Investor Partnerships

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).

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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.

This funding by HORIZON supports the development of robotic and automated solutions for sustainable building construction, renovation, and maintenance. Projects should enhance efficiency, reduce errors, minimize environmental impact, and lower costs through automation. Key areas include energy-efficient robotic techniques, digitally assisted design, automated surveying, and worker safety augmentation. Solutions must be tested in at least three prototypes, addressing diverse building types, and contribute to the Built4People network and its innovation clusters.

The Content Fund is a joint plan between Government and industry to drive growth, build talent and develop skills across the creative sectors.

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.

This funding supports innovative construction and renovation solutions to extend building service life, enhance adaptability, and enable reuse and deconstruction. Projects should develop and validate techniques that improve resource efficiency, use CO2-storing and low-emission materials, and address all building components. Solutions must be tested in diverse environments, involve local value chains, and provide measurable outcomes. Deliverables include guidance for stakeholders, dissemination of best practices, and contributions to standardization through the Built4People network.

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.

Innovate UK and India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) is funding business-led UK-India collaborations on Net Zero Technologies. Projects must present disruptive innovations with economic potential, strong business and financial plans, and a clear path to commercialization. Proposals should demonstrate mutual benefits for UK and Indian economies, effective IP sharing, and added value from cross-country collaboration. Outcomes must deliver impactful, market-ready solutions post-project completion.

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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.

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This funding supports pilot projects to enhance diversity in NERC science, attracting a broader talent pool and showcasing diverse skillsets. Up to 20 grants will fund partnerships to develop inclusive plans, test approaches, and inspire underrepresented groups to join the environmental solutions workforce. Projects should identify and engage diverse talent, fostering equitable inclusion and contributing to a more representative NERC community.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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This fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across Wales.

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.

This grant supports academically-led translational projects addressing significant health needs or global health challenges. Eligible projects include developing or refining therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, or research tools to enhance intervention efficiency. All diseases and intervention types qualify, spanning early development to phase 2a clinical trials. Proposals should target prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment advancements, with opportunities for preclinical and early-phase clinical studies.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy. This funding is from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.

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.

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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.

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.

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