Current grant opportunities
HMGCC Co-Creation Challenge: AI / Novel Technology Red Agent Penetration Testing
Innovate UK’s HMGCC Co-Creation Challenge is funding AI and novel technology solutions for "Red Agent" penetration testing. This initiative aims to develop advanced tools to simulate adversarial attacks, enhancing the UK’s digital resilience. Successful projects will focus on creating innovative methods to assess security vulnerabilities, enabling a proactive defense against threats. The challenge is being delivered across two workstreams delivered in parallel over 12 weeks.
Space For Electromobility
The “Space for Electromobility” invitation to tender provides funding for teams developing sustainable, space-based services to support the electromobility ecosystem. This initiative focuses on addressing challenges in the electrification of transport, a sector responsible for significant CO₂ emissions in the EU. Projects are aimed at advancing space-enabled solutions that contribute to decarbonisation in road transport and beyond, supporting environmental goals.
Mental Health Award: Accelerating Scalable Digital Mental Health Interventions
This Wellcome Trust funding supports research on digital interventionsfor early intervention in anxiety, depression, or psychosis. Projects caninvolve various technologies, such as AI, mobile apps, chatbots, wearables, andmore, targeting symptoms or functional impairments. Interventions can bestandalone or adjunct and suitable for delivery in diverse settings.
Action for Women's Health: A Global Open Call
The Action for Women’s Health initiative by Pivotal provides funding for NPO's (Not For Profit organisations) that are aiming to improve women’s mental and physical health. Eligible applicants must focus on equity, demonstrate proven success in advancing women’s health, and show potential for scaling their work to impact more women. This opportunity supports innovative, transformative solutions aimed at strengthening health outcomes for women globally.
Eureka Globalstars Japan Round 3
The Eureka Globalstars Japan Round 3 call provides funding through Innovate UK for UK businesses looking to apply for R&D projects with Japan and other Eureka countries. This funding supports industrial research, focusing on innovative, business-led projects developed between the UK and international partners, fostering global collaboration and industrial advancement.
NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Product Development Awards (PDA) Call 29 Stage 1
This NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) award offers funding for collaborative R&D in medical devices, in vitro diagnostics, and patient-focused digital health technologies for NHS and social care use. Focus areas include clinical development, real-world evaluations, and product development to enhance patient outcomes, de-risk innovations, and attract investors.
Quantum Missions pilot: Quantum Computing and Quantum Networks
Innovate UK, will invest up to £9.5 million for Quantum Computing and Quantum Networks projects with the aim of accelerating QC and QN technologies by increasing their capabilities and removing technological barriers to their commercialisation and adoption. Project must identify one or more key technological barriers or limitations and propose an innovative project that will address them.
Launchpad: Bio-based Manufacturing, Scotland – Rd2 CR&D, MFA
Funding by Innovate UK to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses in the bio-based manufacturing innovation cluster in Scotland. *This competition is split into two strands, Launchpad: bio-based manufacturing, Scotland, Round 2 De minimis or Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA £25k - £100k) and Launchpad: bio-based manufacturing, Scotland, Round 2 Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D £150k - £1 million).
Launchpad: immersive & creative, Coventry & Warwickshire Rd2 MFA, CR&D
Funding to develop, fuse and transfer existing research excellence, industrial innovation capability and sectoral strengths. Building market orientated opportunities in immersive and creative industries. This competition is for innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries innovation cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands and is split into two strands, Launchpad: immersive and creative industries, Round 2 Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA £25k - £100k) Launchpad: immersive and creative industries, Round 2 Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D £150k - £1 million).
Launchpad: net zero industry, South West Wales – Rd 2 MFA
This funding supports the UK government’s goals for local economic growth. This Launchpad is also supporting Net Zero Industry Wales as the local cluster management organisation with the aim of supporting outstanding innovation projects led by businesses that grow innovation activities in the net zero industrial cluster in South West Wales, both during and after the project.
Investor Partnerships in health technologies, West Yorkshire: Rd 1
Innovate UK will work with West Yorkshire Combined Authority to provide support for research, development and access to the capital investment that is needed to develop and commercialise innovations and grow businesses .These projects will be led by ambitious UK, who will use the funding to grow their innovation activities in the health technology cluster in West Yorkshire.
