In its biggest simultaneous roll-out of funding rounds to date, Media Cymru has announced a bumper crop of funding opportunities for businesses, organisations and individuals working in the media sector in Wales, with a combined total of over £1.2 million available across five separate funds.
Following the successful funding of over 75 projects to date, the UKRI-funded Media Consortium has also unveiled two brand new funds designed to super-charge their fair, green and global ambitions to grow Welsh media innovation.
The newly available funding opportunities follows news that Cardiff and surrounding cities Newport and Swansea make up a “creative cluster” that is quickly becoming the UK’s second largest cluster in terms of economic output.
In soon-to-be-published research by Media Cymru’s research team, data reveals that in the years since Media Cymru was established, turnover in the Cardiff Capital Region grew by 55% – the highest for any UK city including Manchester and Birmingham.
Dr. Máté Fodor, Director of Economic Consultancy Impactonomix Ltd says: “Through a combination of strategic programmes, “innovation spaces” training and events and a series of targeted investment rounds, we’re seeing these combined efforts paying dividends in terms of growth and productivity in the region. It’s clear that through targeted interventions and the support and engagement of businesses in the region, we see a distinct boost in economic growth.
“Our preliminary estimates indicate that turnover in the Cardiff Capital Region’s (CCR) audiovisual media sector has surged by over 40% between 2021 and 2023, with full-time employment rising by more than 30%. The CCR now ranks second to Greater Manchester in media production, excluding London. The sector experienced a harder hit from Covid-19 compared to other parts of the UK So to secure CCR’s position as a leading media hub, continued focus on innovation and productivity will be crucial.”
Professor Sara Pepper OBE, Media Cymru’s Co-Director added: “Two and a half years into Media Cymru, we are already seeing significant ripple effects for productivity and growth in the region. The number of media companies in Cardiff with £1million or more in turnover has doubled in the past six years, from 21 to 40. Many of these creative businesses benefitted from either Clwstwr or Media Cymru funding. This is positive news for the Cardiff Capital Region and Wales as a whole.
“As we launch five funding opportunities totaling over £1m, we’re keen that first time applicants, growing businesses and established companies alike apply to our funds and work with us to create a fair and green media sector fit for the future.”
Bumper innovation funding round: opportunities going live in October
Seed Fund: 7 to 31 October
Up to £10,000 for freelancers and SME’s to research and develop innovation-driven products, services or experiences in the media sector.
Projects run from February to June 2025
Scale up Fund: 7 October to 4 December 2024
Up to £250,000 for projects of significant scale and ambition that have the potential to be transformational for the media sector and deliver an international impact.
Projects run from May 2025 to April 2026
BBC Content Innovation Fund: 2 October to 8 November 2024
The second round of the BBC Content Innovation Fund will focus on innovative climate change informed content aimed at a mainstream audience.
Projects run from February to April 2025
Other funds opening soon include Media Cymru’s Development Fund (set to go live 3 February) and Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Greening the Screen Film Content Fund (launching in November).
One company who has benefited from Media Cymru’s previous funding rounds is Elemental Health. Angela McMillan, accredited counsellor and founder of Elemental Health Ltd, said: “The Development Fund has increased our ability to support teenagers experiencing anxiety using immersive technologies and given us a great opportunity to design, develop and test an innovative augmented reality therapeutic intervention to help young people reduce their symptoms and build social connections”
Sugar Creative received over £250k from Media Cymru’s Scale Up Fund to continue their world leading work around the creation of geo-located XR games and experiences. Sugars’ Creative Director Will Humphrey said: “The fund has enabled us to continue to deliver innovation within the sector, build on our previous award-winning work, hire several new team members, and to deliver projects in partnership with global brands which showcase the potential of merging technologies.”
Andy Taylor has been able to develop his product, Accordion, thanks to Media Cymru Development Funding. Accordion is innovative tech that lets users control the length of audio and video content. Andy Taylor, CEO of Accordion said: “The fund has enabled an exciting scale-up of ambition, functionality and commercial impact for Accordion – we can now solve bigger problems for higher profile customers and generate higher revenue.”
Now previous beneficiaries of Media Cymru’s funding rounds are urging creative businesses in Wales to apply for the available opportunities for themselves, as Media Cymru prepares to launch a new series of funding calls from Wednesday 2 October.
Find out more about Media Cymru’s £1 million Autumn of Innovation Funding and x 5 funding opportunities: https://media.cymru/funding/
