1. Programme Description

1.1. The Programme

Delivered by Digital Catapult, as part of the FutureScope cross-technology acceleration programme (“Programme”), the Scale Track is focussed on scaling innovative technology companies (“Participants”) applying advanced digital technologies to tackle industrial challenges. The Scale Track aims to accelerate Participant growth from an operational, technical, commercial and investment perspective. This call addresses the challenge of Industrial Net Zero (“Project”).

1.2. The Digital Catapult

Digital Catapult is the UK authority on advanced digital technology. Through collaboration and innovation, we accelerate industry adoption to drive growth and opportunity across the economy.

We bring together an expert and enterprising community of researchers, startups, scaleups and industry leaders to discover new ways to solve the big challenges limiting the UK’s future potential. Through our specialist programmes and experimental facilities, we make sure that innovation thrives, and the right solutions make it to the real world.

Our goal is to accelerate new possibilities in everything we do and for every business we partner with the journey – breaking down barriers, de-risking innovation, opening up markets and responsibly shaping the products, services and experiences of the future.

Digital Catapult works with organisations on projects involving at least one of the technologies from its “Advanced Digital Technology Stack”: Artificial Intelligence, Immersive, Internet of Things, Distributed Ledger Technologies and 5G.

1.3. The Programme Partners

1.3.1. Programme Investment Partners

During the Project, Programme investment partners may include venture capital funds as well as angel funds that actively support the Project through delivery of investment workshops and/or office hours.

Note: Programme investment partners will not have access to the Applicants’ applications, including contact information (personal data) section and sensitive business information, unless permitted by the successful Applicant.

1.3.2. Programme Industry Partners

During the Project, Programme industry partners may include industry organisations that support the Project through delivery of relevant workshops, hosting office hours, and/or through providing discounted services or products.

Note: Programme industry partners will not have access to the Applicants’ applications, including contact information (personal data) section and sensitive business information, unless permitted by the successful Applicant.

1.3.3. Programme Judges

During the application stage, the judges will be responsible for scoring the applications according to the criteria set out in these Programme Competition Terms. The internal panel of judges will consist of a variety of experts from Digital Catapult.

An external judge has been selected to help judge applications: Paul Smith from Prepared to Land Ltd. The judges have/will be chosen based on (i) their experience and expertise, and (ii) ability to exercise independent judgment.

Note: Applicant’s personal information fields will not be disclosed to the judges. Judges will be bound by confidentiality regarding the assessment of applications.

1.3.4. Programme Growth Coaches

During the Project, growth coaches will provide feedback on the existing product and/or service offerings of the

Participants. The growth coaches will be identified and approached by Digital Catapult based on their specific investment, industry and/or technology expertise and invited to coach relevant Participants on the Project.

Note that the Programme Growth Coaches will not have access to the Applicants’ applications, including contact information (personal data) section and sensitive business information, unless permitted by the successful Applicant.

1.4. Applicants & Participants

You are considered an “Applicant” if you apply to this competition.

You are considered a “Participant” if you are successful with your application and complete all pre-Project activities (e.g. signing the Participation Agreement).

2. Programme Benefits

Digital Catapult is unique in its ability to connect and work with high potential scaleups with established businesses, investors, academia, government and the broader public sector to discover new ways of solving industry challenges, increasing productivity and opening up new markets.

Across the Project, a range of opportunities are provided to support Participants in scaling their commercial, operational and technical activity, which include:

• Regular interactions with the Digital Catapult team, industry experts, corporate partners and growth coaches to assess, iterate and accelerate your business processes, and significantly expand your network of peers, investors and customers.
• Diagnostic sessions with your leadership team to determine current technological, commercial and strategic needs.
• Workshops to develop and improve business planning, commercial strategy, pricing and positioning, operational processes and investment readiness.
• Networking events, roundtables and introductions to industry leaders, relevant investors and potential customers.
• Peer support from other scaleups on the Programme, sharing learnings and insights gained from the Programme as well as previous expertise.
• A showcase during which Participants will present to an invited audience of investors, partners and industry representatives.
• Upon successful completion of the Project, the opportunity to join the Digital Catapult Alumni Network, which keeps them informed of opportunities and relevant updates from the Digital Catapult, and which provides additional opportunities to engage with Digital Catapult and other Alumni.

3. Programme Obligations

3.1.

