REQUEST FOR QUOTE - THE DELIVERY OF A DIGITAL GROWTH FACTORY

The Economy team at Winchester City Council is seeking to appoint an organisation to deliver a 'Digital Growth Factory' funded by UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The project will deliver the UKSP funding investment in research and development at a local level. The requirements of the fund mean that the programme must be delivered by the end of February 2025.

It will include acceleration, incubation and scale up, commercialisation and digital productivity support for new entrepreneurs, start-ups, scale ups and high growth businesses located in the Winchester District.

The Digital Growth Factory programme activity should include:

1) Commercialisation support: aimed at new entrepreneurs, early-stage start-ups or SMEs looking to refresh their business model, this support will provide all the fundamentals required to develop a viable business model. The courses aim to engage entrepreneurs in a reflection around the problem their business idea is trying to solve, the customer journey and need, the size of the market, the finance and numbers, and to develop entrepreneurial skills. The training should also include investment pitch training and be a vehicle to identify businesses that are ready to access incubation or acceleration support. The minimum number of participants is 20.

2) Acceleration support: this is an intensive programme targeted at early-stage companies that already have a marketable product and a founding team. The beneficiaries will be guided through the various steps they need to take to their business model to the next stage to achieve seed or late seed funding. The minimum number of participants is 10.

3) Incubation and scale up support - this aims to accelerate the growth of start-up/scale ups that require bespoke and hands-on support to guide them through the various stages of the business journey from concept to commercialisation and ultimately to growth and resilience. The support will be delivered over a three month period so that beneficiaries are mentored and advised to build a scalable business model and a repeatable sales process or to support the transition from a single to multiple products and services. Through the incubation and scale up support, beneficiaries will be prepared for securing funding. The minimum number of participants is 10.

4) SME Digital Productivity Programme: the aim of the programme is to develop founders' leadership skills and their adoption of proven change management practices and process re-engineering tools that deliver productivity growth by digital means. SMEs will focus on identifying their least productive processes and then setting goals to redress the gaps in productivity they have identified. The minimum number of participants is 20.

Please see the full specification attached for full detail.