Funding competition Biomedical Catalyst 2024 Round 1: Industry-led R&D

UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £15 million to develop innovative solutions to health, and healthcare, challenges. This funding is from Innovate UK.

Competition opens: Monday 2 September 2024
Competition closes: Wednesday 16 October 2024 11:00am

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Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £15 million in innovation projects.

The aim of this industry-led R&D competition is to support SMEs to develop innovative solutions to address health, and healthcare, challenges.

Your project can focus on:

disease prevention and proactive management of health and chronic conditions
earlier and better detection and diagnosis of disease, leading to better patient outcomes
tailored treatments that either change the underlying disease or offer potential cures
transforming the delivery of healthcare
the development of digital health technologies
consumer focused self-care

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

The industry led research and development (R&D) stream of the Biomedical Catalyst programme supports pre-market R&D projects. You must be able to demonstrate existing evidence of commercial and technical feasibility.

Your proposal must show how your project will improve the competitiveness and productivity of at least one UK SME partner involved in the project.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project’s total costs must be between £150,000 and £4 million. The total grant cannot exceed £2 million.

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 making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

have total project costs between £150,000 and £4 million
not exceed a grant request of £2 million
have at least 50% of the total project costs shared by the SMEs, if collaborative
last between 6 months and 36 months
carry out all of its project work in the UK
intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
start by 1 May 2025
end by 30 September 2028

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

If you have requested an overall grant of over £500,000, and your online application is eligible in this competition, you may be invited to attend an interview.

Lead organisation

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must be a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).

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

Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.

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 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 and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

Partners must accept terms and conditions (T&Cs) and complete the subsidy question in order for the application to be submitted.

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 eligible 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 cannot 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.

Extenuating circumstances where overseas work may be allowable include, for example, clinical trials in a specific patient population. The assessors will be asked to judge whether you have sufficiently made a case for the use of overseas subcontractors.

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

Number of applications

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

If an SME is not leading on any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.

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

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

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

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

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 the Windsor Framework 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.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or De Minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £15 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

You must not claim more than £2 million in grant against your total eligible project costs. A minimum of 50% of your total eligible project costs must be incurred by the SMEs, if collaborative.

The total grant request in your application cannot exceed £2 million. This is regardless of the individual partner’s grant claims.

The balance between your total eligible project costs and the amount of grant awarded must be funded by the organisations receiving the 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 can 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 can 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 50% 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 50% you can 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 eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

Your proposal

The aim of this industry-led R&D competition is to support SMEs to develop innovative solutions to address health, and healthcare, challenges.

Your project can include:

experimental evaluation (at laboratory scale)
use of in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate proof of concept or safety
exploring potential production mechanisms
prototyping
product development planning
intellectual property protection
a demonstration of clinical utility and effectiveness
a demonstration of safety and efficacy (including phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials)
regulatory planning

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies and themes. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project can focus on any health, or healthcare, sector or discipline including:

advanced therapies (including gene and cell therapies)
biosciences
preclinical technologies and drug target discovery
therapeutic and medicine development
diagnostics
medical technology and devices
precision medicine
digital health
independent living

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

Research categories

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

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

are fundamental research or feasibility projects
are not related to human life sciences
focus on a product that is already on the market
focus on laboratory accreditation
are conducted to anything less than the highest standards of animal welfare

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

2 September 2024: Competition opens
5 September 2024: Online briefing event at 12pm : watch the recording
Briefing slides are available to download from Supporting Information
16 October 2024 11:00am: Competition closes
13 December 2024: Invite to interview
6 January 2025: Interview panel commences
10 January 2025: Interview panel ends
21 January 2025: Applicants notified

Before you start

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

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

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

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

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

Project details.
Application questions.
Finances.
Project Impact.

Accessibility and Inclusion

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, 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.

The lead applicant must complete their survey to submit the application.

Application details

The lead applicant must complete this section. 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. You will need to provide up to 10 keywords to support our assessor selection. 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 can 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. 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.

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

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Clinical trials (not scored)

Will your project involve any human clinical trials?

You must select one option:

Question 4. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

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

You must select one option:

Yes
No
In process of being applied for
Not applicable

Question 5. Specific theme (not scored)

Select the area that best describes the focus of your application:

advanced therapies (including gene and cell therapies)
biosciences
preclinical technologies and drug target discovery
therapeutic and medicine development
diagnostics
medical technology and devices
precision medicine
digital health
independent living

Question 6. Need or challenge

What is the health or healthcare need, technology challenge, business or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Explain:

the main motivation for the project
the health, or healthcare, challenge this project addresses and the impacts your solution will have
the current methods used to address this challenge, if any, and why they need to be improved
whether you have identified any similar innovation and their 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

Provide:

evidence that the health, or healthcare, challenge is real and has a market, both nationally and internationally, that will generate demand for your proposed solution
any input you have received from healthcare professionals, patients, potential partners or representatives of the onward supply chain

Question 7. Approach and innovation

How does your project address the stated needs and challenges, and what is innovative about your idea from a commercial, scientific and technical perspective?

