CfI: Battery innovation for dual use & defence Phase 1

Who can apply

Your project

Projects must:

• start by 1 January 2027

• end by 31 March 2027

• last up to 3 months

• have total costs of between £20,000 and £50,000, inclusive of VAT

• have all project cost spent before 31 March 2027

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 Contract has been approved by Innovate UK.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs.

If your project does not meet our criteria and you have not requested justification approval, your application will be made ineligible and it will not be sent for assessment.

Applicant

To lead a project, you can:

• be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally

• work alone or with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK, and most of the funding spent within the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

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 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.

Funding

Up to £2 million inclusive of VAT has been allocated to fund innovation projects to this phase 1 research and development (R&D) competition. Contracts will be between £20,000 and £50,000, inclusive of VAT, for each project for up to 3 months. We expect to fund up to 40 projects.

This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a contract.

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 decisions.

The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:

• adjust the provisional funding allocations between the phases

• apply a ‘portfolio’ approach

The funding for phase 2 may be provided by alternative sources to phase 1.

The contract is completed at the end of phase 1, and the successful organisation is expected to pursue commercialisation of their solution.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.

VAT registered

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £50,000.

Not VAT registered

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £50,000.

Research and development (R&D)

Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service. This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.

R&D does not include:

• commercial development activities such as quantity production

• supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs

• integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes

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

Subsidy control

Contracts for Innovation competitions involve procurement of R&D services and are not subject to subsidy control criteria. This competition is run by the Authority under the Procurement Act 2023 (R&D exemption).

Your project

Text update 29 September 2026: addition of missing challenge area: Integration of civillian automotive battery module into defence capabilities & Dual-use transition of defence standard batteries into civilian markets.

The battery innovation programme will enhance defence resilience and security of supply by accelerating the deployment of technologies that are maturing in the larger civil battery market. It will adapt these technologies to address defence sector challenges. The programme will also strengthen UK battery manufacturing, reduce reliance on overseas suppliers, secure critical dual-use supply chains and create new opportunities for UK businesses.

The aim of the competition is to accelerate the development of innovative battery technologies that address defence sector challenges.

The programme will support the UK civil and defence battery sectors by identifying dual use battery technologies and routes for transferring them between sectors. It will also develop the use cases and business cases needed to support wider adoption.

This includes battery technologies that do not align with current large scale manufacturing priorities but are critical to the UK’s sovereign defence capability.

The programme will focus on industrial research, prioritising projects at higher technology readiness levels (TRLs) that can progress rapidly towards operational use.

Projects must cover one or more of the challenge areas set out by the defence sector:

UK based supply of high performance cell manufacturing technologies:

This can include:

• pouch cells

• primary cells

• Li-S

• Li-metal anodes

• Na-ion

You must demonstrate supply resilience through:

• secure domestic sourcing

• minimal foreign dependency

• scalable production for defence requirements

Define the most effective level of standardisation for one or more of the following:

• cell

• battery pack

• interface

• use case

This must enable seamless integration of dual-use batteries between civil manufacturing lines and defence applications.

UK-based design and manufacture of battery packs

Design and manufacture battery packs in the UK using 18650 and 21700 cells from secure and resilient supply chains.

Evaluate the viability of 21700 cells compared with 18650 cells. Your findings must inform the development of future military standards for industry.

Your application can include:

• personal soldier battery packs

• drone battery packs

• replacements for portable generators

• 21700 BB-2590 demonstrators

• Soldier Tactical Universal Battery (STUB) demonstrators

UK based low volume and custom cell manufacture.

Establish a dedicated UK capability for the prototyping, pilot production, and low-volume manufacture of bespoke battery cells tailored to specialised operational requirements.

You must demonstrate manufacturing agility such as:

• pilot-line adaptability without high capital reconfiguration

• sovereign control of intellectual property and tooling

• reliable supply chains for specialised precursors and active materials

Progression of a UK High Power (UKHP) cell production facility.

Advance the technical maturity, manufacturability, and performance baseline of a sovereign UK High Power (UKHP) cell to support high rate defence capabilities.

