Funding competition Canada-UK: Plant-based Protein Innovation

UK registered organisations, in collaboration with Canadian organisations, can apply for a share of up to £6.5 million for collaborative research and development projects, resulting in innovative solutions for the plant-based protein sector.

Competition opens: Monday 18 September 2023
Competition closes: Wednesday 1 November 2023 11:00am

This competition is now closed.

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Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with Protein Industries Canada (PIC) to invest up to £6.5 million in innovation projects.

The aim of this Expression of Interest (EoI) competition is to find the best proposals to be put forward to the full application stage of the competition.

The aim of the full stage competition is to support the development of the plant-based protein sector. The objective is to meet global consumer demands for alternative proteins and to create export opportunities for the technologies, products and services developed.

Projects must include the use of plant-based proteins from crops that have potential for deployment at scale across Canadian and UK food and feed supply chains. This can include, but is not limited to:

field peas
lentils
canola
beans
oats
lupin

Your project can consider innovations that utilise high-protein crops in combination with other plant-based proteins, for example potato and hemp. You can also consider other innovations that help enhance plant-based products, for example oils or fats derived from cellular or acellular fermentation.

Your proposal must focus on one or more of these five areas:

ingredients - the development, scaling and optimisation of plant-based ingredients
products - the conversion of high protein crops, ingredients and co-products into consumption-ready goods
adding value or enhancing quality - innovations to improve the nutritional quality, consumer acceptability, sustainability, and safety of plant-based products
animal feed or pet food applications – innovation related to uses focused on plant-based pet food and animal feed
co-product stream management - innovations to add value to by-products produced during the processing of crops and related ingredients for plant-based product manufacture

This is stage 1 of a 2 stage competition.

Expression of interest (EoI) (this competition): There is no funding in this stage.
Full stage application (FSA): if you are successful in this EoI competition, you will be invited to apply to the full stage competition.

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

If successful in the EoI stage, your full stage UK application’s total grant funding request must not exceed £1.5 million.

Who can apply

Your project

Your UK project must:

have a maximum grant funding request of £1.5 million
last between 12 and 18 months
start by 1 September 2024
end by 28 February 2026
carry out the majority of your project work in the UK
intend to exploit the results from the UK

Projects 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.

Your project must have a balanced contribution of the total eligible project costs among the partners from the participating partner countries. No more than 70% of the total project costs can be claimed by partners from a single participating country.

If any of the following falls outside of this competition’s eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes:

total grant funding request
the cost balance between UK and Canadian organisations
project duration

Innovate UK and Protein Industries Canada (PIC) 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 progressed.

Lead organisation

To lead a UK project your organisation must:

be a UK registered business of any size
collaborate with at least one Canadian registered SME that holds a current PIC membership
collaborate with at least one other business, from the UK or Canada
be or involve at least one UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)

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

The consortium must include at least three businesses. All businesses in a consortium must be separate legal and non-linked entities. This is to ensure that projects encourage genuine international collaboration, not internal company research. Linked companies are considered a single entity under the parent company.

Academic institutions and RTOs cannot lead.

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)

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 in the application.

You must not invite your collaborating Canadian partners onto the Innovate UK’s IFS application platform. Their involvement in the project is listed as part of your answers to the questions.

PIC eligibility criteria is available on the PIC website in English and French.

UK participants must be part of an application submitted to Innovate UK. Canadian partners must submit a parallel application to the PIC programme.

UK applications will be assessed by Innovate UK. Your Canadian partners’ proposal is reviewed by PIC. Innovate UK and PIC are responsible for the decision to progress your EoI proposal to the full stage. There is no funding in this stage; funding will be awarded in the full stage.

UK participants will receive grant funding from Innovate UK and Canadian participants will receive grant funding from PIC.

Non-funded partners

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and Canada and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from other countries, but you must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK or Canada.

You must provide a detailed rationale and evidence of the potential UK or Canadian 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 to the total project costs.

Number of applications

A UK registered business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications.

If a UK registered business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to three applications.

