Innovate Lancashire
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersPreston, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Innovate Lancashire firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Innovate Lancashire
- Legal name
- Innovate Lancashire
- Website
- https://innovatelancashire.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Innovate Lancashire industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Regional Innovation Services
- NAICS
- Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Strategy & Transformation (BPAHAEAA), Technical Universities with Entrepreneurship & Incubation Focus (EDAHAEAH)
Keywords
Where Innovate Lancashire is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Preston
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Innovate Lancashire business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Public Funding / Government Programme: Innovate Lancashire operates as Lancashire County Council's innovation investment programme, funded through public funding allocations including UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The programme provides free support services to businesses including access to funding, R&D facilities, and networking opportunities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Free public programme services |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Innovate Lancashire product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Innovate Lancashire is a public-sector innovation programme operated by Lancashire County Council that supports local startups, scaleups, and SMEs through coordinated initiatives including digital business support, early-stage investment facilitation, an angel investor network, co-working infrastructure, and an annual innovation festival. The programme functions as a regional ecosystem orchestrator rather than a direct seller of goods or commercial software.
Product overview
Innovate Lancashire is Lancashire County Council's innovation investment programme that operates as a portfolio of interconnected initiatives rather than a single unified product. The core offering consists of Lancashire Dealroom (ecosystem tracking platform), Lancashire Digital Hub (digital economy programme), Fhunded (early-stage investment initiative), Fhunded Angels (angel investor network), LIFT (annual innovation festival), and Fraser House Hub (tech co-working space). These are supported by the Lancashire Innovation Plan strategic framework. Together, these products enable the acceleration of innovation across Lancashire through ecosystem mapping, business support, investment facilitation, and networking events.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Fhunded: Lancashire's dedicated early-stage investment initiative bringing together investors, founders and intermediaries from across Lancashire and the wider North to increase levels of VC investment activity
- Fhunded Angels
- Lancashire Digital Hub
- Fraser House Hub
- LIFT
- Lancashire Innovation Plan
Products and services
- Lancashire Digital Hub A dedicated programme supporting digital and technology-focused businesses in Lancashire with advice, connections, and growth resources tailored to the digital sector.
- Fhunded An early-stage investment initiative facilitating access to capital for Lancashire-based startups and early-stage companies.
- Fhunded Angels An angel investor network connecting Lancashire-based early-stage investors with curated regional deal flow and co-investment opportunities.
- LIFT (Lancashire Innovation Festival) An annual innovation festival convening Lancashire's startup and innovation community for showcasing, networking, and learning.
- Fraser House Hub A co-working space providing physical workspace and community for Lancashire-based innovators, entrepreneurs, and startup teams.
- Lancashire Dealroom An ecosystem tracking and intelligence platform providing data on Lancashire's innovation and business ecosystem, including visibility into startups, investors, and support organisations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 50% of Lancashire's early-stage deal flow generated by Fhunded community since 2023
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Innovate Lancashire
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Innovate Lancashire technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Innovate Lancashire partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Lancashire County CouncilcoreLancashire County Council is the parent organisation behind Innovate Lancashire. LCC is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner's Office (registration number: Z542705X) and provides the funding and governance framework for the innovation programme.
- Northern ReachcoreNorthern Reach is the tech and innovation economic development consultancy which delivers the Lancashire Digital Hub programme for Lancashire County Council. They have staff embedded in tech communities across Lancashire at a district level.
- PlexalcoreCyber specialists partnered with Northern Reach to deliver NCF supply chain workshops across Lancashire, exploring challenges faced by SMEs interested in working within the National Cyber Force's supply chain.
- University of Central LancashirecoreOne of three Lancashire universities participating in the Lancashire Universities' Innovation Programme (LUIP), providing businesses with access to laboratories, research facilities, and academic expertise.
- Lancaster UniversitycoreLancaster University participates in LUIP and has opened cutting-edge computing and cyber security facilities. Home to the Nuclear Operations Simulator and key research capabilities.
- Edge Hill UniversitycoreOne of three Lancashire universities participating in LUIP, contributing to the county's innovation ecosystem through research and business support.
- Lancashire Early Stage Investment Board (ESIB)coreCohort of private and public sector financial experts with extensive experience working across the early-stage finance landscape. Oversees the Fhunded Angels initiative.
- Forbes SolicitorsminorLancashire-based law firm with offices across the North, sponsor of LIFT 26 festival.
- EXPminorWebsite developer and partner for Innovate Lancashire, sponsor of LIFT 26.
