Funding competition Growing Kent and Medway: prototyping and demonstrator fund

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £750,000 for the development and demonstration of innovative new technologies. These projects will be in the horticultural food and drink supply chain.

Competition opens: Monday 20 November 2023
Competition closes: Wednesday 24 January 2024 11:00am

This competition is now closed.

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Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with Growing Kent and Medway (GKM) consortium, led by NIAB to invest up to £750,000 in innovative projects. These projects are for the development and demonstration of innovative new technologies in the horticultural food and drink supply chain.

They will stimulate an uplift in the region’s economy through inclusive and innovation-led growth.

The aim of this competition is to support business focused innovative technology development with emphasis on industrial prototyping and demonstration. The technologies developed in these projects must aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve sustainability, or deliver improved productivity in horticultural and food production systems.

The competition focuses on:

horticultural production including the production of novel, high value compounds from plants
fresh produce packaging
food and drink processing and manufacturing

Your proposal must focus on innovative technology development and:

design, develop, test and deploy a technology
conduct a technical and economic assessment

We want to fund real world prototypes or demonstrators of innovative technologies in an operational setting in the horticultural food and drink production sector.

Your proposal must demonstrate the potential to positively impact on the economy of the Kent and Medway (K&M) area.

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 grant funding request must be between £50,000 and £150,000. Your total project costs can exceed this amount, but the funding requested must be no more than £150,000.

Who can apply

Any awards given to primary agricultural producers are subject to the green box exemption under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. Please see further guidance on green box subsidies here WTO Guidance for support in Agriculture.

Applicants receiving this type of support must ensure that there is minimal to no distortion of trade and comply with the requirements of Annex 2 of the Agriculture Agreement.

Your project

Your project must:

have a total grant funding request between £50,000 and £150,000
start from 1 May 2024
end by 30 September 2025
last up to 12 months
carry out at least 60% of its project work in the Kent and Medway (K&M) area
intend to exploit the results from or in the K&M area

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 or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.

If your project’s grant funding request, geographical area 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

The lead organisation may be based outside of the Kent and Medway (K&M) area but you must collaborate with at least one organisation in the K&M area.

To lead a project your organisation must:

be a UK registered business of any size
be able to evidence that you are an established business, including sole traders and partnerships
have a UK bank account
collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, public sector organisations or charities
collaborate with at least one organisation in the K&M area
include a minimum of 2 organisations in the consortium
intend to exploit the results from or in the K&M area

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

Academic institutions and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) cannot lead or work alone.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be a UK based grower, producer, food and drink manufacturer or one of the following UK registered:

business of any size
academic institution
charity
not for profit organisation
public sector organisation
research organisation (RO)
research and technology organisation (RTO)

Collaborations with research organisations in the K&M area are encouraged but not mandatory. These organisations are:

NIAB
University of Greenwich
University of Kent
Canterbury Christ Church University

Collaborations with research organisations from outside the K&M area are not permitted in this competition.

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) 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 IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs in the application.

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

Non-funded partners

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

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

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK.

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

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Number of applications

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

If a business is not leading a project, they can collaborate on any number of applications within this competition.

Research organisations, charities, not for profit, public sector organisations and research and technology organisations can collaborate on any number of applications.

Previous applications

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

You can make a maximum of 2 submissions to Innovate UK with any given proposal. If Innovate UK judges that your proposal is not materially different from your previous proposal, it will be counted towards this maximum.

If your application goes through to assessment and is unsuccessful, you can reapply with the same proposal once more.

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 £750,000 has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

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 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

Your proposal

The competition focuses on:

horticultural production including the production of novel, high value compounds from plants
fresh produce packaging
food and drink processing and manufacturing

Your proposal must focus on innovative technology development and:

design, develop, test and deploy a technology
conduct a technical and economic assessment

We want to fund real world prototypes or demonstrators of innovative technologies in an operational setting in the horticultural food and drink production sector.

Your proposal must demonstrate the potential to positively impact on the economy of the Kent and Medway (K&M) area.

Your project must:

provide solutions that tackle new or emerging needs
demonstrate a realistic potential to support business growth, scale-up, and job creation
deliver benefit to the region as well as further afield
underpin a full commercial and operational technology deployment after September 2025, by delivering a meaningful operational demonstration in real world conditions for at least two weeks before 30 November 2025
achieve market potential through a clear strategy for commercialising the technology and the product

At the end of your real-world operational demonstration project, you must:

produce a clear, detailed and costed plan to fully scale and enter the solution into UK and global markets over the next 3 years, including your technical approach, objectives and business case
detail your plan for compliance with regulation and how you will work with relevant regulatory bodies for novel technologies
quantify the economic impacts in the future, including citing usage data from the demonstration period
explain your understanding of any remaining barriers to full market adoption
share your findings with GKM and Innovate UK in your end of project report
work with GKM to produce a plan for disseminating the results of your demonstration project and knowledge sharing with relevant stakeholders and industry

Demonstration period

Your demonstration must include the technology being used in a representative real world operational environment for a period of at least two weeks.

There is no fixed definition of how projects must undertake their demonstration and use this minimum two week period. The demonstration will depend on your project, technology and what is required to prove its performance. We strongly encourage projects to utilise this minimum two week period fully and to gather as much performance data as possible.

Your application must clearly state how you plan to undertake the demonstration, including how much time in operational use you currently expect and why this is appropriate for your project. During the demonstration you must validate the technology operation for the use case or target market and capture data on the performance.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund projects across different technologies, geographic sub-regions, technological maturities, theme and research categories. We call this a portfolio approach.

