Northern Max Accelerator Programme 2024

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (CBMDC) and Leeds City Council (LCC) wishes to continue the success of the Northern MAX accelerator programme by launching the Northern MAX Accelerator in early 2024. Northern MAX Accelerators are an intensive business support programme delivered in Bradford and Leeds to serve and support the economic recovery of digital technology businesses that are under three years old and based in the CBMDC and LCC authority areas. As such, CBMDC and LCC are inviting submissions from Service Providers to deliver an accelerator programme with a digital technology sector focus to a fifth cohort in Bradford and Leeds.

The Northern MAX Accelerator, funded by CBMDC and LCC (through the UK Shared prosperity fund, as part of the Leeds Hyper-Local Programme allocation) will deliver a programme of activity to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises until June 2024. The Northern MAX Accelerator will be aligned to the AD:VENTURE programme. CBMDC is a partner in the LCC led AD:VENTURE programme; alongside the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the four other local authorities in West Yorkshire, the Business Enterprise Fund and The Prince's Trust.

The AD:VENTURE programme targets start-ups and businesses that have been trading up to three years and identified as having growth potential (aspiring to attain the VAT threshold of a turnover of £85,000 within two years; with the propensity to create jobs; trading predominantly business to business and is available to most business sectors. AD:VENTURE will also support business to consumer applicants if it is likely that 50% of its turnover will be derived from customers outside of West Yorkshire. The package of support includes; one to one support from an AD:VENTURE Business Manager; workshops and webinars to upskill entrepreneurs, owners and managers; potential access to a loan fund and a grant scheme; and events to promote peer to peer learning.