About this site

Welcome to the Innovation Portal for the East Midlands - your first port of contact for innovation support and information in the region.

The East Midlands is a thriving region and the home to some of the most innovative individuals and companies in the UK. This website has been designed to help businesses and individuals to become more innovative and contains a range of information and online tools to support the successful exploitation of new ideas.

The Innovation Portal is completely free to use and will allow you to:

• Keep up to date with the all the latest activity going on in the region with our round up of innovation news and events.

• Learn about how other organisations in the region are making the most out of their new ideas by reading our case studies which showcase some of the most innovative organisations in the East Midlands.

• Find out about the iNets which are unique to the East Midlands and offer focussed innovation support in each of the four priority sectors: Healthcare and Bioscience, Food and Drink, Sustainable Construction and Transport Equipment.

• Search for innovation finance to support your business : the innovation funding search tool contains information on over 100 funding opportunities open to East Midlands-based businesses available from regional, national and European bodies.

• Search the region’s knowledge base – this portal contains information on over 400 academic experts from ten of the region’s leading universities. You can search for an expert to work with you on a research project or alternatively browse the profiles of each of the university’s research specialisms.

Who we are and why we are doing this?

The importance of innovation is recognised by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), which has established East Midlands Innovation – the region's innovation council– to lead the innovation agenda.

The vision is for the East Midlands to become a fast growing, dynamic economy based on innovative, knowledge based companies competing successfully in the global economy. We want to develop an innovation community that works together to bring bright ideas to life and create a great future for the East Midlands by providing relevant support, advice and tools to stimulate innovation.