Grant plus matched private investment
Investor Partnerships: grant funding matched by private investment
Award size
Typically £250k-£2m of grant, matched against a qualifying investment round
Duration
12-36 months
Timing
Competitions open in rounds through the year with fixed deadlines
Who it's for: UK-registered businesses raising, or about to raise, equity investment behind a high-risk R&D project
What Investor Partnerships funds
Ambitious, high-risk R&D in businesses with genuine growth potential. Assessors want the innovation, the investment case and the company's scale-up plan to tell one coherent story rather than three separate ones.
How we write it
We start with your technical lead to pull out the real innovation, structure the application against Innovate UK's published scoring criteria, and align the project finances with the raise so the grant and the investment round support each other.
Intervention rates and eligible costs
Grant intervention typically reaches up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small businesses on industrial research, tapering for larger organisations. We make sure your cost categories and subcontracting are structured to maximise the rate you can claim.
What reviewers focus on
- Is the innovation genuinely novel and technically or commercially risky?
- Is there a credible plan to exploit the results commercially?
- Does the project team have the capability to deliver?
- Is the project viable, with a realistic budget and investment plan?
Where applications lose marks
- Describing product development rather than genuine innovation
- A commercialisation plan with no evidence behind the market claims
- Costs that don't map cleanly to the work packages
- An investment story that contradicts the project plan
Frequently asked questions
How much can Investor Partnerships award?
Grant awards typically run from around £250,000 to £2 million, depending on the round and the scale of the matched private investment.
Who can apply for Investor Partnerships?
UK-registered businesses carrying out the project in the UK, working with an investor prepared to back the company alongside the grant.
What replaced Innovate UK Smart Grants?
Smart Grants closed in 2025. Open-topic funding now runs through Investor Partnerships, Launchpads and mission-led Collaborative R&D competitions, alongside Innovation Loans for later-stage projects.
Thinking about an Investor Partnerships application?
Book a free 30-minute call and we'll give you an honest read on fit and scoring before you write a word.