Portfolio consideration will include:

sub-regional balance
sub-sector balance, for example: horticulture, viticulture, Agri-food tech
its place in the value chain, for example: cultivation, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, packaging, distribution and business model innovation
strength and depth of collaboration
research partner participation
quality of the demonstration activity proposed

Specific themes

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

moving towards net zero carbon emissions targets
minimising waste and maximising recycling
improving resource use efficiency and sustainability
increasing productivity
resilient food production, for example: supply chain resilience, nutritional security
addressing current and future labour or skills shortages, supply or demand driven, within the K&M agri-food sector

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:

are early stage research and development or feasibility studies
do not demonstrate the potential to positively impact on the economy of the K&M area
involve a research organisation from outside the K&M area
focus only on available technologies and involve minimal innovation
are a duplicate of existing innovation
are for capital investment only
fail to commit to delivering social value
have a focus on animal or fish-based production systems and animal or fish derived food and drink products
grow plants with the primary purpose of producing animal feed

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

20 November 2023: Competition opens
22 November 2023: Webinar briefing event: watch the recording
24 January 2024 11:00am: Competition closes
13 March 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 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 three sections:

Project details.
Application questions.
Finances.

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 12pm and 2pm 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 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 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 to 4. 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. 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.

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

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 2. Social value (not scored)

How will you engage in delivering social value in the Kent and Medway (K&M) area?

Provision of social value

Before you answer this question, refer to the social value guidance provided in the ‘Background and Further Information’ section of the competition brief.

Detailed guidance around social value activities and levels of expected commitment can be found at GKM social value guidelines.

In your answer you must:

confirm that you will commit to delivering social value (failure to commit to delivering social value will mean that your project is ineligible for funding)
state the level of time that you are willing to commit to delivering social value and list the project partners who will be involved in this delivery
describe your plans for delivering social value

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 3. Project location (not scored)

Where is the work on your project being undertaken?

You must confirm:

where in the K&M area you intend to undertake the work
what work will be carried out in the K&M area

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 4. Awareness of funding opportunity (not scored)

How did you become aware of this funding opportunity?

Using the list below, state through which channels you heard about this competition. You may list as many that apply.

Innovate UK portal
KTN
Growing Kent and Medway (GK&M) website
GK&M promotion or events
LinkedIn
Facebook or Instagram
X (formally known as Twitter)
other

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 5. Need or challenge

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

Explain:

the main motivation for your project
the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity, particularly in the horticultural food production and processing chain in K&M
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, using our Horizons tool if appropriate

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 6. 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 project objectives
the technical detail and approach of the proposed project, with reference to barriers that the project seeks to overcome
the technology development or progress that will be achieved by the project, including defined success criteria
how your approach has considered the regulatory landscape and challenges to implementing the technology
the nature of the outputs you expect from the project, for example, report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design, and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified
the nature, location and duration of the demonstration, how you will meet the minimum two week requirement and how the demonstration you propose will validate the performance of your technology
how the project relates to the horticulture and food and drink sector, what parts of the sector the project addresses and how the project outputs will impact on them

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

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 7. 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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix. This can include 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 8. Market awareness

What does the market you are targeting look like?

Describe:

the target markets for the project outcomes, any other potential markets, either 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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 9. 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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 10. 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 economy

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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 11. 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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

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 12. 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, providing a risk register if appropriate
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 so on, and how you will manage this

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

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 13. 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 would public funding offer your project, for example, appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market
the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved
what other routes of investment have you already approached
what your project would look like without public funding
how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 14. 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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

3. Finances

Each 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.

Background and further information

Delivering social value

Growing Kent & Medway (GKM) works to deliver inclusive economic growth so that all communities in the region can contribute to, and benefit from, an uplift in regional prosperity. This is achieved through a range of engagement mechanisms.

The focus of this engagement is on raising awareness and advancing opportunity in horticulture, food and drink production and the enabling technology industries, for example, robotics, sensors and AI. For instance, social value could include raising awareness around career pathways or around nutrition and wellbeing through community engagement.

Beneficiaries of GKM grant funding programmes are asked to contribute towards these social value goals. As a condition of receiving grant funding, you will be asked to commit a certain level of time towards a social value activity within the region. The amount of time to be committed, will be dependent upon the size of grant received. Applicants who fail to commit to delivering social value will be ineligible for funding.

We recognise that some businesses may already have in place well established mechanisms to deliver corporate social responsibility, for example, volunteering days for employees. However, for others this may be a less familiar concept and it might be helpful to think about people, skills and place, which aligns strongly with the UK Government’s levelling up agenda.

It is not the intention of GKM to prescribe what you do, but some suggestions are available in our social value guidelines. You are asked to outline your plans under the ‘Social Value’ response in question 2 of the application form. This question is not assessed. However, GKM will have follow-up discussions with you to ensure that quality and safeguarding issues are adequately addressed.

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and NIAB (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 NIAB 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 NIAB 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 NIAB will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

NIAB Privacy Policy

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

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, contact Innovate UK KTN.

The Growing Kent & Medway project has a dedicated team of Innovation Growth Managers available to help with consortium building and development of proposals. They can be contacted through the email address for Growing Kent & Medway.

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.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by up to 5 independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria.

Growing Kent and Medway prototyping and demonstrator fund - assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

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 Innovation Funding Service (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 business bank account. It can take several weeks for a new account to be created if required. We recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to your project start date.

The bank account which grant is to be paid into must:

be a business account in the same name as the organisation listed in IFS
be from a UK bank regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)
have a cheque and credit clearing facility

Online accounts are eligible as long as they meet the above criteria.

Innovate UK will accept most banking societies apart from:

Viva Wallet
Intesa Sanpaolo
Equals Money UK Limited

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. Once approved we will send you an email with permission to start your project on your confirmed start date.

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

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.

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 12pm and 2pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Need help with this service? Contact us