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Grant Funding Canvas 2026
One A3 page that shapes any innovation grant application. Twelve blocks covering the innovation, the project and the commercial case, mapped to the questions Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe, ESA, ARIA and DASA assessors actually score.
What changed for the 2026 edition
- Funder-agnostic: works for Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe, ESA, ARIA, DASA and EIC, not one competition.
- New blocks for risk and mitigation, and for subsidy control and match funding.
- Impact expanded to cover net zero, EDI and responsible innovation, including AI ethics and safety.
- IP block now covers data provenance, consent and open-science obligations.
- TRL start and end prompts, so technical ambition is stated in the language assessors use.
- A project header bar for funder, competition, deadline, grant ask and total project cost.
How teams use it
- Run it as a 90-minute workshop before anyone opens the application portal.
- Use it to decide go / no-go on a competition rather than writing your way to a no.
- Give it to partners so consortium inputs arrive in a usable shape.
- Bring the filled canvas to a consultation and skip the discovery call.
What is on the canvas
The case for the idea: what is new, why it matters and what could stop it working.
Value proposition
- What problem are you solving, and who feels it?
- How is that pain quantified today (cost, time, risk)?
- What evidence shows your solution creates value?
- Why does this need to happen now?
Innovation & technical ambition
- What is genuinely new versus the state of the art?
- Which technical uncertainty could stop this working?
- TRL at the start and TRL at project end.
- What would a sceptical assessor challenge first?
IP, data & freedom to operate
- Background IP you bring; foreground IP created.
- Patents, licences, trade secrets, open-source terms.
- Data provenance, consent and sharing obligations.
- Open-science or data-management requirements.
Track record & background
- What has the business already delivered?
- Prior grants, investment or revenue to date.
- Work already done towards this project.
- Why this team is credible to deliver it.
How the funded work is scoped, staffed, costed and de-risked.
Project aims & objectives
- One-sentence aim of the funded project.
- Three to five measurable objectives.
- Work packages, milestones and deliverables.
- How this fits your wider business plan.
Team, partners & resources
- Who does what, and at what FTE?
- Which skills are missing, and how are they filled?
- Academic, industrial or subcontractor partners.
- Facilities, data, equipment and access rights.
Finance & value for money
- Total project cost and the grant you are requesting.
- Intervention rate for your organisation size.
- Where match funding comes from, and whether it is secured.
- Subsidy control position; why not other finance?
Risk & mitigation
- Top technical, commercial and delivery risks.
- Likelihood, impact and owner for each.
- Mitigations and contingency in the plan and budget.
- What happens if a partner drops out.
The part most first-time applicants under-write, and where assessors most often mark down.
Customers & users
- Who buys, and who actually uses it?
- Evidence of demand: pilots, letters of support, waiting lists.
- What adoption costs the customer.
Market & route to market
- TAM / SAM / SOM with a credible source.
- Business model, pricing and unit economics.
- Regulation, standards and certification path.
- Scale-up plan after the project ends.
Competition & differentiation
- Direct and indirect competitors, including do-nothing.
- How incumbents respond when you enter.
- Why you win, and how that lead is defended.
Impact: economic, social, environmental
- Jobs, GVA and productivity created, and by when.
- Net zero and sustainability contribution, quantified.
- Responsible innovation: AI ethics, safety, EDI.
- Wider UK and sector benefit beyond your business.
Mapped to the funders you are likely applying to
Innovate UK
Maps to the standard scored questions: need, approach, team, market, outcomes, wider impacts, management and costs.
Horizon Europe / EIC
Feeds Excellence, Impact and Implementation, plus open-science and data-management requirements.
UKRI councils & catapults
Supports collaborative bids where partner roles, IP splits and pathways to impact carry the weight.
ESA, ARIA & DASA
Works for mission-led calls where technical ambition, risk and end-user pull matter most.
Want the grant readiness checklist too? See all free resources.
Filled in the canvas and want a second opinion?
Book a free consultation with a consultant who has written and won Innovate UK, UKRI and Horizon Europe applications.