Funding competition UK - Germany Bilateral: Collaborative R&D Round 2

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £4 million for projects resulting in innovative solutions for emerging technologies. You must collaborate with at least one German SME applying under the equivalent German ZIM programme.

This competition is now closed.

Start new application

Competition sections

Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), to invest up to £4 million in innovation projects.

We encourage innovation in, but not limited to, the following fields of emerging technologies:

  • quantum
  • AI
  • semiconductor applications
  • engineering biology
  • future telecommunications
  • green technologies

The aim of this competition is to enhance UK and German collaborations and capabilities in the emerging fields of technology in our society. The result being, the developing and delivering of new innovations and applications of the technologies across a broad range of other sectors.

Your proposal must comply with the scope and eligibility requirements, and include a consortium made up of non-linked German and UK partners.

Only UK registered partners must be listed in the Project Partner section of your application on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Your German partner will not receive any of this UK competition funding. German partners will be funded by the German ZIM programme, following a parallel application.

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 UK partners grant funding request must not be more than £750,000.

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

  • have a maximum grant funding request of £750,000
  • start by 1 July 2024
  • end by 30 June 2027
  • last between 18 and 36 months

UK project partners must carry out the majority of their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.

Your project must demonstrate a balanced technological contribution by the participants from both countries and must be equally significant to all participants.

Note that eligibility on the German counterpart competition also states that in a project with two cooperating partners, no partner may contribute more than 70% of total person months to the project. Person months is the metric for the time in months devoted by staff to a project.

In a project with more than two cooperating partners, no partner may contribute more than 50% of total person months. All research organisations involved in the consortium may altogether not contribute more than 50% of the total person months.

Your application must be in line with the rules of Innovate UK and The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

Applications indentified as not eligible by either Innovate UK or BMWK will not be sent for assessment.

Your project must always start on the first of the month and this must be stated within your application. Your project start date will be reflected in your grant offer letter if you are successful.

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.

If your project’s total grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered business of any size
  • be or involve at least one grant claiming UK micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
  • collaborate with at least one German registered SME applying to the German ZIM programme, which must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the UK partners

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.


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)

Only UK registered partners must be listed in the Project Partner section of your application on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Your German partner will not receive any of this UK competition funding. German partners will be funded by the German ZIM programme, following a parallel application.

Each organisation in your consortium will receive funding from its respective national funding body.

Each UK partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in the Innovation Funding Service. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

Non-funded partners

Your project can include partners, including overseas partners, that do not receive any of this competition’s funding. Their costs will count towards the total project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

You can use subcontractors from the UK, Germany and other countries but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the countries providing grant funding for the project. All subcontractors must be selected through your usual procurement process.

You must provide a detailed rationale and evidence of the potential UK or German contractors you approached, with the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use a subcontractor from a third country.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate for the project.


Number of applications

An eligible UK business can lead on one application and collaborate on two further applications.

If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to three applications.

Application guidance for German organisations

For guidance for German organisations, see Supporting Information.

Previous applications

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

We will not award you funding if you have:

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable) for UK organisations

This competition provides funding for UK organisations in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see our general guidance to check if these rules apply to your organisation.


Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must always make sure that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.


This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or actually distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

Funding

Up to £4 million from Innovate UK, and a minimum of €4 million from the German BMWK, has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

Each country will fund its eligible participants according to their national procedure and funding rules. Funding conditions and eligibility criteria may vary between UK and Germany. The bilateral joint cooperation between the partners and its added value is an important aspect to be considered within the evaluation.

UK Partners

If your UK organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

For industrial research projects, you could get funding 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

For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation
  • up to 25% if you are a large organisation

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Research participation for UK organisations

The research organisations undertaking 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-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

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

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to enhance UK and German collaborations and capabilities in the emerging fields of technology in our society. The result being, the developing and delivering of new innovations and applications of the technologies across a broad range of other sectors.

This competition will support UK and German business-led collaboration in innovation with grant funding.

Innovate UK will support UK businesses to collaborate successfully with German counterparts and build their global growth prospects.

Your collaborative R&D proposal must demonstrate:

  • a clear game-changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
  • a strong and deliverable business proposal within your application that addresses and documents market potential and needs
  • sound, practical financial plans and timelines
  • good value for money
  • how you intend to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation within 2 to 3 years of project completion
  • clear potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
  • the benefit of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
  • a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants and countries
  • a clear route to market within 2 to 3 years of project completion

Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across different technology areas. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Proposals can come from any area of technology, and we particularly encourage applications from the following sectors:

AI

We encourage applications in the areas of:

  • sustainable AI
  • responsible and ethical AI
  • applications of AI to improve business productivity in BridgeAI target sectors
  • AI for healthcare

Quantum

We encourage projects that:

  • involve consortia which span the supply chain of service or component suppliers, integrators, and end user businesses
  • progress quantum technology from lab prototypes to industry ready systems for commercial use through integration of innovative and scalable technologies

Your project can focus on one or more of the following areas:

