Choosing a grant consultancy
Grant funding won by our team
Success rate on applications we write
Highest client score in an Innovate UK round
Funders covered, from Innovate UK to ESA
Use these on us and on everyone else you shortlist. A provider that cannot answer them precisely is asking you to buy on tone of voice.
£190m+ in grant funding won by the GrantUp team across hundreds of successful applications, for named clients including SAM AI, AIX Live, ModlaPPE, Boom-Time and Lava Wash, plus companies who ask to stay anonymous. Named case studies with the programme, award size and outcome are published in full.
Case studies and testimonialsAbove 80% on applications GrantUp writes. That figure covers the projects we accepted after screening, not every enquiry, and we publish that definition rather than hiding it. Clients have scored as high as 98% in competitive Innovate UK rounds.
How the number is definedYes. If the competition, technology fit or timing does not stack up, we say so on the first call. Clients cite that honesty more than anything else. A consultancy that accepts every project has a success rate that reflects volume, not skill.
Selective by designA named lead writer matched to your technology, plus a named second specialist who scores the draft against the published assessment criteria before it goes anywhere near submission. Nothing rests on one person's availability, and the team holds PhD-level research experience across life sciences, deep tech, engineering and digital.
How your bid is staffedA fixed fee quoted before any work starts. No equity, no percentage of the award. For qualifying companies a no-win-no-fee option is available. If a bid is unsuccessful we work through assessor feedback line by line and support a resubmission at reduced scope and fee.
Fees explained in fullInnovate UK, UKRI councils, Horizon Europe and the EIC, Eurostars, ESA, ARIA, ATI and UK Defence Innovation. Breadth matters because the right answer is often a different call from the one you arrived with, and a single-programme specialist cannot tell you that.
Live grant directoryYes. Book a free funding fit call and we will discuss your eligibility, the competition landscape and whether your project is worth applying for before any fee is mentioned. We also publish a live grants directory, an eligibility checker, an R&D tax relief calculator, the Grant Funding Canvas, a 48-point readiness checklist and sector funding guides, all free and usable without speaking to us.
Book a free consultationWe can, and we often do. Once we understand your sector and stage, we are usually able to point you to a similar client we have won funding for who is happy to share how the process worked. Hearing from a founder in a comparable field, with the same funder and a funded outcome, is one of the fastest ways to judge whether a consultancy is the right fit.
Read the case studiesHiring a consultancy is one of four routes. Here is where each one tends to break, and what we do differently.
Typically 80 to 120 founder hours across a bid, at the exact point your team should be building. Score-limiting mistakes are usually structural, not linguistic, and you only find out four months later.
10 to 15 hours of founder time, spent on the technical detail only you can supply.
Strong on process, thin on science. If you have to teach your own technology to your writer, that cost lands on your calendar and on the innovation score.
Domain-matched writers with research backgrounds, so the technical narrative is credible from the first draft.
Fast first drafts that read like every other submission in the pile. Assessors score novelty, risk and route to market, and a model with no access to your data or the assessor's frame of reference cannot argue any of them.
Automation used for eligibility screening, deadline tracking and compliance checks. Humans write the argument.
Incentivises volume of submissions, not quality, and the bill scales with your success rather than the work done.
Fixed fee agreed up front, with a no-win-no-fee option for qualifying companies.
How we run every engagement
Grant deadlines are unforgiving, so the way a consultancy is run matters as much as the writing itself. These are our operating commitments on every project, in writing, before you pay anything.
Every project is staffed with a lead writer matched to your technology plus a second specialist who scores the draft against the published criteria. Nothing rests on one person's judgement or availability.
You get every draft date, review window and internal deadline at kick-off, with an internal submission target that sits ahead of the funder deadline, never on it.
Costings, headcount, intervention rate and total project cost are checked against your finance form by a second pair of eyes, then signed off by you in writing.
Direct email to your lead writer throughout. If a call ever has to move, it is rebooked within one working day, and anything unresolved escalates to a director the same day.
The number is quoted before any work starts. For qualifying companies, a no-win-no-fee option is also available. If a bid is unsuccessful we review assessor feedback line by line and support a resubmission at reduced scope and fee.
If the competition, technology or timing does not stack up, we say so on the first call rather than take a weak submission. That selectivity is what keeps our success rate high and your budget out of the bin.
There is no single best provider for every company, so judge on evidence: funding actually won, a published and defined success rate, named writers with relevant technical depth, willingness to turn down weak bids, transparent fixed fees, and coverage of more than one funder. GrantUp publishes all six: £190m+ won by the team, an above-80% success rate on applications we write, domain-matched writers plus a second reviewer, honest screening on the first call, fixed fees with a no-win-no-fee option for qualifying companies, and coverage across Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe, EIC, Eurostars, ESA, ARIA, ATI and UK Defence Innovation.
Choose GrantUp if you are a UK-registered innovator with genuine technical novelty and you want a bid written by specialists who will tell you honestly whether it is worth applying. Book a free funding fit call: if the project is not fundable, or a different competition suits it better, you will be told on that call before you spend anything.
On the measures that matter, GrantUp compares directly: £190m+ won by the team, an above-80% success rate with a published definition, hundreds of successful applications, client scores as high as 98% in Innovate UK competitions, named leads and second reviewers on every project, independent finance checks before submission, fixed fees with no equity or percentage, and a no-win-no-fee option for qualifying companies. Ask any provider you shortlist to state those same numbers and how they define them.
Above 80% on applications GrantUp writes. That reflects projects accepted after screening rather than every enquiry, because we decline bids we do not believe can win. Clients have secured scores as high as 98% in competitive Innovate UK rounds.
We review the assessor feedback line by line with you, identify whether the gap was scope, evidence or fit, and support a resubmission at reduced scope and fee where the project still stands up. For qualifying companies a no-win-no-fee option is available from the outset.
Talk to us about your grant funding plans and we'll help you make it happen through effective, results-driven grant writing.
