• The lead applicant should be a Small to Medium sized Glasgow City-based company and can be either;
    • A Glasgow City-based solution provider (Digital AI technology company) in partnership with a customer/challenge owner (Scottish, UK or international), or;
    • A Glasgow City-based product/service company looking work with a Digital AI technology partner.
  • The partnership project should have the intention to assess the technical and commercial feasibility of their proposed solution over a period of 1-2 months, with projects completing by the end 21st March 2025. A maximum of £10,000 grant funding is available.
  • The application must come from a Small to Medium sized Glasgow City-based business (lead applicant) but partner (second applicant) can be based outwith the city boundary (i.e. Scotland, UK or international)

This call is open to businesses of any size based within the Glasgow City Boundary. The lead applicant must:

  • Be registered within the Glasgow City Council Area.
  • Be a registered Small to Medium sized company (registered with Companies House).
  • Be an individual business (subcontract costs and consultancy fees can be included, including those related to academic partners as outlined in the application form).
  • Businesses must be headquartered in Glasgow. Premises of an organisation based outside the Glasgow City Council Area will not be considered. Businesses whose main base is within the City Boundary cannot use the grant to improve premises or create jobs outside Glasgow.
  • Be committed to fair working practises. Fair work is work that offers all individuals an effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment and respect. It also includes paying employees at least the real living wage. You can find out more and access free resources using the Fair Work Employer Support Tool.
  • Provide us with information to enable us to conduct checks on whether you can receive support.
  • Businesses must not be engaged in any activities such as gambling or other industries that could be deemed unethical.
  • Businesses will not be eligible if they possess undischarged bankruptcies, subject to insolvency proceedings or an individual who has entered into an arrangement with his/her creditors (including a trust deed).

You are eligible to apply for this Call if;

  • you are a business located within the Glasgow-City boundary.
  • you are a Small to Medium sized enterprise.
  • you intend to use AI to develop an innovative product or service, or you are a technology company offering AI as a service.
  • you are able to apply with a named partner.

Preference will be given to projects in the following sectors;

  • Health and Life Sciences
  • Energy & Net Zero
  • Advanced Manufacturing
  • Digital and Creative Industries
  • Financial Services 
  • Cleantech
  • Quantum
  • IoT

According to UK subsidy control rules, you cannot receive a grant if it will cause you to exceed your minimal financial assistance allowance of £315,000 (or if applicable, your de minimis threshold) during the current and past 2 financial years. If this funding may put you over the threshold, an adviser will get in touch to discuss your options.

The following projects are out of scope:

  • Where the lead applicant is based outside the Glasgow City boundary.
  • Where there is no challenger partner/customer involved in the project.
  • Projects where AI is not a key enabler of the proposed solution.
  • Technology solutions with no clear route to market or no clear economic impact.

We will consider a number of different factors, including:

  • Is the main applicant a Glasgow City boundary registered organisation?
  • How well the proposal meets the challenge call objectives.
  • Glasgow economic impact.
  • How innovative the proposal is.
  • Robustness of the project plan.
  • Experience and capability of the team.
  • Justification of budget and value for money.
  • Commercial potential of the proposal.
  • Need for funding.
  • If both the lead application (solution provider) and Challenge partner are based in Glasgow this will score higher than if only the main applicant is Glasgow-based.
  • A condition of the grant is that applicants will be required to provide data on the outcomes and impact that the grant has made on the applicant and clients business.
  • The final grant will be subject to Terms and Conditions set out in an individual award letter.

Eligible Project Costs 

Include a description of what is included under each subheading in your estimates of the project costs. The following list is a guide to which costs are eligible, but you should also list any others which you feel should be considered and provide a detailed breakdown of all the project costs. All costs included in the estimate must be your responsibility and be paid for by you. Please note that any money spent on the project before the agreed project start date will not be eligible for funding.  

Salary costs - State your rates of staff costs and estimate the pay to staff working on the project and the amount of time each person is likely to spend working on the project. Include the names of staff members if you know this. Salary costs must be reasonable for the expertise needed. Your estimate should indicate the actual salaries each person will be paid, but please note that the eligible staff costs a grant will be paid on are limited to no more than an annual full-time equivalent salary of £60,000 per person. To receive support for salary costs, we will need full payroll information (for example, payslips, timesheets, BACs runs, bank statements and details of National insurance contributions you have paid) and evidence of you paying the salary costs. Salary costs should not: include any posts that have been specially created and are currently being part-funded with support from publicly funded job creation scheme, or from other publicly funded incentives.  

Consultants and subcontractors - If a proportion of the project costs is allocated for the cost of consultants or subcontractors, or fees for trials and testing, you should explain why the work cannot be carried out more effectively and cheaply in-house and identify who will be carrying out the work. Confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements should be in place with all third parties working on the project. Any intellectual property resulting from that work must be owned by your business. Directors’ time claimed on a consultancy or subcontracted basis must not include any profit and the eligible costs the grant will be paid on are limited to no more than an annual full-time equivalent fee of £60,000.  

Software - If there is software involved in the project, this should be depreciated as follows:  

  • For generic software (for example, Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, CAD), this should be depreciated over three years.  
  • In projects using specialised software that will not have a value at the end of the project, this should be fully depreciated over the project period.  

Travel costs and expenses directly related to the project are eligible for support. 

  • The application must come from a Small to Medium sized Glasgow City Council Area based solution provider but must also include a partner organisation from the wider Scottish, UK or international business community who would benefit from the solution. Projects where both the technology company and the customer are Glasgow-based organisations will score higher in the evaluation criteria.
  • The project must involve the use of AI related products/services or represent challenges potentially addressed through such products/services.
  • Preference will be given to projects in the following sectors - Health and Life Sciences, Energy & Net Zero, Advanced Manufacturing, Digital and Creative Industries, Financial Services, Cleantech, Quantum, IoT.
  • The funding will cover feasibility/proof of concept costs.Applicants should be aware that any funding awarded by GCID (University of Strathclyde) is a Minimum Financial Assistance (“MFA”) subsidy which is funded through the Shared Prosperity Fund.  The Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”) allows the grant of awards of up to £315,000 to recipients without needing to comply with the majority of the subsidy control requirements in the Act, provided that receipt of the grant does not cause the recipient's £315,000 MFA threshold to be exceeded over:
    • the elapsed part of the current financial year (i.e., from 1 April); and
    • the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year.
  • The MFA threshold is calculated at group level. It is the applicant’s responsibility to check whether funds received are MFA or comparable types of subsidy that contribute towards their MFA threshold (see section 42(8) of the Act). If in doubt, please check with the funding sources.

  • Applicants are required to keep a written record of the amount of any MFA it receives. The written record must be kept for at least three years beginning with the date on which the MFA is given. This will enable you to respond to future requests from public authorities on how much MFA you have received and whether you have reached the cumulative threshold.

  • Projects should adhere to the principles in the Scottish Government’s policy of Artificial intelligence strategy: trustworthy, ethical and inclusive