Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships Round 1

Who can apply

Your project

For experimental development projects:

• your total grant funding request must be between £250,000 and £2 million

• the project duration must be 24 months

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 Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

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

If your project’s total grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will then decide whether to approve your request.

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.

Your organisation

This competition is open to single applicants only. To apply your organisation must:

• be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized business (SME)

• carry out its project work in the UK

• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

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

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

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 must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs

Number of applications

An SME can only submit one application into this round of the competition.

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.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

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 award terms and conditions

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

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.

The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here: SC10780.

This is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid 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 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £8 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

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. 

Under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route rules, no more than £3 million can be awarded in the form of a grant to any one enterprise in any one competition.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

Only Experimental Development projects will be considered for this competition.

Experimental development projects

For experimental development projects Innovate UK will fund:

• up to 45% of eligible project costs for micro or small organisations

• up to 35% for medium sized organisations

The aligned investment led by the investor partner must always be at least twice as much as the grant funding.

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

Aligned private investment

You must agree the private investment through a lead investor and reach heads of terms by 29 July 2027.

The aligned private investment:

• must provide you with suitable capital at least twice the amount of the grant requested to complete your project, support company growth and scale ambitions

• can be directed for use in your company, whereas the grant is to support the project only

• can be used to fund additional costs typically ineligible for support by Innovate UK

• must be provided under commercial terms negotiated with the lead investor and not Innovate UK

The investment can be in the form of either direct equity investment or a convertible loan. It must come from a lead investor from the pool of investors associated with this programme. The lead investor may decide to syndicate with other investors from within or outside of the pool.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to support:

• the development and adoption of engineering biology technologies

• commercialisation of late stage experimental development projects that are close to market, and ultimately market adoption

To be offered grant funding your project must be assessed as eligible for grant funding and you must have secured aligned investment with a lead investor. In the investor pool you can view the areas of expertise and investment preferences for the investors.

You can apply for this competition before you speak to an investor but initiating dialogue with investors is strongly encouraged.

In addition to investment, the lead investors in the pool can provide you with commercial acumen in, for example:

• leadership

• market access

• skills

• resources

Successful UK registered SME’s will receive:

• grant funding from Innovate UK

• aligned investment funding with one of the programme’s pool of investors acting as the lead investor

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

Innovation and ideas can come from anyone and anywhere. We want to see investments unlocked for the diverse and extraordinary talent in the UK.

We encourage innovation involving communities that are typically under-represented, including:

• from regions that have historically accessed lower levels of investment, outside London, Oxford and Cambridge

• ethnic minority groups

• women and other marginalised genders

• disabled people

• people with non-traditional education backgrounds

The primary innovation and competitive advantage underpinning the project must arise from, or enable, engineering biology.

For the purposes of this competitions engineering biology is defined as the purposeful engineering of biological systems. These will create new or enhanced functions that do not occur naturally, or that cannot be achieved efficiently through conventional approaches.

This includes the design, modification or creation of organisms, cells, genetic circuits, enzymes, proteins or other biomolecular systems that exhibit novel or enhanced functionality. 

Your solution can focus on one or more of the following technologies in which the core innovation is in engineered biological systems, for example, built on synthetic biology techniques: 

• Biosensors and Diagnostic

• Biomanufacturing Systems

• Biocatalysis and Chemical Production

• Engineered Biomaterials

• Metabolic Engineering

• Nucleotide Synthesis

• Engineered Proteins and Enzymes

• Cell And Microbe Engineering

• Synthetic Biology Platforms

• Gene Editing and Genome Engineering

• AI and Computational Biology

Elements of project work that predominately focus on the viability or the scale up of the technology, such as validation, manufacturing or regulatory progression as appropriate, will be supported through this competition.

This is providing that they are directly enabled by, and derive value from, the underlying engineering biology innovation.

Evidence to support the projects primary innovation being based on engineering biology will be required as part of the application, and may include:

• patents

• proprietary strains

• engineered cell lines

• protected knowhow

• software enabled biological design capabilities

• licences to relevant background IP

• other demonstrable ownership or control of engineering biology intellectual assets

Portfolio approachWe want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies and themes. We will show preference to applications and investments that demonstrate greater added value and reduced risk alongside those with a higher ratio of investment to grant. We call this a portfolio approach.

We will also take into account the impact of the grant in accelerating investment and the likelihood of the investment completing within a reasonable time.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on developing or applying engineering biology solutions to one or more of the following:

• Health

• Agriculture and Food

• Chemicals and materials

• Low Carbon fuels

• Waste and environment

• Cross cutting technology, service development

Research categories

We will fund experimental development projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

• not carried out by SMEs

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

• are the clinical development of any biologic, vaccine or engineering biology derived small molecule

• are not engineering biology focused

• are for clinical trials or preclinical evaluation of therapeutics

• are fundamental research

• not part of a company’s growth plan

• unable to prove there is potential for return on investment and growth

• large capital infrastructure

We cannot fund projects that 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

• 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

7 October 2026

Online briefing event: join at 2pm

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

15 January 2027

Notification of Innovate UK grant eligibility

29 July 2027

Deadline to reach heads of terms with lead investor

17 August 2027

Applicants notified

1 December 2027

Project start by

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.

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 organisation will work with you on the project and invite those people to help complete the application.

Application details

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

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project:

• fits the scope of the competition

• can be considered engineering biology as defined in this brief

If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from question 1 to 8. 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.

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 organisation, any partners and subcontractors working on your project. We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Project theme (not scored)

State which of the following themes best fits with your proposal. You can also state a secondary theme.

