Funding competition Cyber security academic startup accelerator programme: phase 1

Individuals based in a UK academic institution can apply for a share of up to £800,000 to join the cyber security academic startup accelerator programme 2023-2024 (CyberASAP).

Competition opens: Monday 27 March 2023
Competition closes: Wednesday 19 April 2023 11:00am

This competition is now closed.

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Description

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will work with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, to invest up to £800,000 in innovative cyber security projects coming from an academic research base.

The aim of this competition is to identify the most promising commercial opportunities in academia in respect to cyber security. Your proposal must include the area of your research, the problem that you are solving and your proposed solution.

The Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme (CyberASAP) is a 1-year programme.

This is phase 1 of a 2-phase competition.

Phase 1 will last up to 4 months, split into 2 stages:

Stage 1: An initial 2 months for value proposition development activities, followed by a presentation to an independent judging panel who will select teams to go to stage 2
Stage 2: A further 2 months for market validation activities

Phase 1 will determine the value of the idea and, if appropriate, identify the best commercial route to progress. The programme will be supported by industry experts, including some from cyber security.

This competition has two funding strands for entry:

Security of Digital Technologies at the Periphery (SDTaP) – commercialisation strand.
Open strand.

It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project’s total costs must be up to £32,000 with up to £16,000 allocated to stage 1 and £16,000 to stage 2

Who can apply

This award is provided on a No subsidy basis. This means you must publish or make all project outputs openly available on a non-selective basis. If you decide to commercially exploit project outputs, you can only do so with no selective advantage.

This competition offers two funding strands:

You will be asked which funding strand you are applying for:

The Security of Digital Technologies at the Periphery (SDTaP) – commercialisation strand is open to eligible researchers from academic institutions that are active consortium members of the Privacy, Ethics, Trust, Reliability, Acceptability and Security (PETRAS). Eligible researchers are those who have been funded from PETRAS as part of a research project. This strand offers commercialisation support for UKRI-funded project-based research results with promising innovation potential and societal impact. Applicable projects extend across the PETRAS current project portfolio as well as the legacy project portfolio of the PETRAS IoT Research Hub.
Open strand is open for eligible individuals from academic institutions that are not eligible for the SDTaP – commercialisation strand.

Your project

Your project must:

have total costs for the two stages up to £32,000
have total costs for the first stage up to £16,000
have total costs for the second stage up to £16,000
start on 9 May 2023
end on 8 September 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 and Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian and Belarusian source.

Lead organisation

To be eligible for funding you must:

be based in a UK academic institution
have a cyber security idea
be interested in the commercialisation of your idea
have the support of your academic institution’s technology transfer office, or equivalent
not act in any way to gain selective commercial or economic advantage from the outputs of this project

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, you must:

be based in a UK academic institution
be interested in the commercialisation of the idea
have the support of your academic institution’s technology transfer office, or equivalent

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.

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

All individuals based in a UK academic institution are eligible, including but not limited to early career researchers and senior academic researchers.

The grant will be paid to the academic institutions after each stage of phase 1. Each academic institution in the consortium will be funded individually, but the total funding for all academic partners must be no more than £32,000 for each application.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are not allowed in this phase of the competition.

Building value proposition and market validation activities

Participants in phase 1 with ideas that demonstrate the most potential for commercialisation will be invited to apply to participate in phase 2, where funding is available to develop a proof of concept for the product or service.

If we award you funding, you must be dedicated to the project for the 2-month value proposition building activity from 9 May 2023. If we decide you can continue to the market validation activity you must be dedicated for the additional 2 months until 8 September 2023.

'Dedicated to the project' means you must:

attend 2 days of in-person events and 3 days of online events as part of the initial 2 month value proposition activity
be able and be permitted to work on your project for at least 2 days a week in order to make it a success

The events will be organised by Innovate UK KTN. You will be contacted by Innovate UK KTN with full details, including confirmed dates.

The planned dates for the value proposition stage are:

9 and 10 May 2023: value proposition bootcamp, a 2 day in person event
16 May 2023 1pm to 3pm: webinar for Technology Transfer Officers or equivalent as an online event
31 May and 1 June 2023: value proposition mid-stage review, a 2 day online event
22 and 23 June 2023: value proposition pitch to selection panel, teams must pitch at a slot on one of these two days as an online event

Innovate UK KTN will hold informal weekly 1 hour drop-in sessions during the value proposition stage. These are likely to be Friday mornings.