On the Scale Track of FutureScope, Digital Catapult does not seek to take ownership or any interest in your company or your Intellectual Property, besides a strong desire to help accelerate your journey. However, Participants must be willing to commit to the following obligations:

3.1.1. Attend the kick-off event hosted by Digital Catapult.

3.1.2. Attend 80% of the workshops and/or webinars, hosted by Digital Catapult from February 2022 – May 2022 (please note that we are expecting the Project to take a maximum of 40 hours over 4 months for each Participant)

3.1.3. Attend, present and/or demonstrate at the Showcase event – Friday 18 March 2022

3.1.4. Attend all sessions with Programme Growth Coaches as agreed from February 2022 – May 2022.

3.1.5. Participant agrees to be visibly (name and logo) associated with the FutureScope Programme, whilst on the Scale Track, and afterwards as a former participant and beneficiary. This includes marketing collateral, such as website, print and digital materials.

3.1.6. Participant shall complete the Digital Catapult’s EDI Survey (please note each question will have a “prefer not to say” option).

3.1.7. For a maximum period of five years following the Project end date, Participant shall use its reasonable endeavours to answer specific questions from Digital Catapult relating to its growth and progress to assist Catapult demonstrate the impact of its activities. This shall include: (i) participation in an annual telephone conversation of one hour, and (ii) participation in a two early survey issued by Digital Catapult.

4. Applicants

4.1. Minimum Requirements

• Applicants must have previously raised a Seed or Series A round of investment, and/or can demonstrate significant commercial revenues of at least £500,000 in the previous 12 months (or £150,000 in the previous three months).
• Applicants are selling (or aiming to sell) to larger SMEs and/or enterprise customers at an average order value of approximately £10,000 pa or higher.
• Applicants must be eligible to receive £35,000 in de minimis aid (see section “Competition Terms – Specific”, sub title “State Aid” below for further details).
• Applicants must be a UK based registered company, or prove they have an establishment in the UK and undertake the majority of the activity in the UK.
• Applicants must develop solutions enabled by at least one of the technologies from the Advanced Digital Technology Stack: Artificial Intelligence, Immersive, Internet of Things, Distributed Ledger Technologies and 5G.

4.2. What we’re looking for

4.2.1. The Scale Track of FutureScope supports high-potential pre-/scaleups.

4.2.2. Technology scaleups that are considering raising investment in the next 9 to 12 months will especially benefit from the Scale Track, although this is not a requirement of the Programme.

4.2.3. This Project seeks Applicants that are developing industrial net zero solutions. Areas of focus may be, but are not restricted to:

Material Resource Optimisation: optimising the outputs of an organisation or facility, without increasing input or sacrificing quality.

Zero Waste Manufacturing: designing and utilising products for reuse, remanufacturing and recycling to enable a more sustainable circular economy.

Circular Economy: Enabling an economy in which materials are reduced, reused, remanufactured or recycled

Net Zero Agriculture: Reducing the emissions of our foodstuffs and enabling more sustainable land use.

5. Key Dates

• 5.1. Open Call – Applications Open – November 17th 2021
• 5.2. Open Call – Application Deadline – 23:59 on 09 January 2022
• 5.3. Intended notification of all applicants – January 14th 2022
• 5.4. Intended public announcement of successful applications: February 7th 2022
• 5.5. Project:
  5.5.1. Start Date: February 14th 2022
  5.5.2. End Date: 27th May 2022.

6. Application

6.1. What information should my application contain?

6.1.1. Applicants must answer all required questions in the full online application form.

6.2. Who will see my Application?

6.2.1. Relevant Catapult representatives will see your application in order to assess the application, and otherwise in the administration of your application and, if successful, participation on the Programme.

6.2.2. External Programme Judges will also see your application for the purpose of assessing your application.

6.2.3. For successful Applicants admitted onto the Programme (“Participants”):

6.2.3.1. Programme Growth Coaches will see the following information from the Application in order to effectively participate on the Programme:

• The Company’s Product Characteristics
• The Company’s Market Characteristics
• The Company’s Financial Characteristics
• The Company’s Team Characteristics

6.2.3.2. Programme Growth Coaches will not have access to the contact information (personal data) unless permitted by the successful Applicant, but will have access to the teams’ characteristics.

6.3. Key contact information

6.3.1. Applicant will appoint a main contact for the Programme (“Key Contact”). This person will be Digital Catapult’s (as Data Controller) main point of contact for the competition and, if successful, jointly defining the shape of your Project activities, including: workshop and event commitments, team members’ availability, ongoing activities, and assessment of progress during and after the Project.

6.3.2. Digital Catapult will use this personal information for the purpose of carrying out due diligence on Applicants prior to the point of selection onto the Programme and to notify successful and unsuccessful Applicants over their submissions. The personal data we collect may be shared with and processed by Programme Partners for the purpose of assessing the Applications and providing benefits to the Participants on the Programme, as set out in these T&Cs.

