Technology Readiness Levels explained: what TRL means for your grant application
TRL 1 to TRL 9 in plain language, with examples, and why a new technical workpackage inside a mature product can still be low TRL.
Read the full guide£190m+ in grant funding won for clients
Let's get you funded
We help UK innovators take disruptive technologies from idea to market with non-dilutive grant funding. As Innovate UK grant application specialists, our team has won hundreds of applications and secured £190m+ for clients across industries.
Not ready to talk? Check your eligibility: know in 30 seconds whether a grant is worth your time. Five questions, no email required.
- £190m+
- Won by our teamGrant funding secured for technology companies across a wide range of industries.
Innovate UK · UKRI · Horizon Europe“The GrantUp team are excellent. They are proactive in suggesting grants to go for and honest if they don’t think an application is right for us. That has saved us time and money.”
David Norris
Founder & CEO, AIX Live
£190m+
Grant funding won by our team
80%+
Success rate on applications we write
100's
Grant applications won
£500k
Typical grant award, up to £2m collaborative
80%+ success rate is based on applications completed by GrantUp where we accepted the engagement. We turn projects away when the fit is not there, so the figure reflects the work we chose to run, not every company that enquired.
£190m+ is the cumulative grant funding won by the GrantUp team for clients across UK and European programmes.
See the evidence behind these numbers, and the seven questions to ask any grant consultancy
The lowest cost of capital available to you
A grant is the only funding that pays for your R&D without taking a share of the company. Used well, it changes what your next equity round looks like.
Fund the R&D itself
Awards run from £100k to multi-million pound collaborative competitions. Money that pays for the science rather than the pitch deck.
Keep 100% of your equity
Non-dilutive means non-dilutive. No board seats, no liquidation preference, no repayment. You own what you build.
Validate your technology
A peer-reviewed grant award is third-party proof that assessors you don't employ believe the technology works.
Raise at a higher valuation
Reach your next technical milestone on grant money and negotiate your priced round from a stronger position.
Experts, not software
Written by specialists, never generated by a tool.
A growing number of “grant platforms” hand you a template and an AI draft. Assessors are working scientists and engineers, and they can tell. Every GrantUp application is researched, argued and written by subject-matter experts who have won these awards themselves, then torn apart in internal review before it goes anywhere near a portal.
How we workWhat you get that a platform cannot give you
- • An honest “don't apply for this one” when the fit is wrong
- • A writer who understands your technology, your stack or your device physics
- • Assessor-perspective critique before submission, not after rejection
- • A feedback-driven resubmission plan if the first attempt misses
Our team has delivered
£190m+
Grant funding won by our team
100's
Grant applications won
>25x
Average ROI for our clients
Figures reflect the cumulative track record of the GrantUp team, in GBP.
Where that track record comes from, plainly
GrantUp has been winning competitive, peer-reviewed innovation grants for UK and European companies for years, across Innovate UK grant competitions, UKRI research councils, Horizon Europe and sector-specific programmes.
The same consultants who wrote those winning applications write your Innovate UK, Horizon Europe and UKRI applications too. The science, the assessor psychology and the scoring criteria transfer directly across programmes.
How we run every engagement
The standards you can hold us to
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.
A named lead and a named reviewer
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.
A written schedule from day one
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.
Independent finance check before submission
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.
Reachable people, rebooked within a day
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.
Fixed fee, no equity, no percentage
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.
We only take on projects we can genuinely win
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.
We help you successfully apply for grant funding
Grants are the lowest cost capital a UK business can raise, no equity, no repayment, but Innovate UK, UKRI and Horizon Europe competitions are unforgiving, and most first-time applicants are screened out on avoidable issues.
Our specialist team of grant writers has won these competitions themselves. We apply that assessor's-eye perspective to every application we write, so your innovation gets the funding it deserves.
See how we deliver winning resultsPartner with us to unlock grant funding for your business
Grant Writing Consultancy
Hand your Innovate UK or Horizon Europe application to our writers. We build the full narrative, technical case, project plan and finance forms, and write it for you.
Learn moreGrant Funding Partnership
An ongoing partnership where we plan, manage and deliver your multi-year grant funding strategy across Innovate UK, UKRI and European programmes.
Learn moreGrant Reporting & Claims
Award management, quarterly reporting and claims support so your team can stay focused on delivery while your project stays fully compliant.
Learn moreDeep life sciences expertise
Built for biotech, medtech and digital health founders
Our writers hold PhDs and postdoctoral experience in the life sciences. We translate preclinical data, regulatory pathways and reimbursement strategy into the language Innovate UK and NIHR assessors reward, from feasibility right through to scale-up.
