Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund (CKAF) Autumn

Overview

The Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund (CKAF) 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, which will provide funding ranging from £50,000 to £250,000 per project.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support organisations to move viable public sector Knowledge Assets with identified potential markets towards commercialisation.

The CKAF provides funding ranging from £50,000 to £250,000 per project to move viable public sector Knowledge Assets with identified potential markets towards commercialisation.

A Knowledge Asset is an intangible asset held by the organisation. Examples include: know how, expertise and intellectual property rights for designs, research and development outputs, source code and creative outputs.

The fund is technology agnostic and encourages applications from across all sectors.

Your proposal must be based on a pre-existing identified Knowledge Asset (KA) as defined in the Rose Book and describe a plausible potential commercial market for the KA.

Eligibility

This award has been designed to be provided on a no subsidy basis, as defined in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

This means to be eligible, the award will not give an economic advantage to one or more organisations, and you must not be acting economically as an organisation within the meaning of the act.

In limited circumstances, EU State aid rules may apply under the Windsor Framework and a ‘No Aid’ award may be given in accordance with the R&D&I Framework.

Your project

Your project must:

have a total grant funding request between £50,000 and £250,000
last for either 6, 12 or 18 months
be based on a pre-existing identified Knowledge Asset (KA); Question 9
describe a plausible potential commercial market for the KA; Question 10
have ownership of the KA; Question 11, this is for the eligible organisation applying for CKAF
carry out its project work in the UK
intend to exploit the results from this work in the UK
start between 1 Dec 2025 and 1 January 2026
end by 30 June 2026 (6 month project), 31 Dec 2026 (12 month project) or 30 June 2027 (18 month project)

You must adhere to the spending profiles as follows:

for 6 month projects: spend at least 50% of funding by 30 March 2026
for 12 month projects: spend at least 25% of funding by 30 March 2026
for 18 month projects: spend at least 15% of funding by 30 March 2026 and at least 80% by 30 March 2027

You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

Lead organisation

To lead a project across several organisations or just your own, your organisation must:

be a Public Sector Research Establishment (PRSEs), UKRI wholly owned institute or other public sector bodies that meet GOTT standard eligibility criteria, for example, arms length bodies (ALBs) that undertake research as a primary function
be able to submit a signed letter of support from your organisation at a senior level demonstrating the appropriate level of support; Question 12
not act in any way to gain selective commercial or economic advantage from the outputs of this project
have ownership of the identified KA and the rights to use and commercially exploit intellectual property that might be generated during the project; Complex ownership and evidence of initial IP checks should be explained as part of your application

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

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 cannot use subcontractors 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. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs. An explanation must be provided as to why external expertise is needed. It is your organisation’s responsibility to ensure any spend of the grant funding follows existing commercial arrangements of your organisation and Crown Commercial rules.

The CKAF supports the development of public sector owned Knowledge Assets for the benefit of the UK. If the funding secretariat or panel concludes that the project would disproportionately benefit a subcontractor, the project will be deemed ineligible.

Number of applications

An eligible government research organisation can lead on any number of applications. There must not be multiple applications to develop the same Knowledge Asset in the same call. Any additional applications for the same Knowledge Asset in later calls are allowed (see previous applications section below).

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding projects:

for fundamental research and development to create new Knowledge Assets
which are already engaged in economic activities, for example, they are offering goods or services on the market
that are directly or indirectly requesting funding for an existing commercial entity that is not an eligible government research organisation
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
that only benefit the organisation applying or existing customers and users
from privately owned companies, including spin-out companies, which are classed as State aid under the Windsor Framework or a subsidy under the Subsidy Control Act 2022

Organisations not eligible to apply for the CKAF 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
government departments and their arm’s length bodies (ALBs) that do not undertake research as a primary function.
public corporations
NHS secondary and tertiary care sectors, including NHS trusts
private sector organisations
independent charities

Funding Costs

Funding will be in the form of a grant.

You can request 100% funding for eligible project costs from £50,000 up to a maximum of £250,000.

Total eligible project costs detailed within your application must not exceed the maximum project size. If your total eligible project costs do exceed the maximum then your application will be made ineligible.

You can make reference to any additional voluntary contribution in your application answers. It must not be detailed in the finance section.

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