Explain:

how you will respond to the healthcare need, challenge or opportunity identified, and the nature of the outputs you expect from the project, for example, report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design

what is innovative about your approach, how does this address the health or healthcare challenge in a novel way
what is the underpinning scientific or technical evidence to support your solution
all relevant prior experimental or technical evidence and explain how this links to the proposed study, including any preclinical or clinical work conducted to date and the outcomes
what the existing products are, current gold standards and practices that are currently in use, and how your innovation compares
how this innovation will fit into the current standard of care; will the innovation focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
the technical and commercial benefits and shortcomings of your approach
the characteristics of a minimal viable product (MVP), if applicable

This list is not exhaustive and you can include the results of competitor analyses and literature surveys.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages but must be in 11 point font size.

Question 8. Team and resources

Describe how the team has the right skills, experience and access to facilities, to deliver your project and exploit it?

Explain:

the roles, skills, experience and track record of all members of the project team, including collaborators and subcontractors, to demonstrate their ability to deliver your project and exploit the output
the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them
the current relationships and any previous activities between project partners, and how these will change as a result of the project, if your project is collaborative
any roles you will need to recruit for and how this process will be managed
how your project supports or builds on the existing UK supply chain and addresses end user needs

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 no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages but must be in 11 point font size.

Question 9. 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, 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

Question 10. 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 target customers or end users, and how the project outcomes relate to the value propositions needed for them to use or purchase your innovation
your route to market, channel, geographies and the projected or target market share gains over time from the intended project outcomes
your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position
the long-term potential economic benefits to the UK in terms of increasing revenue, profitability, job creation
the regulatory requirements for the innovation you are developing and the strategies to demonstrate conformity
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 11. Intellectual property (IP) and freedom to operate (FTO)

What is the IP position of your innovation, and how will it be managed?

Describe:

any existing IP which may affect, or which is relevant to, the project delivery and exploitation, both internal and external
the current state of IP ownership and, where necessary, how rights have been assigned
your freedom to operate and who conducted any FTO analysis if applicable
any IP that you expect to be generated as a result of your project
your strategy for protecting the knowledge and IP resulting from your project, and if it is a collaborative project how will you assign IP rights to project partners
where IP is limited for your project what strategies will be used to stop exploitation by external parties

You must provide evidence that you have freedom to operate and that you can work without infringing other patents, for example, by summarising the results of patent searches.

Question 12. Project management

Please provide an overview of the technical approach including the main objectives of the work with enough detail for the assessors to understand tasks involved and resources required.

Describe:

the current status of your innovation and where you expect to be at the end of your project
your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome
how the method and technical approach is appropriate to the needs of the project and the timescale
the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one
your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones
how any study design is robust and that key milestone timings are realistic
your resources and capability to undertake the project
clear management reporting lines
If relevant, compare and contrast alternative R&D strategies and describe why your proposed approach will offer the best outcome

You must provide justification for the use of animal or human subjects and the numbers of animals and samples to be tested.

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. You can also include a study design, protocol or approach. It can be up to four A4 pages but must be in 11 point font size.

Question 13. Risks

Innovate UK recognises that projects of this type are risky, we expect that your project has adequate arrangements for identifying and managing these risks.

What are the technical, commercial and environmental risks to project success?

Explain:

your project’s risk management strategy
the main risks and uncertainties of your project and provide a detailed risk analysis for your project’s content and approach, including a risk register
the technical, including regulatory, commercial, managerial and environmental risks as well as other uncertainties, such as ethical issues associated with your project
the potential impact of these risks and how your project would mitigate them
the project management tools and mechanisms that will be used to minimise operational risk
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 using an international standard, such as ISO 14971, where possible to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages but must be in 11 point font size.

Question 14. 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
why you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, including the avenues of alternate funding you have explored and the responses
how failure to secure public funding for your project would affect the R&D activity undertaken by the project partners and related spend profile, including your plan should public funding not meet any or all of your request
any claims for activity performed by senior and C-suite staff, why this activity could not be performed by lower cost members of staff and clarify the value of this activity to the project outcomes

Describe any other benefits to the UK and wider UK innovation ecosystem if your project was funded, including:

any expected impact on government priorities
any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative
any expected regional impacts of the project
any expected social impacts such as quality of life, social inclusion, public empowerment, health and safety, diversity

Question 15. Costs and value for money

What are the resources required to deliver your project and how much will they cost?