Investor Partnerships in digital technologies, North East: Rd 1
Innovate UK, through its Launchpad programme, is investing up to £2.5 million in North East England to support ambitious SMEs within the digital technology cluster. This collaboration with the North East Combined Authority and selected investor partners aims to boost local economic growth by providing R&D funding and capital investment for innovative projects.
PYRAMID for avionics and mission systems
This DASA competition provides funding to support industry adoption and compliance with the PYRAMID Reference Architecture (PRA) in avionics and mission systems. This initiative aims to drive rapid adaptability and systematic reuse through industry-led product development projects. Funding focuses on incorporating and using the PRA, with deliverables including progress reports, lessons learnt, and PRA compliance demonstrations rather than full mission systems or sub-systems.
EIT Manufacturing Accelerate
This Accelerator programme supports and grants financing to startups and scale-ups with innovative solutions and technologies, that address critical challenges in the manufacturing sector, and are helping the European manufacturing sector to become more efficient, resilient, green, and globally competitive.
*This Competition has multiple cut off dates, see link for more information.
Innovate UK innovation loans future economy: Round 18
This Innovate UK competition offers loans to help businesses overcome barriers to commercialising their innovations, with a focus on driving significant economic impact and sustainable growth. Eligible projects must showcase innovative products, services, or processes significantly ahead of current offerings or utilize existing solutions in novel ways. Applications should include a strong business plan, skilled team, risk management strategy, financial feasibility, and clear economic impact potential to secure funding for accelerated commercialisation and growth.
Mindset extended reality (XR): Digital therapeutics for mental health
Funding to develop digital therapeutic extended reality (XR) solutions to provide mental healthcare services. These solutions will optimally be applied and trialled following an R&D cycle of between 12 to 18 months. Solutions must have the potential to be adopted at scale to form part of the UK’s formal mental healthcare ecosystem.
Design foundations round six
Innovate UK is providing funding to support innovation projects using people-centred and systemic design methods. This competition aims to identify opportunities, generate new ideas, or improve existing concepts, fostering innovative products, services, and models that benefit people, the planet, and society. It encourages sustainable, impactful design-driven R&D for transformative innovation.
Innovate UK Smart grants: Nov 2024
Innovate UK Smart grants are funding UK businesses that are developing game-changing innovations with strong commercial potential. Designed to align with the government’s five key missions—economic growth, clean energy, public safety, expanded opportunities, and healthcare improvements—Smart grants foster projects with high impact potential. By funding cutting-edge solutions, Smart grants drive economic prosperity, boost productivity, and ensure that the benefits of growth reach all UK regions.
AI solutions to develop AI competencies in key sectors
Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing in innovative projects aimed at developing responsible and ethical AI-based personalised learning solutions. This funding initiative supports the development of AI competency in key sectors, including construction, transport and logistics, agriculture and food processing, and the creative industries. The goal is to foster AI-driven growth, adaptability, and skill enhancement within these vital sectors.
Collaborative R&D: Creative Catalyst
This CR&D competition aims to advance the development of collaboration with innovators in the creative industries by funding projects that address industry challenges and support economic growth. Applicants must propose ambitious, market-ready solutions that enhance the creative supply chain, create new revenue streams, and demonstrate significant improvement over existing offerings.
European Space Agency: Maritime Decarbonisation through Autonomy
This grant supports innovations in maritime autonomy that enhance decarbonisation through improved vessel efficiency, advanced infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and security. It seeks solutions leveraging space data to increase autonomy, improve situational awareness, and protect systems while preparing seafarers for the evolving landscape of human-assisted operations. Focus areas include sustainability, safety, and regulatory integration.
The Content Fund
The Content Fund is a joint plan between Government and industry to drive growth, build talent and develop skills across the creative sectors.
European Space Agency
Programme
European Space AgencyCloses
Award
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You can apply for funding from ESA for the Open Call for Proposals or through specific themed opportunities. Your project must delivered R&D related to the space industry
Innovation Loan
This is a multi-sector generous loan opportunity of between £100k and £2m for UK registered, highly innovative SMEs with projects lasting up to 5 years.
Creative Growth Finance
Creative UK have partnered with Triodos Bank on the Creative Growth Finance fund to offer loans of £100,000 to £1m* to businesses that bring change, disruption and new IP to the creative industries, harness creativity with technologies and supporting businesses and are talent led.
