Innovate UK Grant Funding Opportunities
Innovate UK grants can fund feasibility studies, industrial research, and late-stage innovation across a wide range of sectors – from software and AI to life sciences, engineering, manufacturing, net zero and transport. This page pulls in live funding opportunities from UKRI so you can quickly spot relevant calls, check deadlines, and shortlist the best fit. If you’d like support, Innovation Tax can review eligibility, shape a compliant project plan, and strengthen your application narrative and costs, so you submit with confidence.
This page pulls a live feed of open UKRI opportunities, so you can quickly spot relevant calls by theme and sector, check opening and closing dates, and shortlist the best-fit competitions for your project.
Tip: Most calls are competitive. You’ll improve your odds by aligning your proposal to the scoring criteria, showing credible delivery, and building a clear impact story – not just describing the technology.
What Innovate UK assessors typically look for
While each competition differs, strong applications usually show a compelling case across a few core areas: a clear problem and market need (who feels the pain, how large the opportunity is, and why existing solutions fall short), credible innovation (what’s genuinely novel, what makes it technically or commercially difficult, and why it hasn’t been achieved already), and a realistic delivery plan (well-structured work packages, key dependencies, risks and mitigations, and appropriate resourcing). Where a consortium is required, they also demonstrate the right mix of partners with clear roles and balanced capability, alongside a strong impact story (economic, societal, and/or environmental) with a believable route to adoption. Finally, they include robust cost justification, aligned to eligible categories and supported by clear, defensible assumptions.
Innovate UK Grant Funding Opportunities (Live Feed)
Discover open grant opportunities from Innovate UK funding calls (updated automatically) and get expert support to assess fit, shape a winning bid, and submit with confidence.
- Full ADOPT grant: round seven
Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a share of up to £5 million for on-farm trial and demonstration projects, to improve adoption of new ideas or solutions in the agricultural sector. This is an Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) grant.Innovate UK
- Frontier artificial intelligence discovery
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2.5 million to develop feasibility studies for frontier artificial intelligence and foundation models.Innovate UK
- Future offshore wind technologies: industrial research
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £10 million to support industrial research in offshore wind across the two strands of the competition.Innovate UK
- Solution Development for Advanced Connectivity Technologies
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million to develop secure, sustainable or sovereign connectivity technologies that support the UK’s Advanced Connectivity Technologies programme. This funding is from DSIT.Innovate UK
- Zero emission vessels and infrastructure two: alternative fuels
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.Innovate UK
- Zero emission vessels and infrastructure round two: electric power
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.Innovate UK
- Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chains: Potential High Growth SMEs
UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can apply for a share of up to £2 million for pre-commercialisation projects. This funding is from Innovate UK.Innovate UK
- Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: energy efficiency
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.Innovate UK
- Medicines manufacturing: labs of the future
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £7.5 million to support the development and use of digital, automated, and robotic technologies. This aims to improve the speed and efficiency of pharmaceutical process development and manufacturing.Innovate UK
- Intention to submit: UKRI Translation: Proof of Concept
Apply for funding to commercialise your technology or science developed from the STFC PPAN community. This scheme was the STFC Late-stage Commercialisation Scheme. This is the intention to submit (ItS) stage and will be followed by the full stage submission. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for STFC funding.STFC Innovate UK
- Accelerating agri-tech manufacturing: experimental development
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £8 million for projects to accelerate agri-tech manufacturing.Innovate UK
- AgriScale: accelerating agri-tech manufacturing, industrial research
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million for projects to close product technology gaps that are preventing movement towards commercial acceptance, scale up and manufacture.Innovate UK
- Secure software for resilient growth
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £5 million for collaborative projects that enable adoption of the government's Software Security Code of Practice to drive growth of secure and resilient software supply chains.Innovate UK
- Artificial intelligence (AI) champions: frontier AI phase one
UK registered small and medium-sized enterprise businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million to deliver feasibility studies for frontier AI and machine learning technologies with a clear route defensible scale-up.Innovate UK
- National PET Imaging Platform: Data Platform
Apply for funding to host the Data Platform for the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP), a UK Research and Innovation Infrastructure Fund investment. You must be a member of the consortium bid developed and approved by NPIP and based at a UK research organisation eligible for MRC funding.MRC Innovate UK
- Clean maritime demonstration competition seven: pre-deployment trials
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £121 million across the three strands of this competition for innovative clean maritime technologies. This funding is from DfT.Innovate UK
- Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7: Deployment trials
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £121 million across the three strands of this competition for innovative clean maritime technologies. This funding is from the Department for Transport (DfT).Innovate UK
- Clean maritime demonstration competition 7: feasibility studies
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £121 million across the three strands of this competition for innovative clean maritime technologies. This funding is from the Department for Transport.Innovate UK
- Robotics adoption hubs
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £38 million for creating one-stop shops to help end-users adopt robotics and autonomous systems with expert guidance.Innovate UK
- 2409 : Robotics Adoption Central Convening Body
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for creating a central convening body to coordinate the robotics adoption hubs. Funding is from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).Innovate UK
Found a call that looks relevant? Send us the link and we’ll tell you if it’s worth pursuing.
Quick check: You’re more likely to be eligible if you can show (1) genuine innovation, (2) technical uncertainty, (3) a clear route to impact, and (4) realistic costs and delivery plan.
How Innovation Tax supports grant applications
Applying for Innovate UK funding is more than completing a form – you’re building a case that your project is innovative, deliverable, and high impact. We support businesses through the full lifecycle, including:
- Opportunity selection & fit assessment
What to apply for and what to avoid - Project shaping
Scope, objectives, work packages, deliverables, and milestones - Technical narrative & innovation rationale
State of the art, novelty, challenges, validation approach - Commercial story & impact
Market need, traction, adoption pathway, benefits - Finance & costs
Eligible costs, assumptions, value-for-money, matching funds - Writing & review
Clear, compliant responses aligned to scoring criteria - Risk, ethics & compliance
Data, IP, security, regulatory, EDI, sustainability requirements - Exploitation & IP strategy
Ownership, IP, protection and commercialisation plan
Want help choosing the right call or writing a stronger bid?
If you’ve found a funding opportunity that looks promising, we can help you validate eligibility, shape and refine the scope, and strengthen your application to improve your chances of success – from a rapid eligibility review and bid-writing support (or a critical review of what you’ve drafted), through to budget and work package structuring, finishing with a full submission-readiness check.
Find out if your project is eligible - fast.
A quick, no-obligation review to assess eligibility and potential value.
- Initial assessment in 24–48 hours
- Grant Funding Specialists
- Clear next steps & checklist