often complex and, with no single central funding body, every application can be different.

“We regularly received feedback from our community that a lot of time was wasted applying for funding that simply wasn’t suitable or that particular organisations were unlikely to win. Our aim with Funding Finder is to overcome some of these common pitfalls by providing a one-stop-shop for funding, to make it more accessible for businesses.”