GrantUp funding directory
UK grant finder: business and innovation grants
Find funding for UK start-ups, SMEs and growing businesses developing new products, processes and technologies. Compare Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe, regional and sector programmes, plus innovation loans. This is innovation funding, not support for general running costs; eligibility varies by call.
Built for founders, R&D leads and research partners. Each listing shows the funder, typical award size, who it suits best and any deadline, so you can compare funding amounts, applicant fit and timing side by side. Filter by sector, stage, region, award size and status, then check the official guidance for eligible costs, match funding and partner requirements.
248 listings from GrantUp's funding records and curated programme summaries, linked to official funders. Coverage is selective; closed rounds remain for reference. Open rounds appear first, but a missing deadline does not confirm availability. Check the funder's current guidance before applying.
Not sure where you fit? Use the eligibility checker, read the Innovate UK funding guide or see how to write a winning application.
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Showing 1–12 of 248 programmes
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EIT
EIT Culture & Creativity Innovation Projects Open Call 2026
Included in GrantPartner*Companies developing close-to-market innovations for architecture, audiovisual media or fashion can apply for support to progress from TRL 7 to commercial deployment at TRL 9. Selected Stage 1 applicants receive €20,000 to develop a Business Development Plan. The strongest projects can then receive up to €900,000 for an 18-month implementation, market-entry and scaling programme.
Max award£762,000Deadline30 Oct 2026Any sectorLate stage & scale-upUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 2 days
ARIA
[ARIA] Safeguarded AI: Cybersecurity – Rolling applications (Track 1 Blue Teams)
Included in GrantPartner*Applications welcome from across the R&D ecosystem: startups, industry, academia and non-profits; single organisations or teams. Strong teams combine security/systems engineering, formal methods/proof engineering and AI-assisted workflows, with a credible route to real-world deployment.
Max award£3,500,000Deadline31 Oct 2026AI & softwareLate stage & scale-upInternationalView grant details - Closes in 2 days
ARIA
[ARIA] Scaling Trust: Tracks 2 + 3 – Rolling applications
Included in GrantPartner*Individuals, universities, research institutions, companies of all sizes, charities and public sector research organisations. Research Centres expected to have a UK base.
Max award£3,000,000Deadline31 Oct 2026AI & softwareIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - OfCloses in 5 days
Other funders
[IUK] Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D: Round 3
Included in GrantPartner*UK businesses can apply for funding to lead collaborative industrial research projects developing and scaling innovative engineering biology products, processes and services. Projects must address a genuine commercialisation or scale-up constraint, involve a named downstream end user and demonstrate a clear route to commercial growth in the UK. Applications can address health, agriculture and food, chemicals and materials, low-carbon fuels, waste and environmental applications, or cross-cutting technology and service development.
Max award£2,500,000Deadline3 Nov 2026Life sciences & healthLate stage & scale-upUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 6 days
Innovate UK
[IUK] Advancing Innovation in Accelerated Cancer Diagnosis
Included in GrantPartner*Accelerate diagnostic innovations that enable the earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer. Support the clinical validation and evaluation of innovative diagnostic technologies and devices. Generate robust evidence supporting: Clinical effectiveness and safety. Regulatory approval. Health economic benefits. Future NHS adoption. Projects addressing less common cancers are particularly encouraged. These are cancers outside breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer, although rare forms of these four cancers can qualify.
Max award£4,000,000Deadline4 Nov 2026Life sciences & healthIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 6 days
Innovate UK
[IUK] CfI: Battery innovation for dual use & defence Phase 1
Included in GrantPartner*Contracts for Innovation Phase 1 to adapt civil battery technologies for defence and dual-use challenges. Up to 3 months, costs £20,000–£50,000 inc VAT, all spend before 31 March 2027.
Max award£50,000Deadline4 Nov 2026Clean energy & net zeroFeasibilityUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 6 days
Innovate UK
[IUK] Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 11, business and non-academic
Included in GrantPartner*Open to early career innovators and researchers No PhD required Open to UK applicants and international applicants (with the support of an eligible UK‑based host organisation. Researchers and innovators may be eligible for a Global Talent visa under the ‘exceptional promise’ category for future research and innovation leaders)
Max award£3,000,000Deadline4 Nov 2026Any sectorIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 7 days
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Civil Security for Society] Accessible and available travel facilitation
Open to legal entities from EU Member States and Associated Countries (and certain non-associated countries with specific funding provisions); entities controlled by China are not eligible. Proposals must include at least 2 Border or Coast Guard Authorities as beneficiaries from at least 2 different EU Member States or Associated Countries, and participation of Customs Authorities is welcome.
