Funding competition Investor Partnerships: Clean Energy and Climate Technologies

UK registered SMEs can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners.

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Competition sections

Description

Innovate UK Growth Catalyst

Innovate UK Growth Catalyst is an integrated package of funding and support, designed to help accelerate high-potential start-ups on their journey to becoming scale-ups and beyond.

For this first pilot, we are targeting late-stage start-ups from seed to Series A, the funding element will be through our proven Investor Partnerships model, with expert support available from our Innovate UK Business Growth Innovation and Growth Specialists, Innovate UK Business Connect and Catapults.

The next pilot in July will be for early-stage, pre-seed start-ups. For more information on Innovate UK Growth Catalyst, please visit: https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/opportunities/innovate-uk-growth-catalyst-for-late-stage-startups/

Investor Partnerships

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, has selected investor partners with aligned investment interests and capacity to lead investments.

These investor partners have demonstrated that they have the credibility, capability, capacity and appetite to invest in innovative, technology-led businesses in areas that align with our programmes.

The Investor Partnerships programme brings together:

  • Innovate UK’s expertise in identifying innovation and using grant funding to change the risk profile of businesses
  • investor partners’ aligned funding and expertise in identifying opportunities and teams that can best use extra investment finance

This approach aims to provide you with support for research and development and access to the capital investment you need to develop and commercialise your innovations.

This round will focus on technology and innovations that aim to deliver government commitment to clean energy for the UK and accelerating to net zero, helping the UK to prosper from the transition to net zero. This includes solutions and enabling technologies that make a significant contribution to mitigating climate emissions, across heat, power, mobility, manufacturing, materials, agriculture and food production systems.

Innovate UK provides support for your investment readiness and for engaging with suitable investors through Innovate UK Business Growth and Innovate UK Business Connect. In the first instance you should contact Innovate UK Business Growth for support in understanding your readiness for investment and also to look at your wider strategy for growth.

You should also contact Innovate UK Business Connect to establish if there are specific programmes for connecting businesses in your sector to relevant investors. Support and connections to sector specific investors can also be provided by the relevant Catapults.

You will need to establish a relationship and a level of investment traction with one of our approved investor partners before you apply for funding. In practice the investor partner must confirm that you can apply and must therefore have confirmed with you that they have a serious interest in investing in your business. Examples of sufficient investment traction will depend on the approach taken by the investor partner and could include:

  • Indicative offer from an investor partner which could include from an angel investor from an investor partner angel group or network
  • Going through due diligence with an investor partner
  • Received a term sheet from an interested investor partner

A full list of selected investor partners is provided at Innovate UK Investor Partners – UKRI and Innovate UK Business Connect investor partnerships websites.

The investor partner must have submitted an expression of interest directly to Innovate UK and confirmed with you that you are in a position to apply for grant funding as you will be asked to identify them in the application.

To be successful, your project must be independently assessed by Innovate UK as fundable and receive aligned investment directly, led or catalysed by the investor partner identified in your application.

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 will depend on your research category and must be between £50,000 and £300,000 for feasibility studies, £100,000 and £1 million for industrial research, £250,000 and £2 million for experimental development.

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

The eligibility criteria will depend on your research category.

For feasibility studies projects:

  • your total project costs must be between £50,000 and £300,000
  • the project duration must be between 6 and 12 months

For industrial research projects:

  • your total project costs must be between £100,000 and £1 million
  • the project duration must be between 6 and 24 months

For experimental development projects:

  • your total project costs must be between £250,000 and £2 million
  • the project duration must be between 12 and 24 months

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. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

Your organisation

This competition is open to single applicants only. To apply your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized business (SME)
  • carry out its project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
  • be invited to apply by your investor partner after they have submitted an expression of interest to Innovate UK
  • have discussed and agreed your proposal with your investor partner before submitting your application

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

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 subcontractors 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 eligible project costs

Number of applications

An SME can only submit one application into this round of the competition.

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:

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

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.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies 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

You will only receive grant funding from Innovate UK if you also receive a minimum level of aligned investment that has been led by your investor partner. The minimum level of investment will depend on the research level.

Innovate UK will decide which projects are eligible and in scope to receive grant funding. The decision will be based on the assessment of your application by independent assessors. We will also take into account the impact of the grant in accelerating investment and the likelihood of the investment completing within a reasonable time.

If you are successful, you will receive grant funding to cover a proportion of the costs of your project. The project will only be allowed to commence once the agreed aligned investment has been confirmed.

Your business must have sufficient capital resources, including through investment from the investor partner and the grant funding, to enable you to meet all your project’s eligible costs.