An academic institution, research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit or public sector organisation can collaborate on any number of applications.

Previous applications

You cannot 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

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding 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 £6.5 million from Innovate UK and CA$10 million from Protein Industries Canada (PIC) has been allocated to fund innovation projects in the Full Stage Application (FSA) of 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 Canada.

No more than 70% of the total project costs can be claimed by partners from a single participating country.

UK organisations

As a UK partner, if your 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 feasibility studies and 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

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

Canadian organisations

Canadian partners must hold a current PIC membership. To receive any grant funding in the full stage competition and continue as a feasible project, the project proposal must be successful on both sides of the consortium.

Canadian organisations must apply through the PIC website by the 1 November 2023.

Competition documentation, eligibility criteria and application information is available on the PIC website in English and French.

Your proposal

The aim of this Expression of Interest (EoI) competition is to find the best proposals to be put forward to the full application stage of the competition.

Your project must include the use of plant-based proteins from crops that have potential for deployment at scale across Canadian and UK food and feed supply chains. This can include, but is not limited to:

field peas
lentils
canola
beans
oats
lupin

Your project can consider innovations that utilise high-protein crops in combination with other plant-based proteins, for example potato and hemp. You can also consider other innovations that help enhance plant-based products, including oils or fats derived from cellular or acellular fermentation.

Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, themes, markets, technological maturities and research categories. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your proposal must focus on one or more of these five areas:

ingredients - the development, scaling and optimisation of plant-based ingredients
products - the conversion of high protein crops, ingredients and co-products into consumption-ready goods
adding value or enhancing quality - innovations to improve the nutritional quality, consumer acceptability, sustainability and safety of plant-based products
animal feed or pet food applications – innovation related to uses focused on plant-based pet food and animal feed
co-product stream management - innovations to add value to by-products produced during processing of crops and related ingredients for plant-based product manufacture

Research categories

We will fund feasibility projects, 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:

focus solely on non-plant-based protein production, for example cellular meat production
are collaborations involving fewer than three businesses
do not meet Innovate UK’s and Protein Industries Canada (PIC) eligibility criteria

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

18 September 2023: Competition opens
20 September 2023: Online briefing event: watch the recording
21 September 2023: Collaboration Building event: register to attend
1 November 2023 11:00am: Competition closes
12 December 2023 3:05pm: 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 partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)
that your Canadian partners are aware they must apply through Protein Industries Canada (PIC) EoI process

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 two sections:

Project details.
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. Watch the video 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 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.

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 eligible for funding and will not proceed to the full stage application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The UK assessors will score all your answers apart from question 1. 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 your UK and Canadian project partners or subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of your project and to confirm the involvement of eligible Canadian registered partners.

Question 2. 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 3. 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 4. 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 5. 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 Canadian 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 6. 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 7. 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 8. 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
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

Background and further information

Innovate UK are collaborating with Protein Industries Canada (PIC) to deliver a bilateral research and development (R&D) competition.

Agri-Tech is a strategic priority for collaboration and was a founding pillar in the MoU signed between DSIT (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) and Global Affairs Canada.

Plant-based protein is a key area of focus for Canada. As part of Canada’s Budget 2022, $150 million was earmarked for PIC. This builds on the previous $173 million entrusted to PIC through the Global Innovation Cluster Program to advance innovation in plant-based food and ingredients.

The following technologies are examples of the types of innovations that could be funded through this programme:

drying and milling technologies
fermentation technologies
solutions to improve sensory properties of plant-based foods
mixing technologies
extrusion technologies
AI and machine learning, for example for food safety, contaminant detection
bioprocessing for valorisation of co-product streams

This list is not exhaustive.

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and Protein Industries Canada (PIC (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 PIC 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 PIC 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 PIC 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

Innovate UK and PIC will hold a collaboration building event on 21 September at 4:00pm UK time (8am PDT and 11am EDT).

If you want further help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN.

Support for 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, you will be sent an invitation to apply into the full stage competition on the Innovation Funding Service on 11 December 2023.

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