Knowledge Asset Grant Fund: Expand (UK)

The Knowledge Asset Grant Fund (KAGF) is run by the Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOTT) and funded by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Innovate UK is administering this competition on behalf of GOTT. The aim of this competition is to support the identification and development of public sector knowledge assets, including repurposing, commercialisation or expanded use. These assets can include:

• inventions
• designs
• certain research and development (R&D) outcomes
• data and information
• creative outputs such as text, video, graphics, software and source code
• know-how and expertise
• business processes, services
• other intellectual resources

Specific Themes

• This competition will prioritise projects in the theme of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• GOTT is looking to fund projects that enable responsible transformative changes through the development and use of Knowledge Assets in the wider public or private sector through the use of AI.
• Projects in scope comprise both the development of new AI algorithms or software and the application of existing solutions in areas which have not been considered before in the public sector.
• They welcome applications from off-theme projects in this round. On-theme projects will be prioritised where funding is limited.

Project Size

• Your project’s total grant funding request must be between £25,001 and £100,000.

Projects they will not fund

• They are not funding:
  • fundamental R&D aimed at creating new knowledge assets
  • projects which have already advanced to the point where they could be eligible for investment by private funding sources
  • projects that are directly or indirectly requesting funding for an existing commercial entity that is not a government body
  • projects that aim to subsidise ‘business as usual’ activities, for example, activities directed by Ministers or set out in organisational strategies or remit, unless they address new markets or customers
  • projects that only benefit the organisation applying or existing customers and users
  • privately owned companies, including spin-out companies
• Organisations not eligible to apply for the KAGF include, but are not limited to:
  • universities and academic institutions
  • local governments and their organisations
  • local Enterprise Partnerships
  • devolved administrations and organisations overseen by the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. This includes NHS Scotland and Wales, and Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland
  • publicly owned commercial organisations, such as The Crown Estate
  • NHS secondary and tertiary care sector, including NHS trusts
  • private sector organisations
  • independent charities

Who can apply?

• Your project
  • Your project must:
    • start by 1 June 2024
    • end by 30 November 2025
    • last between 2 and 18 months
    • spend at least 50% of the budget during the first half of the project, unless the project starts and ends within the same financial year
    • generate social, financial or economic benefits to the UK
    • develop a knowledge asset that is majority owned by the UK government organisation applying for funding
  • Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.
• Lead organisation
  • To lead a project your organisation must be a UK public sector organisation headed by an Accounting Officer responsible for upholding Managing Public Money (MPM). Eligible organisations are generally central government organisations and their arm’s length bodies, though others may be in scope.
  • Your project must have approval from a Senior Civil Servant, or equivalent from the lead organisation, with delegation from the Accounting Officer, up to and including the value of the grant being sought.
  • Central government departments, arm’s length bodies and public sector research establishments (PSREs) are eligible for the Knowledge Asset Grant Fund (KAGF).
  • Organisations in the NHS secondary and tertiary care sector, and publicly owned commercial organisations, are not eligible to apply for grant funding or other services from the Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOTT).
• Subcontractors
  • Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
  • Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
  • You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK.
  • You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. They will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.
  • The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund aims to support the development of public sector owned Knowledge Assets for the benefit for the UK. If the KAGF secretariat or panel concludes that the project would disproportionately benefit a subcontractor, the project will be deemed ineligible.
• Number of applications
  • An eligible public sector organisation can lead on any number of applications for different projects.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.