SMART: SCOTLAND grants
The SMART: SCOTLAND grant aims to support high-risk, highly ambitious projects providing support to conduct feasibility studies. It’s only available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based in Scotland
Challenge Awards round 15
NIHR i4i Challenge Awards support the real-world evaluation of medical devices, in vitro diagnostic devices and high-impact patient-focused digital health technologies for us in the NHS or social care system. The i4i Challenge Awards provide funding for collaborative projects with a focus on implementation research on technologies which have demonstrated safety and efficacy, and have a clear pathway towards adoption and commercialisation.
Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants
Arts Council National Lottery are offering funding to people in England who are creative, or work in the arts, museums or libraries. The fund supports thousands of individual practitioners, community and cultural organisations
British Business Bank Investment Fund for Wales
This fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across Wales.
Want to learn more about grants?
How much time is needed to submit a quality grant application?
Grant applications are submitted to highly competitive opportunities with limited funding available which means that only the highest scoring applications are successful. In order to create a high-scoring application we suggest starting it a minimum of 3 weeks before the competition deadline. In our experience, the best grant applications are crafted over 6 weeks or more.
How is a government grant typically paid?
Grant funding is typically paid in arrears after a project has started. It is normally paid quarterly or at key project milestones. For example, Innovate UK typically pays grant funding after a project report has been submitted and approved at the end of each project quarter. Funding bodies typically hold payment of a portion of the final project costs until after the project has been fully ended.
What are the chances of being successfully awarded grant funding?
Success is dependent on many factors such as eligibility, fund size and competition from others. Success rates therefore vary significantly between competitions. Competitions with specialist themes are usually less competitive than "open call" competitions. Statistics about funding competitions are usually reported by funding bodies or released in freedom of information requests.
Can start-up companies apply for grant funding?
Yes, start-up companies are normally eligible for grant funding. It is important to carefully check eligibility criteria for competitions as this can vary.
Are the grant writing fees negotiable?
Yes, the fees for our grant writing services can be negotiated. Our grant writing services are priced competitively and can be reduced if a customer can help reduce our writing costs (e.g. by saving time) without impacting the quality of the resulting grant application.
What is seen as an innovative project that is suitable for grant funding?
Innovation is commonly defined as a new technology in an existing market or an existing technology in a new market. Innovative projects clearly build on existing state-of-the-art technology and as they are novel they are typically technically challenging and risky endeavours.
How much does my company need to contribute to the grant-funded project?
The company contribution varies depending on the specific funding body and/or funding competition. It is typically between 0% and 50% of the total project costs. Smaller companies (SMEs) are usually required to contribute less funding than large established companies.
What time and work goes into a typical grant application?
Writing a grant application is not too dissimilar to writing a short novel. The story must successfully guide the audience from beginning to end, keeping them engaged throughout with the right content. A high quality grant application will have a well-defined scope and will provide all the right information at the right time in each of the questions that is answered.
A typical grant application requires multiple days of information gathering, fact-finding, writing, referencing, refining, checking, assessing, reflecting, visualising, and submitting. It is a team effort and we normally allow a minimum of three weeks to complete an application.
How can I include an academic partner in my project?
If one or more work packages in your project are suitable for a university to deliver then you should liaise with your academic partner who will be able to help. If you are seeking an academic partner for your project we can also help you. Please note that some innovation funding opportunities may not be suitable for academic partners or their budget allocation my be capped.
Can I use the Grant Funding Canvas™ for my own projects?
Yes! Please use the Canvas for your own projects and feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues.
Can I apply for my own grant application alone?
Yes! You can apply on your own and still be successful. However, working with us means that you will benefit from our skills and experience in writing successful grant applications - as well as lots of time saved.
What does the process look like once I submit an application?
Your application will be reviewed by assessors and it will be scored. You will receive a notification that provides your score and whether your application was successful or not. If you are successful, you will then be required to complete some additional tasks to evidence your financial position to show that you can deliver the project.
Where can I find the latest grant funding opportunities?
Grant funding opportunities are available from multiple sources and competitions open and close frequently. To stay up-to-date on the latest news you can follow funding bodies such as Innovate UK. You can sign up to our Grant Opportunities Newsletter to receive the latest funding opportunities.