Max award€4MDeadline5 Nov 2026Defence & securityIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 7 days
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Civil Security for Society] Advanced border surveillance and situational awareness
Open to legal entities from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (per Annex B eligibility rules); entities controlled by China or a Chinese legal entity are not eligible. Proposals must include, as beneficiaries, at least 2 Border or Coast Guard Authorities from at least 2 different EU Member States or Associated countries.
Max award€6MDeadline5 Nov 2026AI & softwareIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 7 days
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Civil Security for Society] Climate security and civil preparedness – new ways to develop pre- and post-crisis climate…
Open to legal entities (including research organisations, public bodies and international organisations with HQ in an EU Member State or Associated Country) eligible under Horizon Europe rules; consortia must include at least 3 national authorities in charge of disaster risk management as beneficiaries, each from a different EU Member State or Associated Country.
Max award€4.5MDeadline5 Nov 2026AI & softwareIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 7 days
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Civil Security for Society] Crime prevention approaches, online and off-line, tackling the nexus between addictions an…
Open to consortia of legal entities from EU Member States and Associated Countries; the consortium must include at least 2 Police Authorities and at least 2 Civil Society Organisations (or NGOs) from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
Max award€3MDeadline5 Nov 2026AI & softwareIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details - Closes in 7 days
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Civil Security for Society] Designing new ways of risk awareness and enhanced disaster preparedness
Open to consortia of legal entities from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries; the project must include at least 3 organisations from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries, with mandatory participation of at least one civil society organisation, one national authority in charge of disaster risk, and one organisation representing local or regional authorities.
Max award€3MDeadline5 Nov 2026AI & softwareIndustrial R&DUK-wideView grant details
Want to apply for more than one grant?
Our retainer clients get a dedicated grant pipeline: we track deadlines, match competitions to your roadmap, and manage multiple applications at once so nothing is missed.
Unsure where to start?
Tell us what you are building and we will point you to the competitions where you are genuinely competitive, before you spend time on an application.
How UK business grant funding works
Innovate UK
The largest source of competitive innovation grants for UK businesses, run through the Innovation Funding Service. Most competitions fund a share of R&D costs, so companies co-invest the rest.
Horizon Europe and the EIC
UK companies can bid for Horizon Europe collaborative projects and the EIC Accelerator, which suit ambitious, high-risk innovations with international reach.
UKRI, ESA and sector funders
Research councils, the European Space Agency, defence and health funders run targeted programmes for specific technologies and missions, often with fewer applicants.
Regional and local funds
Devolved governments and local growth programmes offer smaller grants for capital, productivity and early-stage innovation, sometimes alongside national competitions.
Innovate UK grants for businesses
Innovate UK grants fund feasibility studies, industrial research and experimental development, for single companies or collaborative consortia. Each competition publishes its own scope, award range and funding rate, with listed rounds shown alongside the specialist programmes in this directory. Our Innovate UK grant writers can tell you which round fits your project.
Almost every competition expects match funding, a clear technical advance and a credible route to market. Use the filters above to shortlist programmes, then check your eligibility before you commit time to an application.
Building a funding strategy from this directory
Balance national and regional funds
Flagship Innovate UK and Horizon Europe competitions attract the most applicants. Pairing one national bid with a regional or sector fund, where the field is smaller, spreads risk and can bring in earlier wins while larger decisions are pending.
Sequence by deadline and effort
A strong application typically takes 100 or more hours of specialist work. Shortlist two or three competitions whose deadlines are at least six weeks apart, so each bid gets proper technical and financial preparation rather than a rushed submission.
Match the funder to your stage
Early feasibility work suits smaller, faster competitions; later-stage development and demonstration suit larger awards with match funding. Filtering by stage and award size above keeps your shortlist realistic for where your technology actually is.
Companies that treat grants as a rolling portfolio, rather than a single bet, win more consistently. If you are planning several applications over the year, our GrantPartner programme covers a pipeline of bids for one monthly fee, and our case studies show how funded clients structured theirs.
Planning more than one bid this year?
The GrantPartner programme is a monthly retainer covering a rolling portfolio of applications from this directory, with no separate writing fee per bid. Suited to UK businesses with an active R&D roadmap and match funding in place.
Deadline tracker
What is open right now, and how long you have left
Funder dates move, and the best applications are the ones started early. These are the UK and EU windows we are actively writing toward, with how much is on the table and a live clock to the cut-off.
