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Help to Grow: Digital – apply to become a vendor

Vendors who wish to provide technology products through the Government’s Wave 1 Help to Grow: Digital initiative need to submit an application form providing details of their business and proposed products.

Applications are open from 29 July to 8 September 2021. Full details of the scheme including timings, eligibility criteria and application forms are now on gov.uk.

Help to Grow: Digital is a new scheme to help up to 100,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK over the next three years, to adopt digital technologies that are proven to increase firm-level productivity.

It will offer free, impartial advice and guidance via an online platform to help SMEs identify their digital needs, and a voucher covering 50% of the costs of new-to-firm digital technology solutions, up to a value of £5,000.

The scheme will offer SMEs free and impartial advice on how technology can help their business. An online platform will help them to:

– identify their digital technology needs

– assess technology purchasing options

– implement new technologies in their operations

The Help to Grow: Digital scheme will be launched in the Autumn. It will run for 3 years, taking a phased approach over a number of waves. Each wave will provide the opportunity to roll out new technologies and functionalities for SMEs and vendors.

Vendor eligibility

Eligible vendors will:

– be registered in the UK at Companies House
– have been trading for at least 12 months
– be a producer and vendor of eligible technologies (we are not accepting resellers or partner networks for wave 1)
– demonstrate cyber security compliance (see the vendor application guidance)
– have an active GDPR policy

You will need to undergo fraud checks in line with the terms and conditions (PDF) of the scheme.

You will need to put in place additional technical capabilities to comply with the grant token requirements. See the vendor guidance for more information.

Product eligibility

The 3 technology types eligible for wave 1 are:

– accounting

– customer relationship management (CRM)

– e-commerce

For wave 1, accounting, CRM or e-commerce must be the core capability provided by eligible products and not a module within a larger product ecosystem.

Click here to find out more about the scheme, including applying for support, applying as a vendor, and much more.