Develop and de-risk cell designs capable of high continuous and pulse discharge rates.

UK-based development of Battery Management Systems (BMS) systems.

Design and manufacture secure, modular, and resilient Battery Management Systems (BMS) within the UK, engineered for defence infrastructure applications.

Your system can include:

• multi-chemistry monitoring and adaptive state of charge and state of health algorithms

• active cell balancing for extended mission life

• advanced thermal management controls for high power demands

You must demonstrate resilience such as through:

• cyber secure firmware architectures resistant to interception and tampering

• trusted electronic component sourcing with minimal reliance on foreign silicon

Integration of civilian automotive battery modules into defence capabilities.

Assess the feasibility, safety, and operational adaptation of high-volume commercial automotive battery modules for land, air, or maritime defence platforms.

Your proposal can include:

• ruggedisation strategies for extreme thermal, shock, vibration, and ballistic environments

• modification of standard automotive enclosures, interconnects, and cooling architectures to meet military specifications

• assessment of supply chain security, lifecycle management, and obsolescence risks relative to defence procurement cycles

Dual-use transition of defence standard batteries into civilian markets.

Identify and evaluate commercial sectors where standard military-grade power packs (such as Li-ion 6T and BB-2590) add distinct operational value through ruggedisation and standardization.

Your project must deliver both of the following:

1. Use case

Develop a use case based on one or more of the challenge areas listed above.

The use case can cover:

• technical requirements

• user requirements

• operational guidelines

• system architecture

• security considerations

• relevant standards

Your use case must:

• demonstrate the practical application of the proposed battery technology

• explain how the project will support further development

• consider supply chain resilience

• clearly state your supply chain resilience assumptions

• explain how you will secure reliable access to batteries

• demonstrate alignment with the Ministry of Defence’s supply chain risk appetite

The completed use case will be shared with the Department for Business Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST), the Ministry of Defence and its subsidiaries.

2. Outline business case

Develop an outline business case based on your chosen use case.

Your business case must include:

• the business need

• market analysis

• stakeholder mapping

• stakeholder engagement

It can also cover:

• supply chain mapping

• a commercialisation strategy

• strategic alignment

• economic viability

• commercial barriers to adoption

Your business case must demonstrate the commercial viability of the chosen use case.

The completed business case will be shared with the Department for Business Innovation, Science and Trade, the Ministry of Defence and its subsidiaries.

Successful projects are expected to demonstrate how their technology has been developed to meet the defence sector challenges. This can be in the form of:

• simulation

• prototyping

• demonstrator trials

• other methods

It must be used as evidence in the use case and business case.

Successful projects will be expected to attend a programme event to engage with the community and provide progress updates.

Your project must focus on battery cell manufacturing or battery pack design and manufacturing technologies to fit a defence environment.

Contracts will be given to successful applicants.

You must define your goals in your application and outline your plan for phase 2.

You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include a plan to commercialise your results.

At this stage contracts will only be given for phase 1.

Subject to funding, in phase 2 we will ask successful applicants from phase 1 to further develop the work, based on the outputs of phase 1.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, strands, themes, UK Capability, UK resilience and technological maturities. All project costs will be assessed to ensure strong value for money.

The Department for Business Innovation Science and Trade (BIST) and the Ministry of Defence will be included in this process. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project must deliver both of the following:

1. Use case

2. Outline business case

Research categories

Phase 1: industrial research

This means planned research or critical investigation to gain new knowledge and skills. This should be for the purpose of product development, processes or services that lead to an improvement in existing products, processes or services.

Phase 2: prototype development and evaluation

This can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real life operating conditions. The primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set.

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

• are not original in scope and duplicates someone else’s work

• do not address one of the challenge areas

• do not generate impactful disseminatable outputs

• do not focus on battery technologies

• do not evidence the potential for their proposed innovation to generate positive economic or societal impact

• would directly duplicate other UK Government or EU funded initiatives you have already been funded to deliver

• are covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed solutions

1 October 2026

Briefing event: join here at 2pm (Briefing slides will be available to download from supporting information after the event)

30 November 2026

Applicants notified

1 January 2027

Project start by

Before you start

By submitting an application, you agree to the terms of the draft contract which is available once you start your application. The terms of the contract are non-negotiable and are included in the draft contract. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions if necessary.