6.4. Submitting your application

6.4.1. You must submit your application via the Submittable form (“Submission Method”).
6.4.2. All applications must be submitted via the Submission Method by the Application Deadline.
6.4.3. Once your completed application has been received, Digital Catapult will send you a confirmation receipt by email. If you do not get a receipt within twenty four (24) hours of the next working day, please email us at [email protected] with the subject ”Scale Track Application Submission”.

6.5. Digital Catapult’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Survey

6.5.1. In addition to your application, you will be required to complete Digital Catapult’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Survey (‘Survey’). Whilst the completion of this Survey is mandatory, please note that your responses to this Survey will be kept separately from your application and will have no effect whatsoever on your application to the Programme.

6.5.2. Digital Catapult (as the Data Controller) will collect and process your personal data, including the following special category data to help Digital Catapult improve its services in respect of equality, diversity and inclusion:
(a) Racial and/or ethnic origin
(b) Sexual orientation
(c) Health (including disability)
(d) Religious and/or philosophical beliefs

6.5.3. The data collected and processed may be shared with relevant third parties and/or published but only in an aggregated form, which means you will not be personally identifiable.

6.5.4. Your personal data will be kept for 15 months from the time you respond to the Survey. Should you apply to another of Digital Catapult’s opportunities within the 15 month period, we will provide you with the option to allow us to re-use the data we already hold, to resubmit the Survey or to delete your Survey data. If you choose to complete the Survey again, we will keep your updated data for 15 months from the time you resubmit the Survey.

6.5.5. Please note you are responsible for the accuracy of the data you share with Digital Catapult and you agree to inform us if your data needs to be updated.

6.5.6. For more information on Digital Catapult’s collection, use and protection of your personal data and your rights in regards to your personal data, please see Digital Catapult’s privacy policy (https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/privacy-policy) or contact us at [email protected]. If you have specific queries on our use of your Survey data (including a request to delete your Survey data), please contact us at [email protected].

7. Selection

7.1. Qualification

The Catapult will undertake an initial assessment of the Applicants against the Programme Requirements.

7.2. Selection process

7.2.1. All qualifying applications will be reviewed and scored by the FutureScope Programme judging panel to create a shortlist. Shortlisted Applicants may be invited to interviews to enable ranking of Shortlisted Applicants based on the Applications and interviews, with the highest ranked Applicants being accepted onto the Programme.

7.3. Scoring

7.3.1. Application Scoring criteria and weighting

The scoring criteria will be assessed based on statements in the areas below. Each criterion will be scored on a range from 0 to 5. 0 being an “Unacceptable or No submission” score for each criterion and 5 being an “Excellent” score for each criterion. This scoring will be applied to all applications and will be equally weighted.

There are 5 criteria upon which applicants will be assessed:

1. Relevance to the programme theme

The applicant should demonstrate that their company is applying and scaling advanced technologies to tackle the challenges of Industrial Net Zero.

2. Relevant to the application criteria

The applicant should demonstrate that their company meets the application criteria.

3. Growth potential

The company should be capable of demonstrating significant market demand for their solution.

4. Business strategy

The company should be able to articulate its revenue model, who its customers are, identify key acquisition channels and describe its go-to-market strategy

5. Ability to execute

The company and its employees should have the necessary experience and skill to consistently develop, deliver and commercialise their Industrial Net Zero solution.

Furthermore, Digital Catapult will be selecting participants on a portfolio basis to ensure the Programme is able to deliver consistent support and activities that provide value to all Participants.

7.3.2. Scoring panel composition and experience

The panel of judges will consist both of individuals from Digital Catapult based on their experience and expertise in advanced digital technologies, investment, and innovation management as well as an external consultant who has specific expertise in pre-scale and scale companies.

7.4. Due diligence

7.4.1. We will carry out due diligence on applicants prior to the point of selection onto the Programme. Applicants must be willing to submit further information or documentation upon request to qualify as ‘successful’.

7.5. Successful applicants

7.5.1. Successful applicants will be notified and provided with a standard agreement for review and execution (“Programme Agreement”).

7.5.2. The Programme Agreement is a standard agreement and not negotiable. We do try and ensure these contracts are fair and reasonable.

7.5.3. In order to be accepted onto the Programme, successful applicants must sign the Programme Agreement.

8. Competition Terms – Specific

8.1. Benefits

All the benefits provided under the Programme by third-party organisations (“Suppliers”) are subject to the Supplier’s terms and conditions stated in the Programme T&Cs.

