Funding strategy and competition selection
We map your technology and stage against every relevant open competition, and tell you which to bid, which to sequence and which to skip.
Grant consultants UK
Grant consultants who understand the technology
Most grant writing services are delivered by generalists working from a template. Ours are delivered by engineers and scientists who can interrogate your technology, then build the scored case around the advance and the uncertainty. Client input is typically under 12 hours.
Trusted partner
GrantUp is an official partner of SETsquared, the university enterprise partnership behind the UK's top-ranked startup incubation network (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey). SETsquared ventures are supported by GrantUp with grant funding and R&D tax relief.
GrantUp is an official partner of Grow London Local, part of London & Partners, the Mayor of London's growth agency. London's small businesses are referred to GrantUp for grant writing and R&D tax relief support.
GrantUp is an official partner of Stotles, the public sector opportunities platform, where GrantUp supports businesses competing for government contracts and funding.
What our grant writing services cover
From choosing the competition to managing the submission, we run the whole application so your team does not have to. The work below is what a serious consultancy should do for you, and it is what we do on every engagement.
Full application writing
Technical narrative, commercial case, work packages, risk register and finance forms, written by a specialist and independently scored against the published criteria before submission.
Submission and funder management
We manage the Innovation Funding Service or Funding Service submission, the appendices, and the questions that come back from the funder.
Rolling retainer for serial applicants
If you expect to apply for several competitions in a year, the Unlimited programme is a monthly retainer covering a rolling portfolio of applications rather than a fee per bid.
How to choose a grant consultant
Every agency claims a high success rate. These four questions separate the ones that can evidence it from the ones that cannot.
Who writes the technical section
Ask who physically drafts the innovation narrative. At GrantUp it is an engineer or scientist who can hold a conversation with your CTO, not a generalist bid writer working from a template.
What happens before drafting
Ask what work happens before a word is written. We evaluate the technology, the funder fit and the scoring case first, because that is what separates a fundable project from an expensive rejection.
How much of your time it takes
Ask how many hours your team will spend. A consultant who needs you to produce the content is charging you to format your own work. Our client input is typically under 12 hours.
What evidence sits behind the results
Ask for named awards and amounts, not a percentage with no definition. Our clients' wins are published with competition, award size and funder, and our success rates carry their definitions.
Results we can evidence
Above 90% of our engagements result in funding, and above 80% of the individual applications we write are successful. Both figures cover projects we accept after screening, not every enquiry we receive, and we decline weak opportunities before any fee is paid.
Named examples include more than £1.4m won across ten Innovate UK awards for a single AI client, including a £546,004 Investment Accelerator award, and £596,670 for an AI assurance company. Every published case study names the competition and the award size.
What it costs and who it suits
Upfront fees start from £1,750, with a success fee on award. The service suits UK registered businesses carrying out genuine technical R&D, with the match funding in place for the share of project costs the grant does not cover. Innovate UK intervention rates mean your business funds a meaningful portion of the project, so we check that early rather than late.
For serial applicants, the Unlimited programme is a monthly retainer covering a rolling portfolio of applications rather than a fee per bid.
Common questions
What does a grant consultant do?
A grant consultant finds the right competition, tests whether your project is worth bidding, then writes the scored application end to end: the technical narrative, the market case, the project plan, the risk register and the finance forms. At GrantUp the writing is done by engineers and scientists, not generalist copywriters.
How much do grant consultants charge in the UK?
Fees vary widely across the market. Our upfront fees start from £1,750, with a success fee payable on award. We quote per competition once we have assessed the project, because a single company feasibility bid and a multi partner collaborative R&D consortium are very different pieces of work.
Is it worth paying for grant writing services?
A competitive application takes well over 100 hours across drafting, evidence gathering, finances and submission, usually landing on the founder or technical lead. If your project is genuinely fundable, a specialist buys back that time and materially improves the scored case. If the project is not fundable, a good consultant tells you before any fee is paid.
What is the difference between a grant writer and a grant consultant?
A grant writer drafts the application you ask for. A grant consultant starts earlier: selecting the competition, testing eligibility and fundability, shaping the project to the scoring criteria, and only then writing. We operate as consultants first and writers second, which is why we decline weak opportunities.
How much of my time does the application take?
Typical client input on an application we write is under 12 hours. We take the 100 plus hour drafting burden off your internal team and use your time for technical interviews, evidence gathering and approvals rather than writing.
What is your success rate?
Above 90% of engagements result in funding, and above 80% of individual applications we write are successful. Both figures cover projects we accept after screening, not every enquiry we receive.
Which funders do your grant writing services cover?
Innovate UK and UKRI competitions, Horizon Europe and the EIC Accelerator, ESA, and the regional and devolved nation funds listed in our live UK grant directory. We match the funder to your stage before any drafting starts.
Specialist pages cover Innovate UK grant writing and EIC Accelerator proposals, and every open round is listed in the UK grant directory.
Talk to a grant consultant
Book a 15 minute scoping call and we will tell you straight whether your project is worth bidding, and which competition fits it best.