The final contract will include any milestones you have agreed with the funding authority and will be sent to you if your application is successful. The contract is binding once it is returned by you and signed by both parties.

When you start an application, you will be prompted to create an account as the lead applicant or sign in as a representative of your organisation. Using your account, you will be able to track your applications progress.

As the applicant you are responsible for:

• collecting the information for your application

• representing your organisation in leading the project if your application is successful

You will be able to invite colleagues from your organisation to contribute to the application.

What happens next

A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. You will be notified of the outcome and feedback will be provided. Contracts for this phase 1 will then be issued to all successful applicants.

What we will ask you

The application is split into 3 sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

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.

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).

Project details

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

Application details

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

Who made you aware of the competition?

Select a category to state who made you aware of the competition. You cannot choose more than one.

How long has your organisation been established for?

Select a category to state how long has your organisation been established for. You cannot choose more than one.

What is your organisation’s primary focus area?

Select a category to state your organisation’s primary focus area. You cannot choose more than one.

Project and scope summary

Provide a short summary of your project.

Describe your project briefly. Be clear about what makes it innovative and how it relates to the scope of the competition. How does it tackle different aspects of the challenge and how will it provide an integrated solution?

Give details of the lead organisation. Before you submit, we expect you to have discussed your application within your organisation.

Your answer for this section can be up to 800 words long.

This section is not scored, but we will use it to decide whether the project fits the scope of the competition. If it does not, it may be rejected.

Public description

Provide a brief description of your project. If your application is successful, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project. This question is mandatory, but we will not assess this content as part of your application.

Describe your project in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. We have the right to amend the description before publication if necessary but will consult you about any changes.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Applicant location

You must state the name of your organisation along with your full registered address.

You must also state the name and full registered address of any potential or confirmed subcontractors.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all of your questions except questions 1 to 6 which are not scored. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

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. Themes (not scored)

Select one main theme from the specific themes list in the ‘Scope’ section of this competition. You cannot choose more than one.

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.

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

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 the process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 4. 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 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.

Your answer to each question can be up to 100 words long.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored)

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

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project 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 project 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 project 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 7. Proposed idea or technology

How does the project meet the challenge described in the competition scope?

Provide a description of your proposed idea or technology.

Include a description of the current state of development or readiness of the idea.

You can submit a single appendix as a PDF containing images and diagrams to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘How well does the proposal meet the challenge?’.

Question 8. Technical project summary

What are the main technical challenges you are addressing?

Explain:

• how you will address the challenge

• what the innovation is

• the main technical deliverables

• the research and development that will prove the scientific, environmental and commercial merit of the project

• what might be achieved by deploying the innovation to address the selected challenge

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘How valid is the technical approach?’.

Question 9. Current state of the art and intellectual property

Are similar products currently available in the market?

How is your proposed project differentiated from them?

You must include details of:

• any existing intellectual property (IP)

• its significance to your freedom to operate

• novel concepts you develop or employ

• new approaches or technologies you use

• new tools or technologies

You must explain how you would handle any intellectual property (IP) issues which might arise during the project.

If you are working with subcontractors (specialist skills only), include details of how you will maintain freedom to operate and fulfil the IP requirements detailed in the contract.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria:

• how innovative is this project

• how much does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools or technologies for this area

• how well does the project demonstrate understanding of relevant IP and its significance on freedom to operate

Question 10. Project plan and methodology

Describe your project plan and identify the main milestones.

The plan for this phase 1 must be comprehensive. The emphasis throughout should be on practicality.

Provide evidence that the technology works, can be made into a viable product and can achieve the proposed benefits.

