Advanced Manufacturing: Measurement and Sensing Pilot

Your participation in the pilot

Your application must:

• have a grant funding request of £80,420, £75,000 grant funding over the duration of the pilot and £5,420 towards Business Connect support that you will receive

• have a grant funding request that matches your total costs

• request support for 9 months

Your funded activities must start by 1 March 2027 and end no later than 30 November 2027.

You must take part in all support activities based on identified need and as agreed with Innovate UK.

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.

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

You must only claim eligible costs during the pilot period and must be agreed with Innovate UK before being incurred. See our overview of eligible project costs.

You will be made ineligible if you exceed the Minimal Financial Assistance limit. You must submit a complete declaration as part of your application.

Lead organisation

To be eligible to join this pilot your business must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME).

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

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this pilot.

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 you will need to make the case as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK. You do not need to provide specific details at this stage but you will need to justify why at a later date if successful.

You must also provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you if successful.

We expect all subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible costs. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

Number of applications

An eligible business can only submit one application. Any further applications by the same organisation will be made ineligible.

Sanctions

This pilot 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, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

All activities 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 start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You cannot use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

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

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

Minimal Financial Assistance (and de minimis where applicable)

Grant funding is awarded as Minimal Financial assistance (MFA). This allows public bodies to award up to £315,000 to an enterprise in a 3-year rolling financial period.

In your application, you will be asked to declare previous funding received by you. This will form part of the financial checks ahead of Innovate UK making a formal grant offer.

To establish your eligibility, we need to check that our support added to the amount you have previously received does not exceed the limit of £315,000 in the ‘applicable period’.

The applicable period is made up of:

(a) the elapsed part of the current financial year, and

(b) the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year.

You must include any funding which you have received during the applicable period under:

• Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights)

• De Minimis Regulation

You do not need to include aid or subsidies which have been granted on a different basis, for example, an aid award granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation.

Further information about the Subsidy Control Act 2022 requirements can be found in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

EU Commission rules now only apply in limited circumstances. 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, you should take independent legal advice. We cannot advise on individual eligibility or your legal obligations.

Funding

Up to £1 million has been allocated to fund companies in this pilot. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant and non-grant support from Innovate UK and other organisations.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding.

Your total costs will be eligible for up to 100% funding subject to MFA subsidy rules. You must apply for 100% funding.

Total costs within your application must not exceed the maximum amount of £80,420. If your total costs do exceed the maximum, then your application will be made ineligible.

For more information on company sizes, refer to the Company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under European Commission Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

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

The aim of this pilot is to recruit and support ambitious and innovative SMEs with the potential to grow and scale a business in the UK. The business must be developing a technology, product or service based on measurement, sensing or instrumentation that solves a problem faced by advanced manufacturing supply chains in the UK. They will improve the productivity, resource efficiency or resilience of a manufacturer.

Businesses in this pilot will receive a programme of support and funding for a period of 9 months. If successful, you will be able to draw down from your agreed funding based on need and in agreement with Innovate UK throughout the nine month support period.

This pilot is not funding projects; to be in scope your business must meet the following criteria.

Your business must be developing a technology, product or service based on measurement, sensing or instrumentation to addresses a specific problem faced by advanced manufacturing supply chains.

The problem must relate to improving productivity, resource efficiency or resilience.

The supply chains must be part of at least one of the following UK advanced manufacturing supply chains:

• Automotive

• Aerospace

• Battery

• Space

• The commercial production of Advanced Materials

Your business must aim to grow and scale in the UK by selling your technology, product or service to customers both in the UK and worldwide.

If you are selected to join the pilot, it will last for 9 months, during which you can claim up to £75,000 of grant towards eligible costs incurred.

You will also be expected to participate fully with the support activities and engage with a team from Innovate UK, IUK Business Connect and Business Growth to develop and action a growth plan. The support activities will be tailored to the needs of each company.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding businesses in this pilot that are:

• developing a technology, product or service for the Agri-tech supply chain

• developing new or improved advanced materials

• a manufacturer who is looking to develop a new technology approach for their own operations

• submitting an application based on a project

We cannot fund businesses that:

• involve primary production in fishery and aquaculture

• involve primary production in agriculture

• are not allowed under de minimis regulation restrictions

• are not eligible to receive Minimal Financial Assistance

• are dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country

• are dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product

10 September 2026

Online briefing event: register to attend

Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event.

6 November 2026

Invite to interview pitch

30 November 2026

Interview pitch panel start

7 December 2026

Interview pitch panel end

18 December 2026

Applicants notified

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

Before submitting, it is your 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 business will work with you on the application and invite those people to help complete the process.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Pilot summary

Describe your pilot briefly and be clear about what makes your technology product or service innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 200 words long.

Public description of your company and technology

Describe your company and technology, product or service in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we select you for this pilot, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start.

Your answer can be up to 200 words long.

