eScalate
eScalate was a three-year project, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by OxLEP Business. In June 2022, the programme was extended to run through to April 2023. The programme closed on 30 April 2023.
eScalate supported Oxfordshire’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are scale-ups or have scale-up potential, and socially minded enterprises.
It aimed to support:
- Enterprises for social good* who needed support to develop new business models, higher-quality products, processes, services or specific products to boost productivity or resource efficiency.
- SME scale-ups who were looking to increase market share, increase revenues, increase staff and add value to their business.
- Start-up and growth SMEs (the eScalate programme was expanded to offer additional support to all eligible SMEs during COVID-19)
*Enterprises for social good exist in the space between traditional charities and mainstream businesses. These purposeful businesses are committed to enabling positive social and environmental impact. Scale ups are growing businesses that are ready or are preparing to pitch to investors, looking to grow their workforce, launch new products or diversify.
A full evaluation on the impacts of the eScalate programme is currently being developed.
