10106588South West Wales Innovation ClusterClosedLaunchpadInnovate UKInnovate UK has awarded Launchpad funding of £7.5m to the South West Wales Net Zero Cluster to fund selected Small and Medium Sized Organisations (SMEs) as they undertake decarbonisation initiatives and look to participate in the region's net zero industry. Innovate UK has enlisted the support of a Launchpad Cluster Management Office (CMO) to help provide support to SME's as they make applications to the fund. Net Zero Industry Wales (NZIW) will lead the Launchpad CMO project and will focus on specifically expanding SME access in relation to decarbonisation projects within the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) as well as the deployment of Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW). SWIC includes large industrial companies in the region who are planning an investment programme of £30bn to reduce 16 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2040 and will launch a green industrial revolution in the region. The CMO will focus on maximising outreach, inclusivity, and opportunity to a full range of qualifying SMEs, particularly Welsh Language speaking businesses -- this will be a key tenet of its purpose. NZIW is already well positioned to lead the CMO by making the bridge between industry, regulators, academia and local and Welsh government. It was specifically established to drive projects between SWIC partners; the Launchpad CMO is a natural extension of this remit. To increase CMO impact, NZIW will lead a team of partners in the project which include: * Four key local councils: Neath Port Talbot (NPT), Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC), Swansea Council, Carmarthen Council * Specialist service providers: Business in Focus (BIF), BIC Innovation, Catapult ORE, Afallen LLP * Academic Community including Swansea University and the Net Zero Wales SWITCH initiative It will build on over 15 years of work that has been undertaken in this region to develop an academic ecosystem, starting with the Low Carbon Research Institute, followed by the FLEXIS research programme and now continued by the SWITCH initiative. The CMO will provide services to enable SMEs by actively supporting them in writing grant applications, provide low-threshold access to academic expertise in the region through the SWITCH-initiative, organise events and workshops to transfer knowledge and build on the innovation support that is already been provided to the SME community in the four councils. The CMO will also help to identify skills needs to support the transformation of the workforce via the established Regional Learning and Skills Partnership with representation from government, industry and academia.