Innovate UK funding and support

Innovate UK provides government funding to businesses and research organisations across the UK, primarily through grant funding competitions. Some of these competitions are challenge-led, others are open to businesses from all sectors and industries.

Challenge-led competitions

Through its core grant funding, Innovate UK supports a wide range of businesses and ideas needed to maximise economic growth and societal impact across the country.

However, most significant opportunities for businesses exist in four priority areas set out in the government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF). These so called 'Grand Challenges' include:

• artificial intelligence and the data economy
• ageing society, health and nutrition
• clean growth and infrastructure
• future of mobility

Throughout the year, Innovate UK will launch various competitions within each of these challenge areas, as well as competitions targeted at other sectors and technologies with significant innovation potential and impact.

Typically, there are pre-briefings for each of the competition, as well as webinars, competition documents and deadlines for applications. The competition scope will specify the category of research and development (R&D) activity for that particular funding opportunity. Find out what categories of R&D are supported by Innovate UK.

Find Innovate UK funding opportunities.

Grants are awarded based on competition. This means that, in order to win the grant, you must:

• first meet the eligibility criteria for the particular challenge
• present the best proposal amongst all other applicants

The competitive process ensures that the funding goes to the most suitable business whose project meets the scope and the objectives of the competition. Find out how to apply for Innovate UK funding.

Open competition

As well as thematic, challenge-led competitions, Innovate UK also runs the 'Smart grant' programme with open competitions launching four times a year. These are open to any business or organisation from any sector, regardless of their technical or industrial area of focus. See more on Smart grants for innovative businesses.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)

KTP is another core Innovate UK funding programme. It offers funding for partnerships between businesses and universities, enabling companies to bring in a graduate and embed innovation within their business. Find out more about the KTP scheme.

Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI)

Grants are not the only, or always most effective, form of funding from Innovate UK. Through the SBRI competitions, your business can apply for government contracts to help demonstrate and develop your new technologies. Read more about the SBRI funding.

Innovation loans

Innovation loans is a relatively new programme offering late-stage-development businesses flexible capital to support business growth through innovation. To get a loan, you must apply through a competitive loans process with strict eligibility criteria. Find out more about Innovate UK innovation loans.

Other Innovate UK support

As well as funding businesses and research organisations, Innovate UK also fund networks such as the Innovate UK Business Growth, Innovate UK Business Connect and Catapult centres.

Innovate UK funds different categories of research and development (R&D) activities to support a wide range of sectors. These categories are:

• fundamental research
• feasibility studies
• industrial research
• experimental development

Grant funding will typically focus on a particular part of the new product, process or service development. However, it's not always easy to decide which category to position the project in. Different funding rules may also apply for different categories.

Fundamental research

This is research that focuses on generating new knowledge. It does not necessarily have a direct practical application or usage. It is typically undertaken by research organisations.

Feasibility studies

This involves assessing a project's potential to support decision-making for development. They may focus on uncovering the project's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and identifying the resources needed and the likelihood of success. Such studies can help you decide if you can work independently or would need to collaborate with others. They often lead to a subsequent larger project.

Industrial research

This type of research typically involves the development of new knowledge or skills for the purpose of product development, processes or services. For example, the creation of component parts to complex systems or prototypes in a laboratory or simulated environment.

Experimental development

This involves using existing scientific, technical or business knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes, or services. It can include activities such as conceptual definition, planning and documentation, prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services.

Choosing the right category for your project

When applying for grant funding, the responsibility for choosing the right category lies with the applicant. The competition scope will specify the category of R&D activity for that particular funding opportunity. The category you should reflect the majority of your work. If your work is evenly split across categories, email support@innovateuk.ukri.org.

Read more about how Innovate UK funding works and how to apply for Innovate UK funding.

Innovate UK's funding support, in the form of grants and loans, provides opportunities for businesses to innovate faster, more intensely, or more collaboratively than they would otherwise. The key to this is finding the right competition for your business.

You can use Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service to:

• search and apply for innovation funding
• submit, track and manage your applications online

Not all projects and businesses may be eligible to apply to all competitions. Some competitions focus on specific challenge areas; others are open to all businesses and sectors.

Find out how Innovate UK funding works.

Using the Innovation Funding Service

You can browse announcements of new competitions via this service without registering. However, if you're planning on applying you will have to create an account in the service to start an application, or sign in to your existing account.

Once registered, you can invite project partners to work together on your application, assign tasks to specific partners, and ask them to work collaboratively on answering application questions.

Some funding opportunities, such as a few of the international competitions, are not yet able to use the Innovation Funding Service. These will use a secure file transfer site (FTP) application process instead.

Find out more about the Innovate UK application process.

Where to find out more about competitions

You can sign up for Innovate UK email alerts to hear about funding competitions relevant to your business.

For many competitions, Innovate UK will hold briefing events to present the scope of the competition, the application process and eligibility criteria. During these events, you can meet the Innovate UK team and ask questions. Registration links for the events are typically available on the competition website page for each competition.

Innovate UK partners such as Invest Northern Ireland or the Catapults may also be able to tell you about the various competitions and discuss partnering and wider funding opportunities for your business.

Before you apply

Each competition opportunity has its own eligibility criteria and scope. You should read the full eligibility, scope and guidance for the funding opportunity you wish to apply for. The announcement of the opportunity will have links to the relevant pages.

You should also carefully consider the category of R&D you're applying for as different funding rules will apply to different categories. See categories of R&D supported by Innovate UK.

If you have been previously awarded Innovate UK funding, make sure that you complete those projects fully. Not making an effort to exploit a previous award is likely to affect your subsequent applications.

See how to apply for Innovate UK funding.

