We have now allocated all Invest4 grant funding. The programme is now closed.
About the fund
Invest4 grant funds were a strand of the Business Hot House, a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funded project, aimed at supporting growing and established businesses in the Coast to Capital area which covers West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, and parts of East Surrey.
Brighton & Hove City Council were a partner in the Business Hot House and were responsible for administering the fund.
The Invest4 fund ran from April 2020 to May 2023. 1758 application forms were sent out and 416 applications were reviewed by the Invest4 team, resulting in £2.66 million of grant funding being allocated to 212 different small and medium businesses.
The smallest grant was for £1,013 and the largest for £170,000.
Examples of grants given out include for:
- new equipment for the expansion of a bakery, to support their growth and to increase productivity of their current workforce.
- new website and marketing strategy to align with the growth plans for a small business to move forward in a post-Covid marketplace
- a manufacturer investing in a CNC lathe to extend their product range
- a beauty manufacturer’s new product development to enable growth into overseas markets
Outputs for the Brighton & Hove postcode area include:
- 58 grants awarded
- 44 new jobs
- 24 new services and products to firm
- approved grant value of £796,009
The report of the whole Business Hot House project estimated the net economic impact was for every £1 invested in delivering the project, £13.33 was generated in the economy. Read the full Business Hot House final report.
Brighton & Hove businesses can now access grants through the Shared Prosperity Fund which launched in November 2023.
More general business support and guidance, including access to the Grantfinder software, can be found at the Brighton Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC), based at Jubilee Library, Brighton.