Scope

Describe how your businesses technology, product or service fits the scope of the pilot. If your company is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 200 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 11. 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.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your business.

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

Question 2. Minimal Financial Assistance declaration (not scored)

You must download the declaration template. You must complete this, declaring any funding received under Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) or de minimis awards, (from any source of public funding) in the applicable period.

You must complete all the fields on your form before uploading and write ‘declaration attached’ in the question text box.

You must upload the completed declaration as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It must be legible at 100% zoom.

You must keep all documentation relating to Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) and other de minimis awards for a period of 6 years. You must be prepared to release it to any public funding body which requests it.

Question 3. 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.

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

Question 4. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to operate during the pilot?

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

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In the process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 5. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the potential names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Question 6. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for your business under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 7. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your work is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this work under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Question 8. Technology maturity (not scored)

Which of the following best represents how developed your core innovation is?

You must select one option:

• idea or research stage

• initial prototype, process or tool

• scale up or standardisation

Question 9. Business stage (not scored)

Which of the following best represents your current business stage?

You must select one option:

• idea or proof of concept (POC)

• minimum viable product (MVP) or early growth

• scale up

Question 10. Financing (not scored)

Which of the following best represents your current financing stage?

You must select one option:

• Seed and Angel investment

• Series A

• Series B

Question 11. AM Frontier Industries (not scored)

Which of the following industries would benefit the most from the innovation your business will deliver?

You must select one option:

• Automotive

• Aerospace

• Batteries and Electric Vehicle Batteries

• Space

• Commercial production of Advanced Materials

Question 12. Problem

What is the problem that your innovation will address?

Describe the problem clearly. Focus on the issue itself, not your solution.

In your answer you must describe:

• how widespread the issue is

• what the consequences are if it remains unaddressed

You must detail any research or evidence that supports your response.

Your responses to this question must focus on the problem it addresses not the detail of your innovation.

Question 13. Idea

Provide a detailed description of your idea.

You must refer to the problem you have identified in Problem Question, and how this idea intends to address it.

Do not consider market sizing, project management or risks in your answer as these will be covered sections later in this application form.

Question 14. Sustainable innovation

How will you grow your business and develop this innovation with sustainability in mind?

Describe your plan to minimise negative effects and promote positive outcomes for the environment and society.

Question 15. Milestones

What are the key business milestones you are aiming to achieve through this programme over the next 9 months? What are the challenges you are facing and what support would help you overcome them.

You must focus on what support (financial and non-financial) from this award will enable you to do.

You do not need to provide a project or activity plan in the answer to this question.

Question 16. Route to market

Outline the key steps and timeline for bringing your innovation to market over the next 24 months.

What is the scale of your ambition and is it realistic for your current business or technology maturity?

Question 17. Customers detail

What are the key characteristics or needs of your target customers?

Describe your engagement with customers and broader research undertaken to date.

Question 18. Market Size

Estimate the realistic market opportunity for your innovation.

Provide evidence based assessment by:

The Total Addressable Market (TAM): This is the total market demand for a product or service. It's the maximum revenue opportunity available if 100% market share was achieved.

The Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): The portion of the addressable market that can realistically be captured by your innovation. It factors in constraints like competition, geography, pricing, and how easily you can go to market.

Question 19. Public funding

How will public funding accelerate or enhance your innovation compared to relying solely on private investment or internal resources at this stage?

3. Finances

You must complete your project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.

Both your total grant funding request and total costs must be £80,420. If your grant request or total costs differ from this amount, then your application will be made ineligible.

You must enter your £80,420 project costs into the “Other costs” category in this finance section

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance 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.

You 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:

AMSC Velocity Pilot MFA - assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

Interview Pitch

If your application passes the first stage of assessment, you may be invited to attend an interview pitch, where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place at a designated location. The interview pitches will be held between 30 November 2026 and 7 December 2026.

If you require reasonable adjustments for your interview pitch, we recommend you contact us within three working days of receiving your invite to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us closer to the interview pitch date.

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

• must send a list of who will attend the interview pitch

• must send your interview pitch presentation slides

• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Up to two people from your business can attend. They must all be available on all published 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 5 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 pitch.

Written response to assessor feedback

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

• be up to one A4 page in a single PDF or Word document

• include charts or diagrams

Interview pitch

After your presentation the panel will spend 15 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 pitch

The panellists will individually score your application and these will be averaged for your overall interview score. This score will replace the one you received from initial assessment unless stated otherwise in this 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.

There are a number of specific government requirements relating to the investment and activities of businesses in certain advanced materials technology areas.

You should familiarise yourself with the following:

• National Security and Investment Act’s:17 sensitive sectors including advanced materials

• Science and Technology Framework: 5 critical technologies

• Strategic Export Control - consolidated list

There may be specific information in these links to support your application, your project and beyond.

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.

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 setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

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, for example your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

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.

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 national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. 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 Business Growth 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.