First step to applying for Innovate UK funding is understanding whether or not you are eligible.

Each competition opportunity has its own eligibility criteria and scope. It's important to carefully read the full eligibility, scope and guidance for the funding opportunity you wish to apply for. Not all businesses will be able to apply for all competitions.

Can you provide the required match funding?

In most cases, grant funding provided through Innovate UK expects some level of match funding. This means applicants are expected to provide a proportion of the total eligible project costs. How much this is depends on the size of your business and the stage of research and development that you are working on (eg feasibility study or experimental development).

To help you decide if competing for Innovate UK funding is right for you and your business, ask yourself:

• What's the problem you're trying to solve and why?
• What business need or market opportunity drives your innovation?
• Does your solution match the opportunity?
• Is your idea commercially viable? How will you make money from it?
• What impact might your project have outside your business? Consider the wider economic, social and environmental benefits.
• How will you manage the project effectively?
• Is your solution pushing the boundaries of technology in a novel way?
• Does your project represent good value for public money?

Your application is your chance to show the assessors you've done all the careful preparation and planning needed to bring your big idea to life.

Application process

Innovate UK typically runs two types of application process for funding awards. These are:

• an online application process through the Innovation Funding Service
• a document-based file transfer protocol (FTP) application process

Read about the differences in these two processes in Innovate UK's application guidance.

If you need more information, email Innovate UK at support@innovateuk.ukri.org or call the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357. 

In addition to their sector-focused funding programmes, Innovate UK run a number of open programmes for innovative businesses with high-growth potential.

Businesses of any size, and from any sector or industry, can apply.

Open funding programme

The programme supports innovation at various stages - from proof of concept through to prototype development and demonstration.

It is designed to help businesses:

• access knowledge and expertise, by enabling them to work with knowledge and research providers
• validate their ideas and concepts to help them attract private investment
• reduce financial risk and the funding gap through co-funding

Each year, Innovate UK will run two rounds of open funding competitions to provide these opportunities to innovative businesses.

Read more about Innovate UK's open funding programme.

Knowledge transfer

Under Innovate UK's Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) programme, you can get support and funding to innovate within your business.

KTPs will help you work with a research organisation and a recently-qualified graduate. You can apply if you are a business or a third sector or a public sector organisation. Read more about the opportunities for knowledge transfer partnerships funding.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) scheme enables businesses to improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance through better use of knowledge, technology and skills.

It does so by facilitating the formation of a partnership between:

• your business
• an academic institute, known as the knowledge base partner
• a recently qualified individual known as 'the associate' (usually a graduate) to facilitate the transfer of knowledge to your business

Types of KTP programmes

Technical KTPs match graduates from a specific discipline such as engineering, ICT or construction with companies undertaking projects related to their speciality.

Management KTPs match business management graduates with companies from all sectors seeking to implement strategic organisational improvements.

Projects typically last from 12 to 36 months and funding is available for up to two-thirds of the total project costs.

Benefits of taking part in KTP

Taking part in a KTP can help you to develop your business by accessing academic expertise that you don't have in-house.

A KTP is part-funded by a grant. You will need to contribute to the cost of the supervisor and the salary of the associate. The amount you will need to contribute depends on:

• the scale and length of the project
• the size of your company

If you are a small to medium-sized business, you will need to contribute a third of the costs. The average annual contribution to a project for an SME is around £25,000.

If you are a larger business, you may need to contribute half the cost. The average annual contribution to a project for a larger company is around £40,000.

Northern Ireland companies, knowledge providers and associates regularly feature as winners in the UK KTP annual awards.

Find out more about the KTP benefits to the business.

Eligible projects

KTP is open to any business although not all projects may be suitable. To find out if your project is suitable for a KTP, you can discuss your idea with:

• a regional KTP adviser
• a university or college KTP office
• Invest Northern Ireland (NI) 

Getting support with KTP projects

Businesses in Northern Ireland can get KTP support from Invest NI. Support is also available through:

• Queen's University Belfast
• Ulster University
• Belfast Metropolitan College
• Northern Regional College
• North West Regional College
• South Eastern Regional College
• Southern Regional College
• South West College

For advice on knowledge transfers and other collaborative support, you can contact Invest NI's helpline on Tel 0800 181 4422.

SBRI is a pre-commercial programme designed by Innovate UK to encourage private sector businesses to provide innovative solutions to public sector challenges.

Through the SBRI, government departments run competitions to seek solutions to specific issues. Competitions generally have different themes and opening dates and deadlines vary throughout the year.

Advantages of SBRI

SBRI can provide your business with:

• a route to market for new ideas and technologies and a chance to work with a lead customer to help validate and refine the idea
• finance that bridges the seed funding gap through 100 per cent funded research and development contracts with no loss of equity
• a simple way of engaging with the public sector and a step on the procurement ladder
• a way to create and retain intellectual property that will be commercialised to deliver business growth

SBRI eligibility criteria

You can apply for an SBRI contract if you are a business. The scheme is particularly beneficial for early-stage and small and medium-sized businesses. Pre-startups may apply, however the contracts can only be awarded to legal entities.

Initial funding of between £50,000 and £100,000 is available to help you test your idea and see if it will work. You can then win a further contract worth up to £1 million or more to develop and commercialise this idea.

How to apply for an SBRI contract

If you run a small business and need that all important first customer to help you develop and trial your innovative new product, then SBRI might be for you. SBRI gives start-ups and small companies sufficient funding to make a real difference, increasing chances of success and accelerating sales growth. Speak to Invest NI on Tel 0800 181 4422 about how you can get involved.

See the latest SBRI competitions or watch case studies below of local Northern Ireland businesses sharing their experience with SBRI.