Before the formal start of the programme an informal online introduction session is planned for the week commencing 1st May. Innovate UK KTN will advise all participants of the date and time in due course.

If selected to undertake the additional 2 months for market validation, you must commit to attend 2 days of in person events and 3 days of online events.

The planned dates are:

4 and 5 July 2023: market validation bootcamp, a 2 day in person event
25 and 26 July 2023: market validation mid-stage review, a 2 day online event
5 and 6 September 2023: market validation pitch to selection panel, teams must pitch at a slot on one of these two days, it is an online event

Number of applications

You can submit more than one application if you have multiple ideas, but we will not select more than one for funding.

Previous applications

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

We will not award you funding if you have:

failed to exploit a previously funded project
an overdue independent accountant’s report
failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

No subsidy (and non-aid where applicable)

No subsidy

This competition provides funding that is not classed by Innovate UK as a subsidy. You should still seek independent legal advice on what this means for you, before applying.

Further information about the Subsidy Control Act 2022 requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

‘No subsidy’ status is only granted to organisations which declare that they will not use the funding:

in any way which gives them selective economic or commercial advantage
in any way which would determine the funding as a subsidy as defined by the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)

It is the responsibility of the lead organisation to make sure all collaborators in the project remain compliant with these requirements.

It is important to note that it is the activity that an organisation is engaged in as part of the project and not its intentions, that define whether any support provided could be considered a subsidy.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 regime you should take independent legal advice. We cannot advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

Funding

Up to £800,000 has been allocated to fund cyber security ideas in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

You can claim 100% funding for your eligible project costs. Eligible costs can only cover salary, programme related travel within the UK, accommodation if necessary and subsistence.

No more than £16,000 can be allocated to the initial 2 months of the programme for the stage 1 value proposition building activity.

No more than £16,000 can be allocated to the 2 month stage 2 market validation activity.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to identify the most promising commercial opportunities in academia in respect to cyber security.

We define ‘cyber security’ to mean protecting from unauthorised access, harm or misuse to any or all the following:

information systems, including hardware, software and associated infrastructure
data on such systems
services provided by information systems

This includes harm caused intentionally by the operator of the system, or accidentally, as a result of failing to follow security procedures.

Your project must include:

the area of your research
the problem you are solving
your proposed solution
your initial market validation plan

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects:

that are not related to cyber security
that are defence focused
from academic institutions outside the UK
that have no intention to commercialise
that have an academic lead that has already led and completed a previous CyberASAP project
which are classed as State aid under EC regulations or a subsidy under the EU-UK TCA
with undertakings which gain a selective economic or commercial advantage from the funding

27 March 2023: Competition opens
29 March 2023: Online briefing event: watch the recording
19 April 2023 11:00am: Competition closes
26 April 2023: Applicants notified

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

that all the information provided in the application is correct
your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria
all sections of the application are marked as complete
if collaborative, that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into 2 sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

Accessibility and inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. Read more on how we are making our application process more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least 15 working days before the competition closing date to ensure we can provide you with the most suitable support possible.

You can contact us by emailing support@iuk.ukri.org or calling 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application team

Decide which academic institution will work with you on the project if collaborative. Invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration. Projects must start on 9 May 2023 and last for 4 months.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be eligible for funding.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1, 2, 3, 7 and 9. You will receive feedback for each scored question.

You must answer all questions. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all applicants.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 2. Public description (not scored)

Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 200 words long.

This question is for information only and is not scored.

Question 3. Select funding strand (not scored)

You must select which funding strand you are applying for:

Security of Digital Technologies at the Periphery (SDTaP) – commercialisation: This strand is open to eligible researchers from academic institutions that are active consortium members of the Privacy, Ethics, Trust, Reliability, Acceptability and Security (PETRAS) National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity
Open strand: This strand is open for all eligible individuals, except those who are eligible for the SDTaP strand.

