Innovate UK Investor Partnerships: SME round 8

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

Competition opens: Thursday 20 June 2024
Competition closes: Wednesday 14 August 2024 11:00am

Description

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 our programmes.

These programmes will focus on the future economy as described in our plan for action.

The future economy investor partnership programme brings together:

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

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.

Eligibility

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 12 months

For experimental development projects:

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

Scope

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

Future Economy

The Future Economy Investor Partnership programme has committed over £87 million in grant funding across the future economy areas included in the Innovate UK plan for action.

This covers:

• net zero
• health and wellbeing
• next generation digital technologies and technology families

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

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

Dates

• 20 June 2024 Competition opens
• 25 June 2024 Online briefing event: watch the recording
• 14 August 2024 11:00am Competition closes
• 8 October 2024 Applicants notified
• 1 February 2025 Expected project start date

How to apply

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.