All recipients must act commercially, and your funding request must not exceed the limits specified.

Feasibility studies and industrial research projects

For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, Innovate UK will fund:

  • up to 70% of eligible project costs for micro or small organisations
  • up to 60% for medium sized organisations

The aligned investment led by the investor partner must always be at least equal to the grant funding.

Experimental development projects

For experimental development projects Innovate UK will fund:

  • up to 45% of eligible project costs for micro or small organisations
  • up to 35% for medium sized organisations

The aligned investment led by the investor partner must always be at least twice as much as the grant funding.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to provide you with support for research and development and access to the capital investment you need to develop and commercialise your innovations.

Your proposal must have a clear route to market, a clear link to innovation and evidence that you can create a team to deliver your proposal.

You must be:

  • registered in the UK as an SME by the time the award is contracted
  • able to complete the aligned investment led by the investor partner needed to qualify for the award, through the issue of new shares or convertible debt

You must also demonstrate that if your project is funded, it will:

  • have significant market impact
  • be scalable
  • be attractive to equity investors

Clean Energy and Climate Technologies

This round will focus on technology and innovations that aim to deliver government commitment to clean energy for the UK and accelerating to net zero, helping the UK to prosper from the transition to net zero. This includes solutions and enabling technologies that make a significant contribution to mitigating climate emissions, across heat, power, mobility, manufacturing, materials, agriculture and food production systems.

Innovation and ideas can come from anyone and anywhere. We want to see investments unlocked for the diverse and extraordinary talent in the UK.

We encourage innovation involving communities that are typically under-represented, including:

  • from regions that have historically accessed lower levels of investment (outside London, Oxford and Cambridge)
  • ethnic minority groups
  • women and other marginalised genders
  • people with disabilities
  • people with non-traditional education backgrounds

Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects within Investor Partnerships. Where funding is limited, we may make a funding decision based on the project type and size, grant requested, business stage, location, and sector within the scope criteria. We call this a portfolio approach.

We will also take into account the impact of the grant in accelerating investment and the likelihood of the investment completing within a reasonable time.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on technology and innovations that aim to deliver government commitment to clean energy for the UK and accelerating to net zero, helping the UK to prosper from the transition to net zero. This includes solutions and enabling technologies that make a significant contribution to mitigating climate emissions, across heat, power, mobility, manufacturing, materials, agriculture and food production systems.

Example areas of focus could include:

Clean Energy Solutions.

Innovations that are low cost, improve energy security and reduce emissions.

For example:

  • renewable energy technologies including offshore wind, hydrogen production, distribution and use, nuclear, and fusion
  • System flexibility and energy storage including chemical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and digital solutions to help balance supply and demand across a range of durations
  • carbon capture, utilisation and storage
  • Energy efficiency and electrified heating system solutions for homes and other buildings, including technology to provide live data supporting upgrades

Sustainable Mobility.

Technologies that reduce emissions across all forms of mobility.

Including:

  • electrification and alternative fuels
  • smart, automated, connected & efficient mobility
  • decarbonising freight & logistics, and the infrastructure to enable reducing emissions, including bidirectional charging

Sustainable Low-Carbon Materials and Manufacturing.

Innovations that to foster sustainable growth across industrial processes and supply chains.

Including:

  • energy efficiency
  • resource efficiency
  • circularity
  • process optimisation
  • fuel switching
  • carbon capture
  • hydrogen
  • translation and scaling of sustainable materials and the application of industrial biotechnology.

Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production Systems.

Novel low emission production systems.

Including:

  • alternative proteins from diverse sources (e.g. plant, algae, fungi, bacteria, aquatic plants)
  • precision and biomass fermentation,
  • cultivated meat and new production systems (insects, novel aquaculture).

Technologies which reduce emissions in agriculture.

Including:

  • precision & regenerative agriculture
  • soil health
  • low emission fertilisers
  • methane reduction technologies
  • controlled environment agriculture and electrification & alternative fuels in agriculture

This is an illustrative list. You must demonstrate how your project aligns to the scope in your application.

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 are:

  • not carried out by SMEs
  • collaborative R&D projects
  • not part of a company’s growth plan
  • unable to prove there is potential for return on investment and growth
  • large capital infrastructure
  • not invited by a specified investor partner

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 May 2025
Competition opens
7 May 2025
Online briefing event: watch the recording
Briefing slides are now available to download from Supporting Information.
2 July 2025 11:00am
Competition closes
31 July 2025
Applicants notified
1 November 2025
Project start from

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

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

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

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

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes 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).

