Here’s an interesting one for anyone looking for seed funding: The Difference Engine.

We are a mentor-lead (sic) acceleration programme that offers successful applicants £20,000 of investment capital and sixteen weeks of intensive business development.

More discussion on deburca. It’s a North-East England approach to Y Combinator, something I’ve said before needs to at least be tried over here. The fact it’s publicly funded makes it a little different; presumably, similar to Scottish Enterprise and the EU’s funding of EPIS, part of the motivation is regional economic stimulus, job-creation and growth. (It also means there are some things you can’t do with the cash, such as use it to match a SMART award).

Looking forward to seeing what comes out of the programme, though. It’s open to applicants from anywhere, and the application is virtually identical to Y Combinator’s (no business plan required), so off you go.