Innovate UK Smart Grants: October 2022

Key Features

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £25m

Opens: 27th Oct 2022

Closes: 18th Jan 2023

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy. This funding is from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.

Scope

The Innovate UK Smart grant funds a cross-sector portfolio of the best game-changing and world-leading projects. 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 game-changing, innovative and disruptive idea that will lead to new products, processes or services
  • An idea that is significantly ahead of others in the field, set for rapid commercialisation
  • 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 with and complementing your ongoing business planning and development, product offerings and organisational structure to maximise chances of success

 

Eligibility

Your project must:

  • Start by 1 July 2023
  • End by 30 June 2026
  • Include at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) as the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner
  • Follow specific rules dependent on its duration
  • Carry out all of its project work in the UK
  • Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

The end by date is the date by which all funding for this round of the competition must end. Your contracted project end date will not be extended.

If your project’s duration is 6 to 18 months, it must:

  • Have total project costs between £100,000 and £500,000
  • Be single or collaborative

If your project’s duration is 19 to 36 months, it must:

  • Have total project costs between £100,000 and £2 million
  • Be collaborative

Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian and Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian and Belarusian source.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

  • Be an SME if you want to work alone
  • Be a UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO) if collaborative
  • Include at least one 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

If the lead organisation is an RTO it must collaborate with 2 businesses (one SME and one business of any size) and there must be a credible route to market for the output of the project. Since the purpose of RTOs is to speed up the progress of those using their services, this is expected to be through the partners, rather than through the RTO itself.

Project team

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 accepted, partners will be asked to login or to create an account and enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.

If collaborative, to be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must apply for funding when entering their costs into the application.

 

Interested in applying for this competition?

Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.