Any optional benefits provided by third party organisations whose terms and conditions are not contained in the Programme T&Cs will be agreed between the Participant and the Supplier directly.

Digital Catapult reserves the right to amend the list of benefits at its sole discretion.

8.2. State Aid

Digital Catapult is operating this Project on a de minimis aid basis. The de minimis aid regulations (COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1407/2013) permits an organisation to receive up to €200,000 Euros across a rolling three fiscal year period (i.e. this year and the previous two years, subject to conditions.

This Project has been assessed as providing £35,000 worth of State Aid.

Before signing the Programme Agreement, Applicants will therefore be asked to sign a declaration confirming that you are eligible to receive the de minimis aid.

8.3. Applicants

Digital Catapult reserves the right to accept any application which does not fulfil the minimum requirements.

8.4. Key Dates

Digital Catapult reserves the right to change the Key Dates at its sole discretion. No extension to deadlines will usually be granted, with very limited exceptions where the Applicant requests an extension due to reasonable extenuating circumstances, beyond the Applicant’s control and unforeseen to them, subject to the Applicant providing evidence that proves the extenuating circumstance; and the applicant informing Digital Catapult as soon as reasonably practicable following the extenuating circumstance becoming apparent. Digital Catapult reserves the right to consider the factors and decide whether such circumstances are extenuating and whether granting an extension is fair to other applicants. No extension granted will be for greater than two working days.

8.5. Applications

All information and documents requested must be submitted. Failure to submit all requested information and documents may result in the application being rejected. Catapult will not use outside information in respect of your application unless otherwise indicated, other than to undertake due diligence. Catapult reserves the right to not work with people or an organisation which could impact its reputation.

8.6. Previous Applications

Catapult reserves the right to either (i) reassess an application from a previous competition (together with information gained from an update meeting), or (ii) accept as a successful applicant an organisation that was previously successful in a previous competition, but whose participation was deferred to a later Programme.

8.7. Key Contact Information

In submitting the Application, the Applicant confirms that it has made the Key Contact (and any other person whose personal data has been submitted, aware of, and has the lawful grounds to enable Digital Catapult to, process the personal information of the Key Contact (and any other person) as set out in these Competition Terms and Digital Catapult’s privacy policy (https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/privacy-policy/).

8.8. Programme Agreement

Digital Catapult reserves the right to make amendments to the Programme Agreement it issues up until the point of execution by both parties.

8.9. Participant Programmes

Digital Catapult reserves the right to offer Participants access to its Participant Programmes, such as its Platinum Awards.

9. Competition Terms – General

9.1. Data Collection, Storage & Use

9.1.1. Digital Catapult will store your application and the scoring it has received for the entire duration of the Programme.

If you are a successful Applicant, we shall also store your Application for a period of up to five (5) years following the end of the Programme. For administration purposes, contracts may be stored for up to seven (7) years, contracts providing State aid for up to eleven (11) years, and deeds for up to thirteen (13) years from the end of the Programme.

9.2. Confidentiality

9.2.1. The information provided in your Application will be kept confidential and only used and disclosed as reasonably necessary for the purpose of assessing Applications, and, if admitted onto the Programme, for working with you on the Programme. This may include with our Programme Partners as indicated above.

9.2.2. For practical reasons, NDAs will not be signed by Digital Catapult or the Partners as part of this Programme Competition. The activities we provide can only be achieved through trust of the tech community. It is therefore not in our interest to release your sensitive information. Mutual confidentiality provisions are included in the Programme Agreement.

9.2.3. The scoring of your Application will also be treated as confidential information.

9.2.4. As your Application will be transmitted over the Internet, ultimately Digital Catapult cannot guarantee its security.

9.3. Intellectual Property

9.3.1. We respect the intellectual property of others and we ask our Applicants to do the same.

9.3.2. In submitting the Application, you promise that you have and continue to have all necessary rights, licenses, permissions and consent to provide the content in your application to us, and for Catapult to use the Application as we have set out.

9.3.3. We will not remove from Applications any proprietary labels or copyright assertions.

9.4. Disclaimers

9.4.1. We accept no liability for any consequences, whether direct or indirect, that may arise from your participation in the Programme Competition, your reliance on any statements we may have made about the Programme, or its suspension or withdrawal.

9.4.2. In any case, to the extent permitted under law, Digital Catapult’s liability shall be limited to one thousand (£1,000) pounds.

9.5. Jurisdiction

9.5.1. The Programme Competition is governed by English law and the Applicant agrees that any dispute shall be exclusively resolved in the English courts.

Back to the application brief

Industrial Net Zero Scale