An AI-driven platform has been launched to help improve the quality of applications for up to £200 million of unclaimed grant support.
The widespread use of generative AI has driven up the volume of applications, but poor applied AI has seen success rates fall to record lows of just two to three percent.
Ailsa aims to address the problem and has attracted early-stage backing from Monzo co-founder Gary Dolman and former Tesco Bank CEO Benny Higgins.
It has been founded by tech entrepreneur Rab Meliani who said: “The irony is that AI has made it easier than ever before to write grant applications, but much harder to submit a good one.
“The challenge for businesses isn’t writing – it’s understanding which opportunities are worth pursuing and what assessors are actually looking for.
“Ailsa is designed to bridge that gap so everyone in the funding system benefits.”
Mr Dolman said: “Public funding plays a critical role in supporting innovation, but the system can be difficult to navigate. Ailsa is addressing that challenge in a way that reflects how funding decisions are really made, using AI designed around the needs of real businesses.”
Mr Higgins, also a former RBS and NatWest retail banking CEO and an adviser to political parties, added: “The UK deploys billions in grant funding each year, but the process connecting businesses to that capital is inefficient.
“Ailsa’s approach, combining AI with genuine assessment expertise, addresses a real structural problem in how that funding gets allocated.”
#platform #tackle #poor #quality #grant #applications #Daily #Business