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.
- DRIVE35: Scale-up Fund Drawdown 6
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million to create scale up manufacturing facilities for zero emission vehicle technologies.Innovate UK
- Wearables and observables: Understanding home learning environment
Apply for funding to develop, test and validate innovative approaches for measuring and understanding children's home learning environments and their influence on learning, development, school readiness and educational outcomes. Open to UKRI-eligible UK research organisations.UKRI-wide ESRC NERC Innovate UK AHRC BBSRC EPSRC MRC
- UK-Netherlands co-innovation for quantum technology 2026
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.5 million for projects in quantum technology. You must collaborate with at least one Netherlands based business applying under the equivalent Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) programme.Innovate UK
- Healthy soils and water for a sustainable environment
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £28 million for soil, water and environmental management. This funding is from Farming Futures Research and Development Fund.Innovate UK
- Growth Cohorts: next-gen low carbon concrete cohort entry round 2
UK registered businesses can apply to join a cohort of ambitious businesses. These businesses will develop solutions to decarbonise concrete and access funding and sector specific support, to develop and deliver innovation and growth plans.Innovate UK
- Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: CR&D round 2
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the Department of Health and Social Care to invest up to £7 million to support the development and adoption of sustainable technologies for the manufacturing of medicines.Innovate UK
- Advancing solutions for critical mineral production and recycling
Apply for funding for pump-priming research to explore, test and validate disruptive and transformative solutions for critical mineral extraction, processing, recovery, reprocessing, recycling or re-mining. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding.NERC Innovate UK AHRC BBSRC EPSRC ESRC
- BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for decision critical systems
UK registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) can apply for a share of up to £5 million to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions that support consequential judgements, recommendations or decisions.Innovate UK
- BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for operational systems
UK registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) can apply for a share of up to £5 million to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions that perform, control or coordinate operational activity.Innovate UK
- Full ADOPT grant: round 10
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
- BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for assurance and compliance
UK registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) can apply for a share of up to £5 million to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions that monitor, test, verify or evidence compliance with requirements, standards or controls.Innovate UK
- Eureka collaborative R&D: Globalstars Japan 2027
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £2 million for collaborative industrial research and development (R&D) projects with partners from Japan and select Eureka countries.Innovate UK
- MDI programme innovation and scale-up hub
UK registered eligible organisations can apply for a share of up to £4 million for a manufacturing digitalisation innovation (MDI) and scale-up hub to improve the targeting, quality and commercial impact of grant funded activity.Innovate UK
- Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships round 1
UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £8 million to develop engineering biology products and services with selected investor partners.Innovate UK
- Germany Bilateral Collaborative R&D: round 5
UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £2.4 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Germany. You must collaborate with at least one German SME applying under the equivalent German ZIM programme.Innovate UK
- Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund (CKAF) winter
UK registered government research organisations can apply for grants from £50,000 up to £250,000 to move viable public sector knowledge assets towards commercial readiness. This funding is provided by the Government Office for Technology Transfer.Innovate UK
- Battery innovation: concept development round three
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. This funding is from the battery innovation programme.Innovate UK
- Battery innovation: feasibility studies round three
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. This funding is from the battery innovation programme.Innovate UK
- UK-Singapore CRD 2026
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Singapore. You must collaborate with at least one Singapore business applying under the equivalent Enterprise Singapore programme.Innovate UK
- 2445: DRIVE35: Scale Up Fund
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million, to create scale up manufacturing facilities for zero emission vehicle technologies.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