Innovate UK

Projects should aim to lead to new products, processes or services (or novel use of existing ones) believed to be significantly ahead of anything similar available in the field.  They must focus on commercialisation, growth or scale up.

The competition scope will specify the category of R&D activity for that particular funding opportunity.

Innovate UK supports the following R&D categories:

• Fundamental research: means experimental or theoretical work primarily to gain new knowledge of underlying phenomena and visible facts, without any direct practical application or usage
• Feasibility studies: means analysis and evaluation of a project’s potential, aimed at supporting the process of decision making. This is achieved by uncovering its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as identifying the resources needed and the prospects for success.
• Industrial research: means planned research or critical investigation to gain new knowledge and skills. This should be for the purpose of product development, processes or services that lead to an improvement in existing products, processes or services.
• Experimental development: means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services

Each Innovate UK competition will have a different set of criteria that your application will need to meet.

But there are a few general standards that all applications should adhere to:

Make sure the application does not:

• Deliberately increase word count using punctuation
• Use unprofessional, aggressive or threatening language
• Have a notable lack of content
• Have no clear innovation

The application will be rejected if it:

• Is the same as, or very similar to, a project that has received public funds previously
• Is the same as, or very similar to, another application

Has already been submitted for assessment in 2 other competitions

If you are a UK-based business, you can apply for funding. All kinds of business are eligible, from startups to large multi-national corporations.

If you are a UK-based business, you can apply for funding to:

• test the feasibility of your idea and make sure it will work
• create a new product, process, or service, or improve an existing one, through research and development
• work with other business or research organisations on collaborative projects.

Innovate UK focus their main activities on five strategic themes:

1. Future economy: what the UK economy will be like in the future
2. Growth at scale: how companies can grow and scale up
3. Global opportunities: helping build new supply chains, positioning UK companies as the partners of choice and attracting inward investment
4. Innovation ecosystem: working with partners to ensure our system offers excellent support for business innovation
5. Government levers: helping government support business innovation through procurement, standards, codes, regulation and other levers.

Learn more about these on the UKRI website: https://www.ukri.org/about-us/innovate-uk/our-plan-for-action/ 

Preparation of an Innovate UK application takes between 150 to 300 hours of work.

You will need the right combination of people to cover the application's key aspects: the technology, market knowledge, commercialisation plan, and financial details.

Only applications that meet the funding competition’s eligibility criteria and scope are sent for assessment. You will be notified if your application is out of scope, with full reasons why.

Applications are assessed by up to five independent assessors, who judge the applications against the same set of scoring criteria. The assessors provide written feedback for each scored question.

All applications are judged on individual merit, with the Innovate UK funder’s panel making the final decision regarding funding.

Some competitions are subject to a ‘portfolio’ approach, to ensure that funds are allocated across the strategic areas in the competition’s scope. All successful applications must meet a quality threshold.

Your Innovate UK application is more likely to succeed if it:

• Shows how the project results in a real innovation and doesn’t replicate products currently on the market
• Provides a convincing company description which explains why you are more likely to succeed than a competitor
• Includes a clear and thorough description of the business opportunity, not just a description of the project
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of the target market, including commercialisation and competitor information

An Innovate UK applications are scored by up to five external assessors who are experts in the area of innovation identified in the application. These experts represent both business and research sectors.

Innovate UK aims to inform you whether or not your project will be funded around 3 months after the submission deadline.

Assessor feedback is provided on all applications. This usually 4 weeks after you are notified of a decision.

For Innovate UK, project costs are only eligible if they are incurred and paid between the project start date and project end date. These claims may be subject to an independent audit. Grants are claimed quarterly, in arrears, and are paid once the required audits and reports are complete.