FOAK Builder: Programme Entry Expression of Interest

Who can apply

Your FOAK support project

Your project must:

• last between 3 and 12 months

• start by 1 March 2027

• end by 28 February 2028

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

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.

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 work alone your organisation 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 not allowed in this competition.

Number of applications

An eligible organisation can only lead on one application. Any further applications by the same organisation as lead will be made ineligible.

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 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 award 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)

The in-kind support in this competition 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

A minimum of £770,000 has been allocated to fund in-kind support projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications.

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 project costs will be eligible for up to 100% funding subject to MFA subsidy rules.

You can make reference to any additional voluntary contribution in your application answers. It must not be detailed in the finance section.

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.

Your proposal

The aim of this EOI competition is to support and accelerate Climate Tech First of a Kind (FOAK) projects towards Final Investment Decision (FID). It will do this by providing expert advisory, technical assistance and mentoring or upskilling support, alongside potential grant funding.

Successful applicants will participate in the Climate Tech FOAK Builder programme. This will involve working with Innovate UK and the FOAK Builder Technical Assistance Supplier (TAS) to:

• develop a deeper understanding of the applicant’s FOAK project

• define a bespoke FOAK Development Plan and a FOAK Support Plan

• enact the FOAK Support Plan, if it is approved by Innovate UK and to take part in wider FOAK Builder activities

Wider FOAK Builder activities may include:

• networking with other participating businesses

• meeting potential investors

• attending FOAK Builder events

• supporting promotional activities

• taking part in workshops

This list is not exhaustive.

Your EOI must focus on your specific climate tech FOAK project. In-kind support for your FOAK project is the focus of the FOAK Builder and assessments will need to understand your proposed FOAK project and the benefits you think the FOAK Builder will bring to your business.

Your FOAK project must:

• demonstrate that an innovative technology, process or configuration is commercially viable and can operate at commercial scale

• involve a technology, process or configuration that has not previously operated successfully at commercial scale anywhere in the world

• go beyond a small scale demonstration or pilot that only proves technical feasibility

• be currently beyond Front-End Loading (FEL) stage 1 for all project components, including, Technical, Commercial, Financial, Project Management and Team

• be in a position to make significant progress towards FID as a result of the support

• demonstrate the potential impact of the UK economy and relevant supply chains as a result of deployment at commercial scale

Your EOI must describe the scope and nature of your FOAK commercial project or facility, including how, where and when you plan to build it. It must also describe the following aspects and how they are interlinked.

Technical:

• use of technology that is at, or above, Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7, if your project involves the deployment of an innovative technology

• validation of technology readiness through late stage demonstration of your solution’s performance in a real world environment

Commercial:

• the progress you have made towards securing commercial agreements with customers

• offtake, feedstock and supply chains requirements. and how you will secure these agreements

Financial:

• the estimated capital cost of your FOAK commercial project

• plans to finance this, including any gaps to advance to the next funding event and progress on this to date

Project Development:

• the progress you have made towards this project, for example, securing a site and obtaining planning consent

• Concept Designs, Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs), and a reference plant or facility layout where relevant

• understanding of critical permits that will impact the development and construction of the FOAK project

Your EOI must also describe:

• the main project risks across all elements of the project delivery

• your team’s current skills and capabilities, including any gaps where you need support to become ready to deliver your FOAK project

• how you believe your business and FOAK project would benefit from participating in the Climate Tech FOAK Builder pilot

• the longer term benefits of your FOAK project and the Climate Tech FOAK Builder support, including the scale and potential growth of the global market for second of a kind and subsequent deployments

The FOAK Builder is not suitable for early stage research and development, initial pilots or small scale technology demonstrations.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, technological maturities and research categories. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your FOAK project must also focus on one of the following climate technology areas:

• sustainable fuels, excluding those that rely on carbon from fossil sources as an input or municipal solid waste

• grid technologies, including energy storage, or technologies or solutions that enable grid efficiency or operational improvements delivered through the deployment of hardware

• engineered carbon removals, including direct air capture and innovative point source carbon capture technologies

• low carbon material production and recycling, including, concrete, steel, chemicals or other key industrial inputs, including critical materials

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

• do not fit the scope

• do not fit within the specific themes

We cannot fund projects 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

12 October 2026

Live briefing event: register to attend at 1pm (Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event)

2 December 2026

Invite to interview

14 December 2026

Interview panel starts

18 December 2026

Interview panel ends

5 January 2027

Applicants notified

1 March 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 three sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

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.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign 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 can 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. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

You must briefly describe your proposed climate tech FOAK project and explain:

• what you intend to build or deploy, including its proposed scale, location, indicative capital cost and timetable

• why it is first of a kind at commercial scale, rather than new only to your business

• how it differs from your previous pilots or demonstrations in terms of scale and any changes to technology or process being introduced based on learnings from previous projects

• why this configuration is likely to be replicable at second-of-a-kind and beyond

• how it fits the technology scope of this competition

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 10. 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 organisation.

