Our Projects
Innovate Lancashire Projects
Lancashire County Council’s Innovate Lancashire programme has developed a number of successful projects and high-impact interventions to boost Lancashire’s innovation economy. They include:
Fraser House Hub
Fraser House Hub is an inclusive co-working space for tech and digital businesses in Lancaster. Managed by Innovate Lancashire, Fraser House’s culture is designed to foster interaction and collaboration.
Bringing professionals from different backgrounds together also underpins Fraser House’s programme of workshops, events and advice clinics.
Fraser House’s emphasis on community and collaboration was recognised by Prolific North at its 2024/25 Tech Awards.
Comments from the judging panel which accompanied Fraser House’s Highly Commended award stated: “Fraser House Hub demonstrates a forward-thinking approach to fostering economic growth, innovation, and inclusivity in Lancashire’s tech and digital sectors… an awesome example of the power of regional communities in fostering innovation, the impact it has had on the wider ecosystem is incredibly impressive.”.
The Fraser House model is now being adopted by other local authorities looking to create more inclusive co-working tech and innovation workspaces across the region.
Fraser House highlights:
- Fraser House was established by Lancashire County Council in 2021
- Home to over 130 startups, scaleups and freelancers
- Over 100 free business support events and activities are hosted in Fraser House each year
- 67% of Fraser House members have collaborated with other businesses
- Over 60% of businesses have scaled while working from Fraser House
Lancashire Digital Hub
Lancashire Digital Hub’s mission is to support the development of a thriving digital economy across Lancashire. It does this by supporting anyone who wants to start or grow their digital business in Lancashire, and to help anyone who wanting to pursue a digitally focussed career in the county.
LDH also works closely with district authorities to empower the development of localised ecosystem activity and brings digital communities together on a hyper-local basis.
Key LDH activities include a regular programme of Tech Talks held across the county and convening the Lancashire Digital Leaders Group.
Other recent activations for early-stage businesses have included ‘Start Up Saturday’ events, pitch competitions, and investment readiness workshops.
Lancashire Digital Hub highlights:
- Since being launched by Innovate Lancashire in 2022, the LDH initiative has engaged with over 1000 businesses across the county
- Each year over 15 events are delivered by LDH in a diverse range of settings
- The LDH programme is delivered in partnership with Northern Reach, who have staff embedded in tech communities across Lancashire at a district level
fhunded
fhunded is Lancashire’s dedicated early-stage investment initiative.
Bringing together investors, founders and intermediaries from across Lancashire, and the wider North, fhunded’s objective is to increase levels of VC investment activity in the county.
Major VC funds – including Praetura Ventures, YFM Equity Partners, DSW Ventures, Par Equity, Seneca, Mercia and Solidbond – have all participated in fhunded events, as have senior advisors from NatWest, British Business Bank and KPMG.
The success of fhunded has now seen the launch of the fhunded Angels – an angel investor network which provides seed capital for Lancashire-based startups.
Thought to be the largest angel community of its kind to led by a local authority, the network’s angels are a mix of seasoned investors, exited founders, successful entrepreneurs, and sector specialists, with a shared affinity for Lancashire.
fhunded highlights:
- First piloted at Fraser House in Lancaster, fhunded is now a countywide programme
- Since launch in 2023, over 50% of Lancashire’s early-stage deal flow has been generated by businesses engaged in the fhunded community
- fhunded has brought some of the UK’s biggest VC funders into Lancashire for the first time including Praetura, YFM, DSW, Par Equity, Seneca, Mercia and Solidbond
- Launched in 2025, fhunded Angels is reported to be the largest angel network in the UK managed by a local authority
LIFT
LIFT (Lancashire Innovation Funding and Technology) is Lancashire’s annual innovation, tech and early-stage finance event.
Produced by Innovate Lancashire in partnership with fhunded and the Lancashire Digital Hub, LIFT offers ambitious founders and progressive industry leaders practical advice and actionable insights to help them drive their companies forward.
An event consisting of topical panels, expert presentations, and insightful fireside chats, LIFT delegates get the opportunity to hear inspirational stories from entrepreneurs and leaders who have accelerated their own business growth by being bold, forward-looking and embracing innovation.
LIFT also facilitates high-level networking between business leaders, funders, policymakers and other key influencers.
LIFT highlights:
- LIFT covers Lancashire Innovation, Funding and Technology
- The event is specifically programmed to generate inspirational, practical and actionable insights which will help ambitious businesses to unlock more economic growth
- LIFT is the first event outside of the south east to be officially affiliated with London Tech Week
- LIFT is produced by Innovate Lancashire, in partnership with fhunded and Lancashire Digital Hub
The Lancashire Innovation Plan
The Lancashire Innovation Plan (LIP) is a five-year blueprint for accelerated innovation-led prosperity across Lancashire.
It was developed by Innovate Lancashire in partnership with the Lancashire Innovation Board; a cohort of senior business leaders, innovation experts and academics drawn from across the county.
In addition to driving economic growth and unlocking investment, the LIP has a commitment to delivering positive social change: creating new opportunities and improved outcomes for all of Lancashire’s citizens.
Lancashire Innovation Plan highlights:
- Developed in partnership with the private sector, the LIP is a five-year Lancashire County Council programme
- It is built around four distinct pillars: Grow, Expand, Connect and Tell
- It includes KPIs, actions, and strategic interventions which are practical, achievable and measurable
- The LIP underpins the Lancashire Combined County Authority’s new ten-year Lancashire Growth Plan
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