- • Innovate UK and NIHR biotech and medtech competitions
- • Therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and lab tools
- • Regulatory, clinical and commercialisation narratives
How we win grants
1
Eligibility & strategy call
A free consultation to pressure-test your project against funder criteria and map the right competition, scope and deadline.
2
Technical deep dive
Our specialist writers interview your team, then shape the innovation, risk and project plan the way assessors score it.
3
We write the application
Full drafting of the project summary, technical narrative, finance forms and supporting documents.
4
Review, submit, resubmit
Multiple internal review rounds against the competition brief, submission support, and a feedback-driven resubmission plan if needed.
UK business grants directory
The most complete list of UK business grants on the internet
Every competition we track, Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe, ESA, defence and regional funds, updated from the funders and filterable by sector, stage, region and award size. Free to browse, no email required.
We write for the funders backing UK innovation
Innovate UK, UKRI and Horizon Europe fund grants across dozens of schemes. We start from your technology and match it to the programme most likely to fund it.
Innovate UK
CR&D competitions, Launchpads and Innovation Loans
UK Research and Innovation
EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and NIHR research funding
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Horizon Europe
EIC Accelerator, Pathfinder, Transition and EIT calls
European Space Agency
Space technology and downstream applications
Advanced Research + Invention Agency
High-risk, high-reward programmes
Aerospace Technology Institute
Aerospace R&D co-funded with industry
Eurostars
International R&D-performing SME collaborations
UK Defence Innovation (formerly DASA)
Innovation for defence and security challenges
Funder names and logos are referenced for identification only and do not constitute endorsement of GrantUp by any funding body.
We fund innovation across every sector
Innovate UK and Horizon Europe back innovation wherever it happens. From biotech and AI to advanced manufacturing, creative industries, fintech, food, transport and clean energy, we help you find the right programme and build the application that wins it.
Health & Life Sciences
- Therapeutics & drug discovery
- Diagnostics
- Medical devices
- Digital health
- Bioinformatics
- Synthetic biology
- Biomanufacturing
- Lab automation
- Agri-food technology
Deep Tech & Digital
- Artificial intelligence & ML
- Quantum technologies
- Semiconductors
- Photonics
- Cybersecurity
- Data infrastructure
- Wireless & 5G/6G
- Robotics & automation
- Sensors & IoT
Net Zero, Energy & Manufacturing
- Clean energy & storage
- Grid technology
- Carbon capture
- Hydrogen
- Power electronics
- Advanced materials
- Additive manufacturing
- Digital twins
- Circular economy
Creative, Services & Infrastructure
- Games & immersive media
- Film, TV & music technology
- Creative R&D
- Fintech & RegTech
- Financial infrastructure
- Transport & mobility
- Maritime & offshore
- Food & drink innovation
- Social & public innovation
Biotech grantsMedtech & Diagnostics grantsArtificial Intelligence grantsQuantum Technologies grantsSemiconductors & Microelectronics grantsWireless & Communications grantsAerospace & Space grantsCleantech & Energy grantsCybersecurity grantsRobotics & Autonomy grantsAgTech & Food Systems grantsPhotonics & Advanced Materials grantsAdvanced Manufacturing & Materials grantsCreative Industries & Immersive grantsFood & Drink Innovation grantsFintech & Financial Infrastructure grantsTransport & Mobility grantsMarine & Maritime grants
What our clients say
Founders, CTOs and directors who have been through the process with our grant writers.
Trusted bySAM AIAIX LiveModlaPPEBoom-TimeFlutterlabsLava Wash
GrantUp provided clear guidance, support and review of our application and we wouldn't hesitate in recommending them.
The GrantUp team are excellent. They are proactive in suggesting grants to go for and honest if they don't think an application is right for us. That has saved us time and money.
GrantUp offered excellent advice, leading to us winning an Innovate UK Smart Grant with a score of 98%.
They understood the science immediately. We didn't have to teach our own technology to our grant writer, which meant the EIC Accelerator narrative was strong from the first draft.
The most valuable part was the honesty. We were told which Horizon Europe call to target and which to skip, and that focus is the reason we were funded.
Working with GrantUp turned an ESA bid we dreaded into a structured project with clear deadlines, and everything was submitted with time to spare.
Recent wins
Latest insights
Practical guidance on Innovate UK, Horizon Europe and the wider UK grant funding landscape.
Commercial Readiness Levels: the other half of a fundable project
TRL tells you if the technology works. Commercial Readiness Levels tell you if anyone will pay for it. What CRL means and how to use it.
Read the full guideUK grant funding in 2026: what is opening up and what innovators should do next
Innovate UK's competition portfolio, ongoing Horizon Europe association and the EIC Accelerator are all in motion. What the shifting landscape means for UK companies, and how to prepare.
Read the full guideReady to get started?
Talk to us about your grant funding plans and we'll help you make it happen through effective, results-driven grant writing.