You must:

• describe resources that will be needed to deliver the project

• describe what the main success criteria will be

• identify the project management processes that will ensure you achieve the milestones

• provide a clear plan for establishing technical and commercial feasibility

• describe the main technical, commercial and environmental risks and what you will do to mitigate them

You must upload a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix in PDF format. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your milestones must:

• be clear

• be defined using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) criteria

• be associated with the appropriate deliverables and payments

• indicate your payment schedule by month

This question will be assessed against these assessment criteria:

• does the proposal show a clear plan for establishing technical and commercial feasibility

• is there a clear management plan

• what are the main technical, commercial, and environmental risks to the project’s success

• how will these be effectively managed

• are the milestones and evaluation procedures appropriate

Note that information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed milestones and associated payments stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.

Question 11. Technical team and expertise

Who is in the technical team? What expertise do they offer?

Provide a brief description of your technical team, including any subcontractors.

Describe:

• how each organisation has the skills, capabilities, and experience to deliver the intended benefits

• how much of their time will be spent on the project in days

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: Does the applicant have the skills, capabilities and experience to deliver the intended benefits?

Question 12. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost for phase 1? How does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

Describe:

• the total costs inclusive of VAT (If applicable) you are requesting in terms of the project goals for phase 1

• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

Proposed costs stated in this section for phase 1 must match those entered in the finance summary.

All costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a fair market value and not include profit.

You can submit a single appendix as a spreadsheet in PDF format. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Note that all payments are made monthly in arrears on submission of an invoice. The invoice must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for Contracts for Innovation competitions. Contracts for Innovation is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations.

Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

The assessors are required to judge the application finances in terms of value for money. They will score your finances against this assessment criterion: ‘Are the budget and costs realistic, justified and appropriate for the aims and methods?

Note that the information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question.

Question 13. Commercial potential

What is the commercial potential of your project? You must focus on your proposed customer’s needs.

Describe your:

• timescales

• projects commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service

• delivery plan

• expected route to market

Describe the competitive advantage that your project has over existing or alternative technologies that meet market needs.

Describe any existing commercial relationships relevant to the project.

With the focus on your proposed customer’s needs, you can also mention the future commercial potential across the public or private sector and international markets.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria:

• is there a clear commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service

• is there a clear plan to deliver that and a clear route to market

• how significant is the competitive advantage of this technology over the nearest currently available solutions to the challenge identified

3. Finances

Enter your phase 1 project costs, organisation details and funding details.

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs. We advise you answer the VAT registered question first before entering your eligible costs. Your total eligible project costs must be between £20,000 and £50,000.

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your eligible project cost total.

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and advise you to seek independent advice from HMRC.

All milestones must have clear deliverables and success criteria. Evidence that these have been achieved must be provided at each monthly review meeting. The costs for your milestones should be representative of the level of effort required to complete each milestone.

We will not make any advance payments, so you should consider how you will manage your cashflow throughout the life of the project. Agreed milestones will form part of your contract and will be used to monitor the progress of the project.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for Contracts for Innovation competitions. Contracts for Innovation is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations.

Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

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

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by Five 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:

CfI Battery Innovation for dual use (opens in a new window)

Background and further information

About Contracts for Innovation competitions

Contracts for Innovation provides innovative solutions to challenges faced by the public sector. This can lead to better public services and improved efficiency and effectiveness.

The Contracts for Innovation programme:

• supports economic growth and enables the development of innovative products and services through the public procurement of R&D

• generates new business opportunities for companies

• provides a route to market for new ideas

• creates opportunities to work directly with the public sector

Contracts for Innovation competitions are open to all eligible organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. Developments are 100% funded and focused on specific identified needs, increasing the chance of exploitation.

Contracts for Innovation encourages the creation and protection of new intellectual property (IP). Applicants retain all the rights to both foreground and background IP but will be expected to grant certain royalty free licences to the funder for use of the foreground IP.

Contracts for Innovation is a procurement of R&D services. If successful, you will receive a contract to deliver the proposed activity. Costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a fair market value and not include profit.

You will be asked to input your milestones with monthly completion dates as part of your application and payments will be made in arrears on a monthly basis. This is in line with standard Innovate UK monitoring.

You must submit invoices for all work undertaken and these must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monthly monitoring period for all completed milestones. Any invoices submitted outside of this time may not be paid until the end of the next monitoring period.

