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.
Other Energy/Net Zero grant funding opportunities
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
European Space Agency: Maritime Decarbonisation through Autonomy
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.
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.
Our team has delivered
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Other grant funding opportunities
SMART: SCOTLAND grants
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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
Space For Electromobility
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Funding for teams who would like to develop sustainable space-based services and applications that address challenges related to the electromobility ecosystem.
The European Prize for Women Innovators
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The European Prize for Women Innovators celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind Europe’s game-changing innovations, so that they may inspire other women and girls realise their full potential as the EU’s future scientists, innovators, and tech leaders.
Innovate UK Smart grants: July2024
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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.
SPACE FOR SAFEGUARDING OF CHILDREN
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Funding to improve existing tools and develop new ones to identify and address the issue of missing children.
Competition 27 - Work-related digital innovations for individuals with poor mental health
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Funding for digital interventions addressing work-related barriers for employed, unemployed, and disadvantaged individuals with mental health problems.
Eureka Disaster Resilience Programme Collaborative R&D 2024
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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.
NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Product Development Awards (PDA) Call 29 Stage 1
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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.
Agri-tech and food technology, Eastern England - Round 2 MFA
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Funding for business led projects that grow their innovation activities in the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Eastern England.
HMGCC Co-Creation Challenge: AI / Novel Technology Red Agent Penetration Testi
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This Co-Creation challenge by Innovate UK and HMGCC aims to evaluate the readiness of the technologies, their capabilities and integration needs. This will be achieved by evaluating ease of adaption and integration. The challenge is being delivered across two workstreams delivered in parallel over 12 weeks.
Design to Deliver: Space-Enabled Information for a Thriving World
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Funding for solutions that could translate space-enabled data and services into information that is trusted and actionable, fuelling responsible behaviours towards nature.
Smart Grant
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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.
Challenge Awards round 15
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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.
Innovation Loan
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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.
ATI Non-CO2 Programme
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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.
Biomedical Catalyst
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The Biomedical Catalyst programme provides funding to help businesses test and develop innovative health and care projects.
The Industry-led research and development (R&D) stream of the Biomedical Catalyst programme supports pre-market R&D projects.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate existing evidence of commercial and technical feasibility.
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.
British Business Bank Investment Fund for Wales
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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.
Innovate UK innovation loans future economy: Round 18
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Apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.
European Space Agency: Maritime Decarbonisation through Autonomy
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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.
The Content Fund
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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
Mindset extended reality (XR): Digital therapeutics for mental health
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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.
Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants
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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
Creative Growth Finance
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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.
Mental Health Award: Accelerating Scalable Digital Mental Health Interventions
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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.
PACE: 2024 Diagnostic Innovations
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PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) aims to accelerate early-stage translational innovation to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Eureka Globalstars Japan Round 3
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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
Investor Partnerships
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Innovate UK has selected a number of investor partners and will provide grant funding to companies that are delivering ambitious innovation projects with strong commercial potential.
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.