Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1

Key Features

UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £3.1 million to deliver feasibility studies for frontier artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) technologies with a clear route to defensible scale-up.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £3.1 million

Opens: 1st Oct 2026

Closes: 11th Nov 2026

TBAT

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Grant Overview

Innovate UK will invest up to £3.1 million on Frontier AI. This competition is a phase 1 of a 3 phase funding pipeline designed to support the next generation of UK AI Champions from early technical validation to scale-up.

Grant Scope

The aim of this competition is to advance the development of state of the art AI and machine learning in the UK. Projects must focus on novel AI and ML technology and methodology development and validate the objectives of Phase 1 outcomes with clear metrics.

Projects must focus on one of the following specific themes:

  • Theme 1: AI-Enabled Health and Life Sciences
  • Theme 2: Advanced Materials with AI
  • Theme 3: Secure AI for National Security and Defence (NS&D)
  • Theme 4: AI safety and assurance technologies

 

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this competition you must have total project costs of between £150,000 and £250,000 with projects lasting between 1 and 3 months. Projects must stay by 1st April 2027 and end by 30th June 2027.

Lead Organisation: To work alone, organisations must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise.

Subcontractors: Subcontractors are not allowed in this competition.

Number of applications: An SME can only submit one application. Any further applications will be made ineligible.

Previous Applications: Previously submitted applications cannot be used for this competition.

Grant Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund the following projects:

  • Projects that do not sufficiently provide a quantified serviceable addressable market, provide clear background IP ownership or rights or provide a specific defensibility route.
  • Projects that do not align with the competition theme or specific priority areas
  • Projects that do not sufficiently provide a named baseline with metrics and numeric targets for validation or address the scope of the competition
  • Projects that are primarily literature review studies, requirement gathering, without substantive experimental R&D
  • Projects that propose routine integration, deployment, orchestration or productization of existing AI tools or third party models without novel AI tools or ML development
  • Projects not delivering measurable and specific objectives
  • Projects primarily routine integration or deployment of existing AI tools without substantive technical innovation
  • Projects that don’t have clear technical novelty and feasibility challenges or result in defensible foreground IP
  • Projects that focus primarily on non-AI, ML R&D and development
  • Projects that develop fully autonomous targeting
  • Projects whose primary purpose is the development of hardware, including sensor hardware, quantum hardware, platforms, or other enabling infrastructure, where AI is only a secondary feature, an add-on analytics layer, or a downstream application.

Grant Funding

Innovate UK are offering up to £3.1 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

Under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route rules, no more than £3 million can be awarded in the form of a grant to any one enterprise in any one competition.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

For feasibility studies, industrial research, experimental development and innovation support you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

Category 1: Feasibility studies

Funding available for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
  • up to 50% if you are a large organisation

Category 2: Industrial research projects

Funding available for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
  • up to 50% if you are a large organisation

 

For further information on this competition, please see full details.

Full competition details