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.

Each partner must complete all the fields on their form before uploading.

The lead applicant must write ‘declaration attached’ in the question text box.

The lead applicant must upload all the completed declarations 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. 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.

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

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. Technology readiness (not scored)

The technology underpinning your FOAK project must have reached TRL 7 or above. Provide quantitative evidence of the real world demonstration that has been undertaken for the technology.

Evidence should be measurable and may include operational hours, number of deployments, demonstration sites, customer trials, production volumes, reliability data, or other relevant metrics. Describe the scale and outcomes of the demonstration activities.

Submit your response as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. Failure to upload an appendix with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.

Question 8. Customer agreements (not scored)

What evidence can you provide of commercial agreements with potential customers who would buy the outputs from your First of a Kind (FOAK) project?

This could include initial evidence of customer interest in the product, a Letter of Intent (LOI), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), or another form of offtake agreement.

Submit your response as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. Failure to upload an appendix with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.

Question 9. Project maturity (not scored)

Describe the current stage of development of your project and provide evidence that it is beyond Front-End Loading (FEL) Stage 1. As a minimum, your response should include:

• an identified or shortlisted site and rationale, with preliminary assessments of planning, permitting, utilities and grid requirements

• high level designs, for example, concept designs and block or process flow diagrams

• potential Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partners

• supply chain requirements, for example, feedstock or supply chain market study complete

• a completed FEL stage self assessment against the milestones above, identifying your own view of current-status and remaining gaps to reach full FEL1

Submit your response as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to ten A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. Failure to upload an appendix with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.

Question 10. Project financing (not scored)

Describe how you will finance your project, including:

• estimates of development expenditure (devex) required to reach FID, including development funding secured and funding still required

• a high level view of the likely capital stack

• evidence of initial engagement with investors, strategic partners or public finance providers

You must also submit a preliminary project level financial model.

The model should include:

• profit and loss showing offtake volumes and pricing and a cost breakdown demonstrating unit economics

• sensitivity analysis on 3 to 5 key variables

• cash flow showing your funding requirement and intended use of funds. This should reflect your project's current stage of maturity

Submit your response as two appendices. The first covering the project financing description. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. The second appendix containing the financial model. It must be an open document spreadsheet or ODS no larger than 10MB.

Failure to upload both appendices with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.

Question 11. Technical risks

You must outline the top three technical risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact.

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Question 12. Commercial and financial risks

You must outline the top three commercial or financial risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. 

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Question 13. Environmental and social risks

You must outline the top three environmental or social risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. 

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Question 14. Project management risks

You must outline the top three project management risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. 

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Question 15. Milestones

What are the key business milestones you are aiming to achieve through this programme?

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

You don’t need to provide the full project plan in the answer to this question.

Question 16. Regulation approach

Describe your approach to working with the regulator and meeting regulatory approval.

This must include details of timelines, costs and resources, internal or external, and if these costs and constraints have been included in your overall plan.

Question 17. Skills

What skills, capabilities or experience does your team have that will help you deliver your project?

You must include any skills, knowledge, or experiences that are applicable.

Question 18. Skills gaps

How do you plan to address any skills gaps in your team?

Detail whether your business will need support to carry out this project, and what types of support you will need.

Recognising and acknowledging the need for additional support is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Question 19. Benefits

Outline the benefits you expect to result from your innovation in more detail.

In your explanation, include specific metrics or indicators that you intend to use to measure these benefits.

Question 20. Public funding

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

Question 21. Market growth

How much do you expect your target market to grow over a two, five and ten year period?

You must consider the key market trends or drivers underlying this growth. Highlight any research or evidence that supports these expectations in your response.

Question 22. Differentiation

How does your business or innovation set itself apart from other businesses operating in your target markets?

Provide specific examples and evidence where possible.

3. Finances

This expression of interest (EOI) competition there is no grant funding allocated.

Organisations that are awarded In-kind support through this EOI competition must report its value to Innovate UK.

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:

FOAK Assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

Interviews

If your application passes the first stage of assessment, you may be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place either online or at a designated location. The interviews will be held between 14 and 18 December 2026.

If you require reasonable adjustments for your interview, 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 close to the interview.

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

• must send a list of who will attend the interview

• must send your interview presentation slides

• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Agree the list with your consortium. Up to 9 people from your project can attend, ideally one person from each organisation. They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.

Presentation slides

Your interview presentation must:

• use Microsoft PowerPoint

• be no longer than 20 minutes

• have no more than 21 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.

Written response to assessor feedback

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

• be up to two A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document

• include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend 30 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

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.

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 unsucessful

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 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 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.