Small Business Innovation Fund

Visit Herts is working in partnership with Hertfordshire LEP and Crowdfunder to offer small and micro businesses within the tourism, leisure, hospitality, retail, arts and cultural sectors the chance to unlock between £2000 and £5000 in match funding to help overcome the challenges of Covid-19.

Visit Herts will be administering the £200,000 Hertfordshire LEP fund and delivering it through the Crowdfunder Pay it Forward platform. Participating businesses will raise money for their project through pledges from their community and loyal customers. Once a business secures their target through the Crowdfunder campaign, successful applicants will be able to unlock between £2,000 – £5,000 in match-funding from the Crowdfund Hertfordshire: Small Business Innovation Fund.

To qualify, your business will need to be located in Hertfordshire and be a micro or small business primarily operating in tourism, leisure, hospitality, retail, arts or culture sectors. You will need to demonstrate that your business has been affected by Covid-19 and how you would use the funding to adapt your current business to either operate during lockdown, or to adjust to post-lockdown measures. You will also need to clearly demonstrate that the adjustments you intend to make will help protect jobs directly within your organisation.

If you think your business is eligible and are interested in finding out more information, take a look here which includes full business guidance and details of how to get involved.