Innovate UK Smart Grants Programme

This funding is from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation. It offers funding where other opportunities are not available or appropriate, and where timing is key to ensure swift and successful commercialisation post-project completion.

To be in scope your proposal must demonstrate:

• a ground-breaking and innovative idea for brand new products, processes or services
• an idea that is significantly different from already available products, processes or services globally
• an idea that is set for rapid commercialisation following project completion
• clear potential to positively impact the UK’s position, productivity and competitiveness within the global economy
• a clear, evidence-based business plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
• why Smart funding is the right potential funding for your project, and the journey you have already been on to reach the point of application
• a team with the necessary skills and expertise to deliver the project successfully and on time, and to achieve rapid commercialisation
• awareness of all the main risks the project will face with realistic management, mitigation and impact minimisation plans for each risk
• sound, practical financial plans and timelines that represent good value for money, including the funding of post-project activities

Specific Themes

Your project must focus on:

• taking customer and user needs into account to deliver more desirable and useful solutions
• identifying who is ready to buy your innovation
• being developed, planned and resourced beyond the end of the Innovate UK funded project, taking into account the focus of any project partners and their existing commitments
• fitting in with and complementing your ongoing business planning and development, product offerings and organisational structure to maximise chances of success

Project Size

• Projects of 6 to 18 months must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £500,000 and can be single or collaborative.
• Projects of 19 to 36 months must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £2 million and be collaborative.

Projects they will not fund

• They are not funding projects:
  • that do not meet the competition scope or eligibility criteria
  • where the technology is already available
  • that do not address the size, potential and access to market for their innovation
  • that do not evidence the potential for their idea to lead to significant return on investment (ROI), positive economic impact, growth and scale-up of the business
  • that do not provide clear and realistic plans to commercialise their innovation as soon as possible post-project completion
  • where other Innovate UK funding support is available and more appropriate
• They will not fund commercialisation activities such as marketing and sales.
• They cannot fund projects that are:
  • dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

Eligibility Criteria

• Your project must:
  • start by 1 July 2024
  • end by 30 June 2027
  • include at least one micro, small or medium enterprise (SME) as the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner
  • follow specific rules depending on its duration
  • carry out all of its project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:
  • be a UK registered SME if you want to work alone
  • be a UK registered business of any size, or a research and technology organisation (RTO) if your proposal is collaborative
  • include at least one grant claiming SME if you are a large business or RTO and wish to collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, academic organisations, public sector organisations or charities
  • claim grant funding
• To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
  • business of any size
  • academic institution
  • charity
  • not for profit
  • public sector organisation
  • research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in the Innovation Funding Service.
• Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
• Subcontractors must be based in the UK for the duration of the project and their portion of the project work must be carried out in the UK. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
• All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.
• For the purposes of this competition the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are crown dependencies and not classed as part of the UK. Subcontractors located there would be ineligible.
• A business or research and technology organisation (RTO), can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.