10151742Improving Investment Readiness for SMEs in the Creative IndustriesClosedGrant for R&DInnovate UKCreare Capital is a funding-finding platform for creative and digital businesses, where we are dedicated to improving access to finance for the creative industries. Through this project, we will develop a financial readiness toolkit tailored to creative SMEs, leveraging behavioural insights and gamification to tackle systemic barriers to funding. Our approach will develop the first-of-its-kind financial readiness toolkit for the creative industries. Our MVP will result in a proprietary index that provides cluster businesses with practical, pathways to improve their positioning, enhancing their economic viability. With the primary target audience being SMEs in the gaming sub-sector, we tackle an issue that has been exacerbated post-Covid and disproportionally affects the cluster given the high concentration of gaming studios. This 6-month project will position Coventry and Warwickshire as a hub for cutting-edge solutions that support growth and resilience in the creative industries. The innovative combination of behavioural, financial and cluster insights to develop novel IP, presents significant technical and market challenges that traditional VC or bank funding would not support due to uncertain short-term ROI. By de-risking the project, Innovate UK funding enables the development of an innovative, scalable solution with substantial economic and societal benefits.