Platform

A funding intelligence platform for cultural organisations across the North. Designed to close the structural gap between ambition and resource.

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⌕Search 200+ funding opportunities…

Arts Council England

Project Grants · Up to £30,000

94% matchOpen now

Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Breakthrough Fund · Up to £25,000

87% matchCloses 14 Feb

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Arts Programme · Up to £150,000

81% matchRolling

Showing 3 of 47 matched opportunitiesView all →

The landscape

47%

of Arts Council England investment flows to London-based organisations

£2.1bn

in public arts funding available across England annually

1 in 3

Northern arts organisations have never successfully accessed major public funding

6×

average return cultural investment delivers to local economies

Sources: Arts Council England Annual Review 2023–24; DCMS Cultural Economy Statistics; Northern Cultural research, 2025. Figures are approximate.

How it works

Connect your organisation

Complete a short profile covering your artform, scale, audience, geography, and history. Takes under ten minutes.

Get matched to opportunities

The platform cross-references your profile against a live database of grants, trusts, and public funding — surfacing the most relevant opportunities and flagging open windows.

Build your application

Structured guidance aligned to each funder's specific requirements — narrative, budget, evaluation, and diversity statements — with successful application patterns built in.

Track and grow

Monitor your pipeline, receive award notifications, and get support beyond the grant stage — including outcome reporting and follow-on funding identification.

Find Funding

A live, curated database of grants, trusts, Arts Council programmes, local authority funds, and foundation awards — matched to your organisation, not just keyword-searched.

Updated weekly. Covers ACE National Portfolio, Project Grants, Cultural Recovery, NLHF, Esmée Fairbairn, Paul Hamlyn, and 200+ regional and national sources.

Build Bids

Structured guidance to shape stronger applications, aligned to each funder's evaluation criteria and language. Not a template — a guided process that keeps your voice central.

Covers narrative development, budget planning, impact evidence, evaluation frameworks, and equality and diversity statements.

Track Progress

A complete pipeline view across all active applications, awards, reporting deadlines, and follow-on opportunities — with team collaboration built in.

Includes calendar integration, automated deadline reminders, outcome tracking, and funder relationship history.

Who it's for

Independent Practitioners

Always free

Freelance artists, makers, musicians, writers, and producers working independently or on short-term projects.

→Finding small grants and project funding
→Writing first applications without prior experience
→Understanding eligibility criteria quickly
→Tracking multiple small applications

Cultural Organisations

Theatre companies, galleries, festivals, music venues, dance companies, and production houses — registered charities or social enterprises.

→Bid development and strategic funding planning
→Team collaboration on complex applications
→Multi-year programme pipeline management
→Capacity building beyond individual projects

Anchor Institutions

Universities, local authority cultural services, museums, libraries, and large NPOs coordinating at regional scale.

→Consortium bid coordination across partners
→Large-scale programme management
→Outcome reporting and funder relationship tracking
→Sector-wide data and intelligence

What we believe about cultural infrastructure

Northern-first

This platform is not a national tool adapted for the North. It is built from the North outward — with the specific funding landscape, organisations, and priorities of the region at its centre.

Open access

Capacity should not determine who can access funding. Individual practitioners will always have a free tier. The platform exists to level the field, not replicate the advantages already held by well-resourced organisations.

Infrastructure, not charity

We are building permanent, structural support — not short-term intervention. The goal is to make the funding landscape navigable for any organisation, at any stage, indefinitely.

Practitioner-led

The platform is designed in direct consultation with the organisations and individuals it serves. Features are prioritised based on real need, not product assumptions.

Roadmap

In development

Phase 1

Beta

Late 2026

→Waitlist and early access onboarding
→Funding database (200+ sources)
→Basic eligibility matching
→Organisation profiles

Phase 2

Core Platform

Early 2027

–Bid builder with funder-specific guidance
–Application tracking and pipeline view
–Team collaboration and shared workspaces
–Deadline calendar and notifications

Phase 3

Intelligence

2027–2028

–AI-assisted narrative development
–Funder relationship tracking
–Outcome and impact reporting
–Sector benchmarking and data

Questions

The platform is open to any individual practitioner, cultural organisation, or institution based in or primarily operating across the North of England. This includes independent artists, makers, musicians, theatre companies, galleries, museums, festivals, and local authority cultural services.

Beta access is free for all registered users. Our long-term model is built around accessibility — individual practitioners will always have a free tier. Organisations and institutions will have optional paid tiers with expanded features such as team collaboration, advanced analytics, and dedicated bid review.

You complete a short profile covering your organisation type, artform, scale, audience, and current stage. The platform cross-references this against a live database of grant programmes, trust funds, and public funding opportunities — surfacing those you are most likely to be eligible for and flagging application windows.

Yes. The bid builder provides structured guidance aligned to the specific requirements of each funder — prompting you through narrative sections, budget planning, evaluation criteria, and equality and diversity statements. It draws on successful application patterns while keeping your voice central.

Your data is stored securely and never shared with funders or third parties without your explicit consent. You control what is visible in your profile and can export or delete your data at any time. The platform is fully GDPR compliant and hosted on UK-based infrastructure.

Most databases simply list opportunities. This platform matches you to them, guides you through the application, and supports you after the award — including reporting, outcome tracking, and follow-on funding identification. It is built specifically for the Northern context, not adapted from a national tool.

Beta access opens to waitlist members first. We are targeting a phased rollout beginning in late 2026, with full public access in early 2027. Waitlist members will receive early access, direct input into feature development, and priority onboarding support.

Yes — and we actively want you to. Early access members are invited to participate in user research sessions, feature feedback rounds, and advisory input. If your organisation works with a large number of cultural practitioners, get in touch about partnership arrangements.

Be first to access the platform when we launch

Waitlist members receive early access, direct input into feature development, and priority onboarding support.