Updated automatically from our live grant directory
| Programme | Funding available | Deadline | Time left | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EIT Culture & Creativity Innovation Projects Open Call 2026EITOfficial page | Stage 1: €20,000, approximately £16,900 Stage 2 implementation: up to €900,000, approximately £762,000Per successful application | 30 Oct 2026 | Closes in 1 dayEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Companies developing close-to-market innovations for architecture, audiovisual media or fashion can apply for support to progress from TRL 7 to commercial deployment at TRL 9. Selected Stage 1 applicants receive €20,000 to develop a Business Development Plan. The strongest projects can then receive up to €900,000 for an 18-month implementation, market-entry and scaling programme. |
| [ARIA] Scaling Trust: Tracks 2 + 3 – Rolling applicationsARIAOfficial page | Track 2 Tooling: £200k–£2m per project (4–6 teams). Track 3 Fundamental Research: £100k–£3m per project (three Research Centres ~£2–3m each; exploratory projects ~£100–300k). Source: https://www.aria.org.uk/media/013loxe3/scaling-trust-solicitation_rolling-applications.pdfPer successful application | 31 Oct 2026 | Closes in 2 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Individuals, universities, research institutions, companies of all sizes, charities and public sector research organisations. Research Centres expected to have a UK base. |
| [ARIA] Safeguarded AI: Cybersecurity – Rolling applications (Track 1 Blue Teams)ARIAOfficial page | Approx. £2.5m–£3.5m per Blue Team (3–6 teams). Source: call for proposals PDF https://www.aria.org.uk/media/goxb4dtr/safeguarded-ai_-cybersecurity_-rolling-solicitation.pdfPer successful application | 31 Oct 2026 | Closes in 2 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Applications welcome from across the R&D ecosystem: startups, industry, academia and non-profits; single organisations or teams. Strong teams combine security/systems engineering, formal methods/proof engineering and AI-assisted workflows, with a credible route to real-world deployment. |
| [IUK] Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D: Round 3Other fundersOfficial page | Total eligible project costs must be between £750,000 and £2.5 million.Per successful application | 3 Nov 2026 | Closes in 5 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | UK businesses can apply for funding to lead collaborative industrial research projects developing and scaling innovative engineering biology products, processes and services. Projects must address a genuine commercialisation or scale-up constraint, involve a named downstream end user and demonstrate a clear route to commercial growth in the UK. Applications can address health, agriculture and food, chemicals and materials, low-carbon fuels, waste and environmental applications, or cross-cutting technology and service development. |
| [IUK] Advancing Innovation in Accelerated Cancer DiagnosisInnovate UKOfficial page | Between £1.5 million and £4 millionPer successful application | 4 Nov 2026 | Closes in 6 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Accelerate diagnostic innovations that enable the earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer. Support the clinical validation and evaluation of innovative diagnostic technologies and devices. Generate robust evidence supporting: Clinical effectiveness and safety. Regulatory approval. Health economic benefits. Future NHS adoption. Projects addressing less common cancers are particularly encouraged. These are cancers outside breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer, although rare forms of these four cancers can qualify. |
| [IUK] CfI: Battery innovation for dual use & defence Phase 1Innovate UKOfficial page | Phase 1 total eligible costs £20,000–£50,000, inclusive of VAT.Per successful application | 4 Nov 2026 | Closes in 6 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Contracts for Innovation Phase 1 to adapt civil battery technologies for defence and dual-use challenges. Up to 3 months, costs £20,000–£50,000 inc VAT, all spend before 31 March 2027. |
| [IUK] Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 11, business and non-academicInnovate UKOfficial page | Between £100,000 and £3 millionPer successful application | 4 Nov 2026 | Closes in 6 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Open to early career innovators and researchers No PhD required Open to UK applicants and international applicants (with the support of an eligible UK‑based host organisation. Researchers and innovators may be eligible for a Global Talent visa under the ‘exceptional promise’ category for future research and innovation leaders) |
| [IUK] FOAK Builder: Programme Entry Expression of InterestInnovate UKOfficial page | If a FOAK Support plan is agreed, in-kind support can be up to £315,000. Successful EOIs may be invited to Phase 2 grant.Per successful application | 5 Nov 2026 | Closes in 7 daysEvery day counts, speak to us today. | Innovate UK Climate Tech FOAK Builder programme-entry EOI. UK SMEs apply as a single applicant for in-kind support of up to £315,000. This is not the same competition as Contracts for Innovation: FOAK26. |
Always confirm dates on the funder page before you plan around them. Competitions are amended and cycles shift.
Not sure which of these fits you?
Picking the wrong programme costs months. Our specialist team maps your technology, stage and timeline against live competitions and tells you honestly where you are competitive, and where you are not.
Guides to go with the directory
Pair your grant with R&D tax credits
R&D tax relief can recover part of the match funding a grant asks you to cover. Our R&D tax credit specialists plan both together. Use the R&D tax relief calculator to see what your spend could return, or read accountant vs R&D tax specialist.
Find the right grant, first time
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