Knowledge Asset Grant Fund: Explore

Key Features

UK public sector organisations can apply for a share of up to £2.9 million to better exploit high-potential intangible assets. This funding is from the Knowledge Asset Grant Fund programme and delivered by the Government Office for Technology Transfer.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £2.9 million

Opens: 15th Jul 2022

Closes: 15th Dec 2022

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

The Knowledge Asset Grant Fund (KAGF) programme is run by the Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOTT) and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The programme has £13 million funding available over 3 years with £2.9 million allocated to this financial year.

Innovate UK are administering this competition using their online competition platform on behalf of GOTT.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support the identification and development of public sector knowledge assets which includes their repurposing, commercialisation or expanded use. These assets may include, intellectual property, data, innovation, software and knowhow.

Your proposal must test your Knowledge Asset’s potential for expanded or alternative use and, where relevant, provide the foundation for further investment.

The Knowledge Asset Grant Fund will support projects which are not suitable to secure investment from private sources. For example, this could be where funding is required to develop an asset to be used across different organisations within government which usually do not collaborate.

The funding can be used for discrete projects or may contribute to a specific stage in asset development.

You must have a clear output evidenced at the end of the funded activities, such as the progression to a new development stage, a report, or prototype.

Specific Themes

GOTT reserves the right to prioritise projects within specific themes where necessary. The programme themes will develop, and details will be available from GOTT.

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding:

  • fundamental research and development, aimed at creating or developing new knowledge assets
  • projects which have already advanced to the point where they could be considered an investable opportunity by private funding sources
  • projects that are directly or indirectly requesting funding for an existing commercial entity that is not a government body

Funding will not be conditional on:

  • export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

Eligibility

Your project must:

  • have a grant funding request up to £25,000
  • start after 1 October 2022
  • last between 2 and 18 months
  • end by 31 March 2024
  • generate social, financial or economic benefits to the UK
  • seek funding to develop a knowledge asset or assets that are majority owned by the UK government organisation applying for funding

All awards granted in 2022 must spend at least 50% of the funding awarded by 31 March 2023.

Awards granted in 2023, must spend at least 50% of the funding awarded by 30 June 2023.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

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

The Knowledge Asset Grant Fund support is for the development of existing assets. Assets do not have to be potentially revenue-generating to attract funding.

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)
  • the primary beneficiary of any revenue-generating potential created by the funded activities

This includes but is not limited to:

  • central UK government departments,
  • non-departmental public bodies (NDPB)
  • arm’s length bodies
  • public sector research establishments (PSREs)
  • NHS trusts

Your organisation must have approval from a Senior Civil Servant or equivalent, with the appropriate budget delegation from their accounting officer, up to and including the value of the grant being sought.

Academic institutions, cannot lead.

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

A public sector organisation can lead on any number of applications for different projects.

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

provided it has been improved based on the feedback you will have received.

Funding Costs

Up to £2.9 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

Your project could get up to 100% funding for eligible project costs.

If successful, your award will be finalised pending receipt of a grant agreement. This must be signed by the Senior Officer Responsible with the appropriate delegation from their Accounting Officer, up to the full cost of your project or grant applied for, whichever is larger.

Your grant agreement will also commit you to apply trusted research principles in this project as a condition of grants offered by BEIS.

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.