Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chains: Potential High Growth SMEs

Key Features

UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can apply for a share of up to £2 million for pre-commercialisation projects. This funding is from Innovate UK.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £2 million

Opens: 18th Mar 2026

Closes: 22nd Apr 2026

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Grant Overview

Innovate UK are investing up to £2 million on proposals focusing on improvement in the resource efficiency or resilience of the Advanced Manufacturing sector plan frontier industries supply chains.

Grant Scope

The aim of this competition is to enable micro, small or medium sized enterprises to unlock barriers to commercialisation and scaling in the UK. Funding projects that deliver cross-cutting technologies that can be applied across the 6 frontier industries.

Projects must focus on one or more of the following specific themes:

  • Aerospace
  • Advanced Materials
  • Automotive
  • Space
  • Agri-Tech
  • Batteries

Grant Eligibility

When applying for funding, your project must have a grant funding request of between £50,000 and £100,000 with projects lasting between 3-9 months. Projects must start by 1st August 2026 and end by 30th April 2027. Organisations need to carry out project work in the UK and exploit project results in the UK. Projects must also start on the 1st of the month – even if the 1st of the month is a non-working day.

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

Subcontractors: Subcontractors are allowed in this competition and can be from anywhere in the UK. If overseas subcontractors have been used, you must state why contactors from the UK could not be used.

Number of applications: SME’s can only lead on one application.

Previous applications: Previously submitted applications can be used in this competition.

Grant Exclusions

The following projects cannot be funded:

  • Projects not outlining how products or services could be used in the supply chain or one additional Advanced Manufacturing supply chain
  • Projects that do not focus on technologies directly reducing industrial energy consumption
  • Projects that focus on enabling areas including energy, regulations, educational resources, procurement, behavioural science, policy, skills and relationships to support incremental improvement in resource efficiency
  • Projects dependent on export performance
  • Projects on domestic inputs usage

Grant Funding

Innovate UK are offering up to £2 million to fund innovation projects. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, funding requests must not exceed the below limits.

For industrial research you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

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

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

Full competition details

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