  • sensing and imaging
  • component and sub system technologies supporting communications, computing and networking
  • scalable solutions and fabrication processes for chip scale quantum photonic and optoelectronic systems
  • software hardware codesign for reproducible quantum processor enhanced applications

Semiconductors

We encourage applications in the areas of:

  • semiconductor design
  • compound semiconductors
  • advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration
  • advanced materials

Future Telecommunications

We encourage applications in the areas of:

  • non-terrestrial communications
  • open radio access network (ORAN) deployments and innovations
  • use of AI and data analytics to improve network efficiency
  • energy efficient technologies
  • neutral host networks
  • antenna innovation, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
  • cross border lab collaborations
  • network security

Engineering Biology

Your proposal must align with one of the National Engineering Biology Programme’s themes, or focus on the development of cross cutting technology or service development.

The themes are:

  • food systems
  • biomedicine
  • clean growth
  • environmental solutions

Green Technologies

Battery technology:

  • advanced battery materials
  • emerging battery technologies, for example; sodium ion, lithium sulfur, solid state
  • technologies to achieve 350 Wh/kg and above at pack level
  • innovations in battery manufacturing processes
  • design innovation for cells, modules, packs
  • integration of digitalisation
  • advanced predictive analytics and degradation modelling
  • sustainable recycling approaches
  • technologies for increased safety
  • skills development and training

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects and experimental development projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

  • do not have a genuine collaboration with a German SME who has been successful in the corresponding German ZIM programme
  • do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria

We will not fund Quantum-focussed projects that are:

  • not covered by any of the four specific themes
  • not ‘second generation’ quantum technologies defined as those involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement
  • feasibility studies or projects that are low maturity in their development
  • market research, road mapping or landscape studies

We cannot fund projects that are:

  • dependent 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

4 September 2023
Competition opens
13 September 2023
Online briefing event: watch the recording
6 December 2023 11:00am
Competition closes
3 April 2024
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
  • that all UK 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 four sections:

  1. Project details.
  2. Application questions.
  3. Finances.
  4. Project Impact.

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.

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 UK organisations will work with you on your project and invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration. Your project’s title must match the Short Project Title on the Common Proposal Form submitted by your German partners in their national application process.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

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 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 sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1,2 and 3. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. 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 or subcontractors working on your project, including the German partners in your consortium.

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

Question 2. Opportunity awareness (not scored)

Where did you hear about this opportunity?

We are collecting this information to improve our communication methods with potential applicants.

Select one of the options from the list below:

  • UKRI website
  • Innovate UK Facebook
  • Innovate UK Instagram
  • Innovate UK LinkedIn
  • Innovate UK Twitter
  • Innovate UK employee
  • Gov.UK website
  • Innovate UK KTN
  • Innovate UK EDGE
  • Northern Irish Scottish or Welsh government agencies
  • Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
  • Third party website
  • Innovate UK newsletter
  • Events
  • German source
  • Other

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will all UK organisations have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund your project if you do not have the correct permits or licences in place by the start date of your project.

You must select one option:

  • Yes
  • No
  • In process of being applied for
  • Not applicable

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
  • 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 and using our Horizons tool if appropriate

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 you will improve on any similar innovation that you have identified
  • whether the innovation will focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas, or a totally disruptive approach
  • the freedom you have to operate
  • how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings
  • how it will make you more competitive
  • the nature of the outputs you expect from the project, for example reports, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design, and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF, up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 6. Team and resources

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 resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them
  • the details of any vital external parties, including subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
  • the current relationships between project partners and how these will change as a result of the project
  • any roles you will need to recruit for

You can submit one appendix, with a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF, up to 4 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 7. Market awareness

What does the market or markets you are targeting look like?

Describe:

  • the target markets for the project outcomes and any other potential markets (domestic, international or both)
  • the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available
  • the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes
  • the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist
  • the current UK position in targeting these markets
  • the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

  • what the market’s size might be
  • how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Question 8. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase long term productivity as a result of the project?

Explain:

  • your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position
  • your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example, why they would use or buy your product
  • your route to market
  • how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction
  • how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term
  • how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model
  • your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project

If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:

  • your plans to spread the project’s research outputs over a reasonable timescale
  • how you expect to use the results generated from the project in further research activities

Question 9. Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside the project team?

Describe and, where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:

  • external parties
  • customers
  • others in the supply chain
  • broader industry
  • the UK and German economies

Describe and, where possible, measure:

  • any expected impact on government priorities
  • any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative
  • any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative, on, for example:

  • quality of life
  • social inclusion or exclusion
  • jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them
  • education
  • public empowerment
  • health and safety
  • regulations
  • diversity

Question 10. Project management

How will you manage your project effectively?

Explain:

  • the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one
  • your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome
  • the management reporting lines
  • your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 11. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Explain:

  • the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks
  • how you will mitigate these risks
  • any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, and data sets
  • any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and other requirements identified, and how you will manage this

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, up to 2 A4 pages long, and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 12. Added value

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation? What impact would this award have on the organisations involved?