1. Project details

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

Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Application team

Decide which people from your organisation will work with you on the project and invite those people 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 question 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.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. If you do, your application will be made ineligible.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation, any partners and subcontractors working on your project. We are collecting this information to understand more about 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:

  • Yes
  • No

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

Question 3. 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 which 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 4. Investor partner (not scored)

Provide the name of the investor partner who you are working with.

We will contact the investor partner to confirm how the grant funding will impact the proposed investment, and the current stage of completion. This forms part of the decision of whether your application is successful.

Question 5. Need, challenge and market opportunity

What is the business need, technological challenge, and market opportunity behind your innovation? What does the market or markets you are targeting look like?

Explain:

  • the main motivation for the project
  • the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity
  • 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
  • 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

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 600 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 will you improve on the 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 report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

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 2 A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 7. Team, resources and delivery

Who is in the project team, what are their roles and how will you manage your project effectively?

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 subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
  • any roles you will need to recruit for
  • the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead 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 600 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 two A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

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

Question 8. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term 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 9. Project 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, 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 two A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Costs, value for money and added value

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

In terms of your project goals, explain:

  • your total project costs
  • the grant you are requesting
  • how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
  • how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise
  • any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project
  • what advantages public funding would 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 alternative funding strategies were considered and why they were not suitable
  • how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding
  • what your project would look like without public funding
  • how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved

Your answer can be up to 600 words long. 

3. Finances

Your organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance please see the eligibility section in this competition. 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 three 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:

(Comp title assessor guidance)

Background and further information

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, has selected a pool of investor partners. These investor partners have demonstrated that they have the credibility, capability, capacity and appetite to invest in innovative, technology-led businesses that align with the programmes.

The Investor Partnerships brings together:

  • Innovate UK’s expertise in identifying innovation and using grant funding to change the risk profile of businesses
  • investor partners’ aligned funding and expertise in identifying opportunities and teams that can best use extra investment finance

This approach aims to provide you with support for research and development and access to the capital investment you need to develop and commercialise your innovations.

Innovate UK provide support for your investment readiness and for engaging with suitable investors via Innovate UK Business Growth and Innovate UK Business Connect.

In the first instance you should contact Innovate UK Business Growth for support in understanding your readiness for investment and also to look at your wider strategy for growth.

You should also contact Innovate UK Business Connect to establish if there are specific programmes for connecting businesses in your sector to relevant investors. Support and connections to sector specific investors may also be provided by the relevant catapult centre.

You will need to establish a relationship and a level of investment traction with one of our approved investor partners before you apply for funding.

In practice the investor partner must confirm that you can apply and must therefore have confirmed with you that they have a serious interest in investing in your business.

Examples of sufficient investment traction will depend on the approach taken by the investor partner and could include:

  • Indicative offer from an investor partner which could include from an angel investor from an investor partner angel group or network
  • Going through due diligence with an investor partner
  • Received a term sheet from an interested investor partner

A full list of selected investor partners is provided at Innovate UK Investor Partners – UKRI and Innovate UK Business Connect investor partnerships websites.

The investor partner must have submitted an expression of interest directly to Innovate UK and confirmed with you that you are in a position to apply for grant funding as you will be asked to identify them in the application.

To be successful, your project must be independently assessed by Innovate UK as fundable and receive investment directly, led or catalysed by the investor partner.

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording: watch the recording.
Briefing slides are available to download here:

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project set up process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS).

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project.

Watch our video on what steps there are before a project starts or read more about Project Setup in our general guidance.

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.

The GOL will be made available on your IFS portal. You will not be able to start your project until:

  • you have signed the GOL
  • your investor partner has confirmed the investment by completing and signing an additional annex to the GOL
  • the GOL and additional signed annexes have been uploaded to IFS
  • we have confirmed that the investment meets the requirements of the aligned investment

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 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 for any of the following reasons:

  • your average score was not above the funding threshold
  • your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach
  • we were not convinced that the grant was making a significant difference in the investment and in all likelihood the investment would have happened anyway
  • you do not have sufficient traction with the investor and we doubt that the investment will complete in a reasonable period of time
  • the investment has already been secured
  • the selected investor partner is not taking a significant role in leading or facilitating the investment

We would like to remind you that eligible non-funded business can still benefit from fully funded and bespoke support from the Innovate UK Business Growth service.

Find an investor partner

A full list of selected investor partners is provided at Innovate UK Investor Partners – UKRI and Innovate UK Business Connect investor partnerships websites.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Our innovation and growth specialists provide our fully funded and bespoke support to clients nationwide. Please visit the service’s website to discover whether you could benefit from this advisory support, which is available to Innovate UK funded and non-funded businesses alike.

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.

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s regional UK third parties. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

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

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

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.

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