You should consider how this may affect your cash flow throughout the project and what impact this could have on your subcontractors.

If you are VAT registered, your total costs are expected to include VAT that you would charge as a service provider. VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business and applicants should ensure that VAT has been calculated correctly as part of their application. You will need to confirm your VAT status as part of the application process

Note that we are seeing a rise in double counting of VAT during the application process, making some applicants ineligible. To avoid this, it is important you input your costs minus VAT. VAT is added on by us in the Innovation Funding Service (IFS).

Suppliers for each project will be selected by an open competition process and retain the intellectual property generated from the project, with certain rights of use retained by the contracting authority. This is an excellent opportunity to establish an early customer for a new technology and to fund its development.

Broader Information

The Battery Innovation Programme (2026 to 2030) will be delivered by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST).

It forms part of the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, within the modern Industrial Strategy, focused on scaling breakthrough battery research into industrial solutions.

The Battery Innovation Programme builds on the success of the Faraday Battery Challenge as highlighted in Dealroom’s 2024 report on UK electric vehicle battery tech.

The Programme supported over 100 start-ups, helped catalyse a £3.2 billion ecosystem, and positioned the UK fourth globally for EV battery venture capital investment.

The Programme focuses on:

• accelerating research and innovation

• strengthening supply chains

• advancing low carbon manufacturing

• enabling a circular economy

• developing skills and ecosystems

• informing policy and investment

These priorities are supported by:

• crosscutting interventions such as collaborative R&D

• targeted skills development

• scale up infrastructure through the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre

• a wider network of national assets, strategic investor partnerships, and supporting policy

At its core, the Programme is anchored by worldclass academic research led by the Faraday Institution. This research base underpins technological advances, drives innovation across the UK battery ecosystem, and provides the scientific foundation needed to deliver economic impact, industrial growth, and long-term energy resilience.

To stay up to date with new opportunities from the Battery Innovation Programme, follow the Battery Innovation Programme page on LinkedIn.

Join the growing community of organisations working in the UK's battery value chain across automotive, aerospace, off highway, storage, maritime and more. Sign up for battery updates, funding, collaborations and events.

Briefing recording and slides

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

Setting up your project

You will be notified by email on the date published for this competition. Notifications may be sent any time up to 5pm.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your Innovation Funding Service (IFS) Set Up portal, where we gather the information to set up your project.

You will have 30 days (including weekends and bank holidays) to complete all of your project set up. Within this time, you will also be required to submit:

• project location

• any answers to financial or milestone queries we have requested

• any requested documentation to support your project

Your funding offer may be withdrawn if project setup is not completed within this or an alternative timeframe as advised by Innovate UK.

In order for us to process your invoices, you must make sure you have a valid business bank account. It can take several weeks for a new account to be created if required. We recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to your project start date.

The bank account which milestone payments are to be paid into must:

• be a business account in the same name as the organisation listed in IFS

• have a cheque and credit clearing facility

Online accounts are eligible as long as they meet the above criteria. UK bank accounts must be regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). International bank accounts may be subject to additional financial checks.

Your Contract

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your contract. The contract will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve. The contract is final and the terms are non-negotiable. 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 contract. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your project.

Your contract start date is provided in the dates and eligibility sections. This cannot be varied and all contracts must start on that date.

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 or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

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.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

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 jointly operated by Innovate UK and The Department for business, Innovation, Science and Trade with support from The Ministry of Defence and it’s subsidiaries.

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to The Department for business, Innovation, Science and Trade, The Ministry of Defence ,and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

• the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants

• scoring and feedback on the application

• information received during the management and administration of the contract, such as Monitoring Service Provider reports

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 The Department for business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the Ministry of Defence are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect, The Department for business, Innovation, Science and Trade and The Ministry of Defence will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

The Department for business, Innovation, Science and Trade

The Ministry of Defence

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.

Further help and guidance

If you want help to find an organisation to work with, contact the Innovate UK Business Connect.

If you have any questions about the scope requirements of this competition, email albert.gibbs@iuk.ukri.org.

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.