Seamless Trade Across Borders Challenge with Leonardo UK

The focus areas of this opportunity are: Integrating solutions that enable digital trade ecosystems and facilitate seamless international trade; Testing and validating integration and deployment of digital trade compliance solution to enhance efficiency, compliance, and interoperability; Data fragmentation & manual processing; Lack of real-time compliance visibility; System integration & security; Manual processing & reporting; Technology readiness; Sandbox testing; Deployment roadmap; Integration specifications; Reporting framework; Workflow efficiency; Usability; Compliance rate; Solution performance; Integration capability; Stakeholder engagement; Artificial Intelligence; Distributed Ledger Technology; Advanced (Distributed) Identity Solutions; IoT.

The challenge is part of the Made Smarter Innovation | Digital Supply Chain Hub programme, which aims to accelerate the practical application of deep tech within import and export processes. Through this programme, Leonardo UK seeks to modernise and digitise its trade compliance processes by addressing inefficiencies in customs declarations, compliance monitoring, and integration pathways for digital solutions.

Applicants can access up to £150,000 in funding to develop and demonstrate a challenge-focused MVP within a sandbox or trial deployment environment. Successful participants will work directly with Leonardo UK, gaining the opportunity to validate their solutions, refine integration specifications with systems such as SAP, and present automated reporting frameworks that reduce duplication and manual workload.

The programme also offers significant benefits beyond funding, including partnerships within the aerospace and defence sector, visibility through real-world testing, and networking opportunities with key stakeholders. Selected participants will join the programme from November 2025, with a final showcase event scheduled for March 2026.

Applications are open to UK-registered companies or those with an established presence in the UK, operating at Technology Readiness Levels 5–7, and able to provide a minimum co-investment of £100,000. Eligible applicants must commit to attending programme events, workshops, and progress sessions while ensuring their solutions use at least one of the advanced digital technology stack areas such as AI, IoT, distributed ledger technologies, immersive technologies, or 5G/future networks.

For more information, visit Digital Catapult.