Question 4. Need or challenge

What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Explain:

the main motivation for the project
the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity - have you carried out market analysis or got evidence of demand?
whether you have identified any similar innovation and its current limitations, including those close to market or in development
any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one
the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations
how your project supports the National Cyber Strategy 2022

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 5. Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

Explain:

how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
how will you improve on the similar innovation that you have identified
whether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 6. Commercialisation

How do you intend to commercialise your idea? Have you got support from your academic institution’s technology transfer office or equivalent?

Describe or explain:

what your approach to commercialisation is
what your academic institution’s approach to intellectual property (IP) and commercialisation is

Confirm that you have got support from your academic institution’s technology transfer office or equivalent and that they will engage with the programme including attending the commercialisation webinar. In your answer to Question 7 you will need to provide their details.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 7. Team and resources (not scored)

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Explain:

the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking
the person responsible for academic commercialisation who supports this application, such as your technology transfer officer or equivalent role, and if possible, include their name and contact details
any other people directly or indirectly involved or relevant to the research, their roles, skills and experience

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 8. Market validation

What is your plan for market validation? Who do you intend to work with?

Explain:

your plan for market validation, including objectives, important milestones and how you will measure the success of the market validation
how you will determine whether your target market likes your product or service, or your concept for a product or service
what evidence there is that the market will be willing to buy your product or service
which companies or organisations you plan to approach to ask for support with your market validation
how you will find the right contacts and whether they will give you the necessary access to continue your market validation

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 9. Costs (not scored)

What are your costs for the 4-month programme?

Note the only eligible costs are salary, travel and subsistence.

Explain:

the total costs for your involvement in this programme
the salary, travel costs, within the UK, and subsistence costs required for the programme, that you will incur
how the costs will be split for each two month period, into the value proposition and market validation stages of the programme

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Background and further information

Under the 2022 National Cyber Strategy the UK is taking a new, comprehensive approach to strengthen its position as a responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in and through cyberspace.

This National Cyber Strategy strengthens our cyber security so that we are able to pursue and promote our interests with confidence: it will keep us ahead of our adversaries and strengthen our ability to act in cyberspace, as well as our ability to influence and shape tomorrow’s technologies so they are safe, secure and open.

This includes taking the lead in the technologies vital to cyber power, building our industrial capability and developing frameworks to secure future technologies.

The Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme (CyberASAP) aims to increase the amount of academic research being commercialised within UK universities through a bespoke programme of support.

For more details on the programme please go to: www.cyberasap.co.uk or email cyberasap@ktn-uk.org.

UKRI’s Security of Digital Technologies at the Periphery (SDTaP) Programme aims to establish a national capability to enable the UK to become a world-leader in the Internet of Things (IoT) and associated systems cyber security through new knowledge and deep expertise creation.

SDTaP aims to explore the nexus of cyber security and IoT technologies and systems while taking into account key technological trends and innovation. The programme is specifically looking across industry sectors and application areas at technologies that are driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), next generation networks, cloud and edge computing.

SDTaP draws on an array of expertise that spans engineering and physical and behavioural sciences to explore issues of privacy, trustworthiness, ethics, law and regulation, and education and skills as they relate to IoT technologies and their impact on society.

The Privacy, Ethics, Trust, Reliability, Acceptability and Security (PETRAS) National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity is SDTaP’s multidisciplinary research arm that exists to provide a step-change in research across the IoT and associated systems security.

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and Department for

Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) (each an “agency”).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to DSIT and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants
scoring and feedback on the application
information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Officer reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK and DSIT are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, and DSIT will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application. Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy is accessible here.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of GDPR, and is committed to upholding the data protection principles, and protecting your information. The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Next steps

If you are successful with this application, you will be asked to set up your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your IFS Set Up portal, the tool that Innovate UK uses to gather necessary information before we can allow your project to begin.

You will need to provide:

the name and contact details of your project manager and university finance lead
confirmation of your university’s bank details

In order to process your claims, we need to make sure that the bank details you give to us relate to a UK high street bank that is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The account must have a BACS clearing facility and be in the same company name as your application.

If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate UK's funding criteria, you can use the sort code checker. If you input the sort code and find a tick next to the ‘BACS Direct Credit payments can be sent to this sort code’, this will give you an indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable.

Your Grant offer Letter (GOL)

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your GOL.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be emailed to you.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

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