- Capital EnterprisecoreUK's leading not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping startups. CEO Jonny Clark hosted LIFT 26 and is a founding member of Baltic Ventures accelerator.
- SpinXpertsminorConsultancy with extensive experience in healthcare and pharma commercialisation, life science R&D spinouts, and innovation-led investment. Consultant Jane Theaker speaks at LIFT.
- DealroomcorePlatform partner providing real-time ecosystem tracking for Lancashire's innovation ecosystem. Lancashire Dealroom captures startup data, investment deals, university spinouts, and R&D activities across the county.
- Lancashire Innovation BoardcoreAdvisory group overseeing Innovate Lancashire and implementation of the Lancashire Innovation Plan. Cohort of senior business leaders, innovation experts and academics drawn from across Lancashire, subgroup of Lancashire Business Board.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Innovate Lancashire competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Plexal: Cyber innovation hub and delivery partner for Innovate Lancashire's NCF supply-chain workshops. Comparable as an operator of innovation programmes, cyber accelerators, and corporate-startup engagement with a focus on the UK security ecosystem.
- Capital Enterprise: UK's leading not-for-profit helping startups, hosting LIFT 26 through its CEO. Comparable as an ecosystem-builder for early-stage founders, with overlapping remit in funding access and founder support.
- Northern Reach: Tech and innovation economic development consultancy that actually delivers the Lancashire Digital Hub programme for Innovate Lancashire. Closely comparable as a regional innovation delivery partner operating across the North of England.
Regional players
- West Midlands Growth Company: Regional growth agency for the West Midlands promoting investment, innovation and trade. Comparable as a combined-authority-aligned innovation/investment promotion body targeting a different UK region.
- GM Business Growth Hub: Greater Manchester's growth and innovation support hub, part of the GMCA ecosystem. Comparable as a regionally-scoped, publicly funded business support and innovation programme serving a different UK geography.
Others
- Dealroom.co: Global startup and investor intelligence platform and Innovate Lancashire's technology partner on Lancashire Dealroom. Comparable as an enabling data infrastructure layer for regional innovation ecosystems.
- Beauhurst: UK startup and growth company data platform. Comparable as an ecosystem-intelligence provider alongside Innovate Lancashire's Lancashire Dealroom, with overlapping use cases for tracking deal flow, investors and high-growth companies.
Broad incumbents
- Scottish Enterprise: Scotland's national economic development agency, running innovation, investment and growth programmes at a regional/national level. Comparable as a publicly funded ecosystem-builder with parallel programmes in funding, workspace and internationalisation.
- Tech Nation (legacy): Former UK national tech ecosystem organisation (wound down in 2023, functions transferred). Historically the closest national analogue to Innovate Lancashire as a publicly-backed ecosystem builder running programmes, events and founder networks.
- Innovate UK: The UK's national innovation agency. Comparable as the public-sector innovation funder and policy vehicle; Innovate Lancashire acts as a regional delivery arm for many Innovate UK programmes (its NW Regional Manager sits on Lancashire's Innovation Board).
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Innovate Lancashire social profiles
Digital presenceInnovate Lancashire compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Innovate Lancashire financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Innovate Lancashire leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Innovate Lancashire subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
Innovate Lancashire funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Innovate Lancashire M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Innovate Lancashire
What does Innovate Lancashire do?
Innovate Lancashire is a public-sector innovation programme operated by Lancashire County Council that supports local startups, scaleups, and SMEs through coordinated initiatives including digital business support, early-stage investment facilitation, an angel investor network, co-working infrastructure, and an annual innovation festival. The programme functions as a regional ecosystem orchestrator rather than a direct seller of goods or commercial software.
Is Innovate Lancashire a public or private company?
Innovate Lancashire is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Innovate Lancashire founded?
Innovate Lancashire was founded in -1. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Innovate Lancashire based?
Innovate Lancashire is headquartered in Preston, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Innovate Lancashire make money?
One revenue line is on record: public Funding / Government Programme.
Who are Innovate Lancashire's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Plexal, Capital Enterprise and Northern Reach. Regional players are West Midlands Growth Company and GM Business Growth Hub. Others are Dealroom.co and Beauhurst. Broad incumbents are Scottish Enterprise, Tech Nation (legacy) and Innovate UK.
Does Innovate Lancashire have an API?
No public API is recorded for Innovate Lancashire.
What industry is Innovate Lancashire in?
Innovate Lancashire's product category is Regional Innovation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIANAJ, Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities), with a secondary code of BPAHAEAA, Digital Strategy & Transformation. Its NAICS code is 925120 and its SIC code is 8742.