You must:

explain the total eligible project costs and the grant requested, from each of the project partners
provide justification of the breakdown of your costs, for example, any quotations you have received
the balance of costs and grant across the project partners
any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project
include all internal and external costs for your project (costs must be consistent with the category of R&D being undertaken)
describe how each partner will finance their contributions to your project including how funding will be available to cover cash flow pending quarterly reimbursement of costs from Innovate UK
explain the resources required to carry out your project including materials, capital equipment and people

This information should complement the financial summary table in the application form.

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.

4. 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.

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.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by five 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:

BMC R1 2024 - Assessor guidance for applicants .pdf (opens in a new window)

Interviews

If you have requested an overall grant of over £500,000, and your online application is eligible in this competition you may be invited to attend an interview with the major investment panel (MIP), where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place online. The date and time of your interview will be included in your invitation.

The MIP will score each project in line with scoring matrices. They will recommend a ranked list of applications for Innovate UK and its affinity partners to fund. Funding decisions are solely made based on the recommendations of the MIP and not on the scores from the original written assessment. These scores are intended to rank the projects that are invited to interview, they are not a ‘re-marking’ of the initial application and so the score may vary considerably to the written application scores.

We aim to build a portfolio that is consistent with the spend profile of available funding. Innovate UK reserves the right to maximise the funding available across high-quality projects. This means that the portfolio of projects funded may not follow a strict ranked sequence of the assessor’s scores, but they will all meet or exceed the agreed quality line throughout our independent external assessment process.

Before the interview and by the deadline stated in the invitation email, you:

must send a list of who will attend the interview
must send your interview presentation slides
can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Agree the list with your consortium. Up to three people from your project can attend, ideally one person from each organisation. They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.

Presentation slides

Your interview presentation must:

use Microsoft PowerPoint
be no longer than 10 minutes
have no more than 10 slides
not include any video or embedded web links

You cannot change the presentation after you submit it or bring any additional materials to the interview.

Written response to assessor feedback

This is optional and is an opportunity to answer the assessors’ concerns. It can:

be up to 10 A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document
include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend 20 minutes asking questions. You will be expected to answer based on the information you provided in your application form, presentation and the response to feedback.

After your interview

The panellists will individually score your application and these will be averaged for your overall interview score. This score will supersede the one you received from initial assessment unless stated otherwise in the competition brief. We will notify you whether you have been successful or not by email and you will receive feedback on your interview within a week of notification.

Background and further information

The Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) was established in 2012 and identified a market failure in terms of access to funding for early-stage UK life sciences companies.

Life Sciences industry is a core pillar of the UK economy and is specifically referenced in the Build Back Better document published by HM Treasury in March 2021. The market failure identified in 2012 is still present.

Further information can be found in the Biomedical Catalyst guidance. The Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) has three key objectives:

deliver growth to the UK life sciences sector
deliver innovative life sciences products and services into healthcare more quickly and effectively
provide support to academically and commercially led R&D

Briefing slides

Download the briefing slides.

Applicant briefing 2015 BMC 2024 Rd1 Industry-led R (opens in a new window)

If your application is successful

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

You will be notified by email on the date published for this competition. Notifications may be sent any time up to 5pm.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your Innovation Funding Service (IFS) Set Up portal, where we gather the information to set up your project.

Watch our video on what steps there are before a project starts.

During the project set up you will be assigned a delivery executive who will guide you through the whole project set up process.

Following your email notification, you will need to provide the following within 5 days (including weekends and bank holidays):

the name and contact details of your project manager and project finance lead
a finance contact for all partners
a copy of your bank details

You will need to provide the following within 30 days (including weekends and bank holidays):

a collaboration agreement, if collaborative
an exploitation plan

You will have 90 days (including weekends and bank holidays) to complete all of your project set up. Within this time, you will also be required to submit:

project location
any answers to financial queries we have requested
any requested documentation to support your project such as a spend profile

Your funding offer may be withdrawn if project setup is not completed within this or an alternative timeframe as advised by Innovate UK.

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
Modulr FS 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.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth

If you receive an award, you will be contacted about working with an innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth. 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 Business Growth, delivered by a knowledgeable and objective specialist near you.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is operated by Innovate UK.

Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with our own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles

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 UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.

Need help with this service? Contact us