Explain:

  • what advantages public funding would offer your project, for example: appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market (this list is not exhaustive)
  • the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved
  • what other routes of investment or means of support you have already approached and why they were not suitable
  • how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding
  • what your project would look like without public funding
  • how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved

Question 13. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

In terms of your project goals, explain:

  • your total project costs including a breakdown of both UK and German partners
  • the grant you are requesting
  • how each partner will finance their contributions to your project
  • how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
  • how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise
  • the balance of costs and grant across the project partners
  • any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project

For the conversion of your German partners’ costs from Euros to pounds, you must use the exchange rate for September as listed in the HMRC exchange rates for 2023: monthly.

3. Finances

Each UK organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.

For full details on what costs you can claim see our project costs guidance. You can also view our Application Finances video.

Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Background and further information

The UK and Germany are collaborating to deliver bilateral funding through Innovate UK grant support and the Central Innovation Programme (ZIM) grant funding from The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

The ZIM programme in Germany is designed to enhance companies' capacity to innovate and to strengthen their long term competitiveness. Under ZIM, German companies and the research institutes they work with can be awarded grants for ambitious R&D projects.

With ZIM, funding is not restricted to any particular field of technology, nor to specific fields of application. Whether or not an application for a grant is approved depends on how innovative the R&D project is and how marketable the results are likely to be.

Application guidance for German organisations

Each German project partner must submit a separate, individual ZIM application to AiF Projekt GmbH (ZIM project management agency on behalf of the BMWK).

Every German SME, in accordance with the relevant EU regulations, as well as medium-sized companies with fewer than 500 employees (or full-time equivalents), which carry out R&D for the development of innovative products, processes or technical services, are eligible to apply.

Other medium-sized companies with fewer than 1,000 employees are eligible to apply for funding if they cooperate with at least one SME (EU definition) whose project is being funded.

Research organisations are eligible to apply as cooperation partners of eligible companies. Detailed criteria for submitting applications and the ZIM application form are available on the ZIM website and you can also contact the AiF Projekt GmbH directly.

Please note that applicants to the ZIM programme are able to define their contribution to the project in person months, for example through work packages rather than in monetary costs.

The ZIM application must comply with the ZIM regulations and be written in German. If you do not have previous experience of ZIM applications, we recommend you contact Aif Projekt GmbH at least 6 weeks prior to the deadline for guidance.

All interested German applicants may submit an optional German Project Sketch to ZIM. For more information visit the webpage.

Note: Every German project partner must file an individual ZIM application to AiF Projekt GmbH.

For each German partner, the ZIM proposal application form must be submitted. For more information visit the webpage or contact AiF Projekt GmbH as mentioned below.

The ZIM application includes several documents: those are, for example, a:

  • convenience translation of English documents such as the cooperation agreement
  • full project description in German language (Anlage 4)
  • copy of the current excerpt from the commercial register
  • version of the Proposal Application Form, prepared jointly in English and legally signed by all partners participating in the project

The Proposal Application Form is available for German participants to download.

For any queries regarding the German element of the application, please contact:

Paula Schnippering

AiF Projekt GmbH
Tschaikowskistrasse 49

13156 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)30 48163-493

p.schnippering@aif-projekt-gmbh.de

www.zim.de/international

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) (each an “agency”), delivered by AiF Projekt GmbH (AiF), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Cologne-based German Federation of Industrial Research Associations “Otto von Guericke” .

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 BMWK and their project management agency, AiF, 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, BMWK, and AIF 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, BMWK, and AiF 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.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, you can use our specifically created B2Match website.

Support for UK SMEs from Innovate UK EDGE

If you receive an award, you will be contacted about working with an innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK EDGE. This service forms part of our funded offer to you.

These specialists focus on growing innovative businesses and ensuring that projects contribute to their growth. Working one-to-one, they can help you to identify your best strategy and harness world-class resources to grow and achieve scale.

We encourage you to engage with Innovate UK EDGE, delivered by a knowledgeable and objective specialist near you.

Next steps

If you are successful with this application, UK applicants 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 project finance lead
  • a redacted copy of your bank details
  • a collaboration agreement
  • an exploitation plan

In order for us to process your claims, you must make sure you have a valid UK bank account. It is possible that it can take several weeks for a new account to be created. We would recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to you project start date.

The bank details you give to us must 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.

Finance checks

We will carry out checks to make sure you are an established company with access to the funds necessary to complete the project.

You must check your IFS portal regularly and respond to any requests we have sent for additional information to avoid any delays.

Failure to complete project setup may result in your grant offer being withdrawn.

Your Grant offer letter (GOL)

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

The GOL will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve before you can start your project. If your GOL is approved on or before the fifteenth of the month, it will be dated from the first of that month. If your GOL is approved after the fifteenth, it will be dated the first of the next month.

You must not start your project before the date stated on your GOL. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your grant.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

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).

Need help with this service? Contact us