SNPN 5G Assured Integration (CR&D)

Key Features

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £18.5 million to integrate UK anchored advanced connectivity components at a system level into technically assured, end to end architectures ready for early market evaluation.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £18.5 million

Opens: 3rd Mar 2026

Closes: 2nd Apr 2026

TBAT

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Grant Overview

Innovate UK are investing up to £18.5 million in the SNPN 5G Assured Integration competition.

Grant Scope

The competitions aim is to overcome the system level integration gap preventing high value UK advanced connectivity components from forming complete, procurable solutions.

Projects must focus on one of the following specific themes:

  • Multi-vendor system integration of Core, RAN, hardware or software components
  • Interoperability and interface alignment across disaggregated network elements
  • Energy efficiency and performance optimisation at system level
  • Security and resilience of integrated advanced connectivity systems
  • Systems architectures for industrial and infrastructure connectivity use cases
  • Engineering approaches that reduce deployment and procurement risk for adopters

Integrate IT or OT technologies and operation using Wi-Fi or 5G

Eligibility Criteria

Projects must request between £2 million and £4 million in grant funding with projects lasting 18 months. Projects must not start before 1st August 2026 and end on 31st January 2028. Projects must include a Systems Integrator that is clearly accountable for the overall system design, multi-vendor interoperability, and for achieving security and resilience assurance.

Lead: To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size, Research and Technology Organisations, academic institution, charity, not for profit or public sector organisation.

Project team: To collaborate with a lead, organisations must be a UK registered: business of any size. Academic institution, charity, not for-profit, public-sector organisation or research and technology organisation

Non funded partners: Projects can include organisations that do not claim funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered by their own resources.

Subcontractors: Subcontractors are allowed in this competition and can be from anywhere in the UK. Overseas subcontractors can be used, but you must make a case as to why subcontractors from the UK could not be used.

Number of applications: Businesses, research and technology organisations, academic institutions, charities, not for profit or public sector organisations can only lead on one application but they can collaborate on a further 2 applications.

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

Grant Exclusions

The following projects are not being funded:

  • Projects not in scope for the competition
  • Projects that focus solely on individual component development without system level integration
  • Projects not involving multi-vendor interoperability
  • Projects that do not generate reusable technical evidence or reference architectures
  • Projects primarily focused on large scale deployment or commercial rollout

Grant Funding

Innovate UK are offering up to £18.5 million to fund innovation projects. 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.

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

Research participation

Research organisations undertaking in non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economy activity. Of the 30% you can get funding for eligibility project costs of up to:

  • 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation
  • 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

  1. Research organisations using the Je-S system must submit their costs through the Je-S system which calculates the 80% FEC figure.
  2. On IFS, only the 80% FEC output should be entered at 100% funding.
  3. Applicants do not need to show the remaining 20% on the finance table.

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

Full competition details

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