Select:

• Health

• Agriculture and Food

• Chemicals and materials

• Low Carbon fuels

• Waste and environment

• Cross cutting technology, service development

Your answer can be up to 20 words long.

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 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 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 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 this project 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 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 8. Need or challenge

What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Explain:

• the main motivation for the project

• the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity

• whether you have identified any similar innovation and its current limitations, including those close to market or in development

• any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one

• the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations

• how the grant and aligned private investment will enable you to grow and scale beyond the project

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 9. Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

Explain:

• how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified

• how will you improve on the similar innovation that you have identified

• whether the innovation will focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach

• the freedom you have to operate

• how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings

• how it will make you more competitive

• the nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

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

Question 10. Team and resources

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Explain:

• the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking

• the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them

• the details of any subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project

• any roles you will need to recruit for

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix. This can include a short summary of the main people working on the project 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.

Question 11. Market awareness

What does the market you are targeting look like?

Explain:

• the target markets for the project outcomes, any other potential markets, either domestic, international or both

• the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available

• the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes

• the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist

• the current UK position in targeting these markets

• the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

• what the market’s size might be

• how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 12. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term as a result of the project?

Explain:

• your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position

• your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example why they would use or buy your product or service

• your route to market

• how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction

• how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term

• how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model

• your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 13. Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside your organisation?

Describe and, where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:

• external parties

• customers

• others in the supply chain

• broader industry

• the UK economy

Describe and, where possible, measure:

• any expected impact on government priorities

• any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative

• any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:

• quality of life

• social inclusion or exclusion

• jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them

• education

• public empowerment

• health and safety

• regulations

• diversity

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 14. Project management

How will you manage your project effectively?

Explain:

• the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one

• your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome

• the management reporting lines

• your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix 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.

Question 15. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Explain:

• the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks, providing a risk register if appropriate

• how you will mitigate these risks

• any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise and data sets

• any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage this

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You must submit a risk register as an appendix 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.

Question 16. Added value and investment requirement

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation? What impact would this award have on the organisations involved?

Explain:

• what advantages would public funding offer your project, for example, appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market, this list is not exhaustive

• the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved

• what other routes of investment have you already approached

• what your project would look like without public funding

• how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved

• your activities to enhance your investor readiness

• any existing or past investment in your business

• any discussions underway with investors, including for this round or for future funding

You must submit a one page investment profile as an appendix to support your answer. This must describe your investment requirements and supporting information including all of the following and any additional relevant information:

• funding received

• ask or use of funds

• team

• traction

• problem and solution

• market

• business or revenue model

• financial projections

• contact details

This profile will be shared with all the investors associated with this Investor Partnership competition. Do not include any confidential information.

If you need help to prepare a one page investment summary, contact Innovate UK Business Growth or follow their guide.

It must be a PDF, one A4 page long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 17. Costs and value for money

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

In terms of your project goals, explain:

• your total eligible project costs

• the grant you are requesting

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

• how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise

• any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

3. Finances

Your organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.

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.

Each partner 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:

Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships Round 1 assessor guidance for applicants .pdf

Background and further information

Lead investor pool

Innovate UK has carefully selected lead investors which include those:

• with an appetite to invest in innovation

• who represent a wide variety of focus’, for example, sector focus, founding team, business stage and location, and are able to provide the finance needed to grow and scale

• who have demonstrated good financial standing

• that are from the UK and overseas

Engineering Biology Definition

Engineering biology is the purposeful engineering of biological systems to create new or enhanced functions that do not occur naturally, or that cannot be achieved efficiently through conventional approaches.

It combines synthetic biology with enabling capabilities such as automation, AI, data science, advanced biomanufacturing and engineering disciplines to design, build, test and scale biological solutions.

Through the redesign of organisms, cells and biomolecular systems, engineering biology creates novel properties and capabilities that can address societal, environmental and industrial challenges.

Engineering Biology Programme

Engineering Biology was identified as a priority in the new modern Industrial Strategy and one of the six frontier technologies in the Digital and Technologies sector plan. Engineering biology holds enormous potential across the entire economy so UKRI has designated it one of the priority programmes in its 2026-2031 strategy.

The UKRI Engineering Biology Programme (EBP) provides a focused and coherent approach to investing in research and innovation that will ensure the UK can derive the greatest economic impact from its strong foundations in world-class research and a growing SME community in engineering biology. 

Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme Information

This award is being offered under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme in accordance with section 10(4) of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Projects funded must meet the following definition:

Category 2: Experimental development

Means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services. ​

This includes:

• digital products

• processes or services in any technology, industry or sector, including but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, for example, supercomputing

• quantum technologies

• blockchain technologies

• artificial intelligence

• cyber security

• big data

• cloud or edge technologies ​

This may also encompass, for example, activities aimed at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services.​

Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions. This would be where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. ​

This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessary for the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes. ​

Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements. ​

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 for any of the following reasons:

• your average score was not above the funding threshold

• your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach

• we were not convinced that the grant was making a significant difference in the investment and in all likelihood the investment would have happened anyway

• you do not have sufficient traction with the investor and we doubt that the investment will complete in a reasonable period of time

• the investment has already been secured

• the selected investor partner is not taking a significant role in leading or facilitating the investment

Find an investment partner

You will need to establish a relationship and a level of investment traction with one of our approved investor partners before you apply for funding. A full list of selected investor partners is provided at Innovate UK Investor Partners – UKRI and Innovate UK Business Connect investor partnerships websites.

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 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 regional UK third parties. 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

UKRI’s Privacy Notice

UKRI’s Data Protection Policy

BIST (formally DSIT) 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.