Current grant opportunities
Innovate UK Smart grants: July2024
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £25 million in the best game-changing and world-leading ideas, designed for swift, successful commercialisation.
Design to Deliver: Space-Enabled Information for a Thriving World
Funding for solutions that could translate space-enabled data and services into information that is trusted and actionable, fuelling responsible behaviours towards nature.
Innovate UK innovation loans future economy: Round 17
Apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.
Innovate UK innovation loans future economy: Round 17
Apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.
PACE: 2024 Diagnostic Innovations
PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) aims to accelerate early-stage translational innovation to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Eureka Disaster Resilience Programme Collaborative R&D 2024
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £1 million to fund CR&D projects focused on industrial research with the aim to support international collaboration on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation. This programme will fund projects in the field of Disaster Resilience, Response and Recovery.
European Space Agency: Space for Sustainable Pharma
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Innovate UK are supporting companies looking to investigate the feasibility and commercial viability of services which address pharmaceutical sustainability challenges.
SPACE FOR SAFEGUARDING OF CHILDREN
Funding to improve existing tools and develop new ones to identify and address the issue of missing children.
Agri-tech and food technology, Eastern England - Round 2 MFA
Funding for business led projects that grow their innovation activities in the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Eastern England.
Competition 27 - Work-related digital innovations for individuals with poor mental health
Funding for digital interventions addressing work-related barriers for employed, unemployed, and disadvantaged individuals with mental health problems.
ATI Non-CO2 Programme
This Non-CO2 Programme focuses on reducing non Co2 emissions in the aerospace sector, Funding will be awarded from the total ATI Programme budget valued at £685m.
Space For Electromobility
Funding for teams who would like to develop sustainable space-based services and applications that address challenges related to the electromobility ecosystem.
Mental Health Award: Accelerating Scalable Digital Mental Health Interventions
This Wellcome Trust funding supports research on digital interventionsfor early intervention in anxiety, depression, or psychosis. Projects caninvolve various technologies, such as AI, mobile apps, chatbots, wearables, andmore, targeting symptoms or functional impairments. Interventions can bestandalone or adjunct and suitable for delivery in diverse settings.
Eureka Globalstars Japan Round 3
Funding to develop Innovative proposals in partnership with Japan and other participating Eureka countries with the aim to promote business led, collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research
NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Product Development Awards (PDA) Call 29 Stage 1
The i4i Product Development Awards supports collaborative research and development of medical devices, in vitro diagnostic devices and high-impact patient-focused digital health technologies for use in the NHS or social care systems.
EIT Manufacturing Accelerate
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.
Mindset extended reality (XR): Digital therapeutics for mental health
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.
The Content Fund
The Content Fund is a joint plan between Government and industry to drive growth, build talent and develop skills across the creative sectors.
European Space Agency
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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
Innovation Loan
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.
Creative Growth Finance
Creative UK have partnered with Triodos Bank on the Creative Growth Finance fund to offer loans of £100,000 to £1m* that will help businesses to grow.
SMART: SCOTLAND grants
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
Challenge Awards round 15
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.
Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants
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
British Business Bank Investment Fund for Wales
This fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across Wales.
Want to learn more about grants?
How much time is needed to submit a quality grant application?
Grant applications are submitted to highly competitive opportunities with limited funding available which means that only the highest scoring applications are successful. In order to create a high-scoring application we suggest starting it a minimum of 3 weeks before the competition deadline. In our experience, the best grant applications are crafted over 6 weeks or more.
How is a government grant typically paid?
Grant funding is typically paid in arrears after a project has started. It is normally paid quarterly or at key project milestones. For example, Innovate UK typically pays grant funding after a project report has been submitted and approved at the end of each project quarter. Funding bodies typically hold payment of a portion of the final project costs until after the project has been fully ended.
What are the chances of being successfully awarded grant funding?
Success is dependent on many factors such as eligibility, fund size and competition from others. Success rates therefore vary significantly between competitions. Competitions with specialist themes are usually less competitive than "open call" competitions. Statistics about funding competitions are usually reported by funding bodies or released in freedom of information requests.
Can start-up companies apply for grant funding?
Yes, start-up companies are normally eligible for grant funding. It is important to carefully check eligibility criteria for competitions as this can vary.
Are the grant writing fees negotiable?
Yes, the fees for our grant writing services can be negotiated. Our grant writing services are priced competitively and can be reduced if a customer can help reduce our writing costs (e.g. by saving time) without impacting the quality of the resulting grant application.
What is seen as an innovative project that is suitable for grant funding?
Innovation is commonly defined as a new technology in an existing market or an existing technology in a new market. Innovative projects clearly build on existing state-of-the-art technology and as they are novel they are typically technically challenging and risky endeavours.
How much does my company need to contribute to the grant-funded project?
The company contribution varies depending on the specific funding body and/or funding competition. It is typically between 0% and 50% of the total project costs. Smaller companies (SMEs) are usually required to contribute less funding than large established companies.
What time and work goes into a typical grant application?
Writing a grant application is not too dissimilar to writing a short novel. The story must successfully guide the audience from beginning to end, keeping them engaged throughout with the right content. A high quality grant application will have a well-defined scope and will provide all the right information at the right time in each of the questions that is answered.
A typical grant application requires multiple days of information gathering, fact-finding, writing, referencing, refining, checking, assessing, reflecting, visualising, and submitting. It is a team effort and we normally allow a minimum of three weeks to complete an application.
How can I include an academic partner in my project?
If one or more work packages in your project are suitable for a university to deliver then you should liaise with your academic partner who will be able to help. If you are seeking an academic partner for your project we can also help you. Please note that some innovation funding opportunities may not be suitable for academic partners or their budget allocation my be capped.
Can I use the Grant Funding Canvas™ for my own projects?
Yes! Please use the Canvas for your own projects and feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues.
Can I apply for my own grant application alone?
Yes! You can apply on your own and still be successful. However, working with us means that you will benefit from our skills and experience in writing successful grant applications - as well as lots of time saved.
What does the process look like once I submit an application?
Your application will be reviewed by assessors and it will be scored. You will receive a notification that provides your score and whether your application was successful or not. If you are successful, you will then be required to complete some additional tasks to evidence your financial position to show that you can deliver the project.
Where can I find the latest grant funding opportunities?
Grant funding opportunities are available from multiple sources and competitions open and close frequently. To stay up-to-date on the latest news you can follow funding bodies such as Innovate UK. You can sign up to our Grant Opportunities Newsletter to receive the latest funding opportunities.