Squad Assist Limited has successfully secured a grant through the New Anglia Growth Through Innovation Fund, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). We’re delighted with this news as it will support us as we carry out the next phase of development. The grant will fund up to 50% of our project costs and you can read our plans for this below.
We have seen from our Beta testing that the app does exactly what we set out for it to do. Our plan, however, was always to add more. The Growth Through Innovation (GTI) grant is a great opportunity for us to speed up development. To do this we have hired a contractor who will work on implementing new features. The main aim of these is to make the app even more convenient for all users:
In some cases, these new features will provide the groundwork for our longer-term strategy with the app. For example, the new section called "Match History" will be where players view their previous matches. But this will also be where users pay their match fee and organisers manage match payments. There are also other features which will be built upon these new systems that we have yet to announce.
Aside from making the app more convenient, our other aims are about developing Squad Assist as a business. We now have new policies in place outlining our commitments to equality, diversity and the environment. We have also used some of the grant to bring in expert legal advice to strengthen our intellectual property.
By expanding what the Squad Assist app is capable of, we're hoping to grow our userbase. We're confident that these new features will provide a richer, more convenient user experience. This continues our work towards becoming the ultimate football organising app.
Work has already started on this next phase of development. Current beta testers will see new features added over the next two months, with the first phase of the project set to finish in June 2023. Some of our more ambitious plans, such as the payment system, may take longer due to the technical complexities associated with it. We will continue to update our blog with our progress.
Finally, we want to also thank the New Anglia LEP for their support. If like us, you're planning an innovative project in Norfolk and Suffolk, then head over to the New Anglia Growth Hub. Alternatively, contact them on 0300 333 6536 to find out what other support and funding opportunities are available.