Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute: Phase 1

Your project

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request between £50,000 and £100,000

• have a grant funding request that matches your total project costs

• last between three and six months

• not start before 1 January 2027

• end by 30 June 2027

We are aiming for projects to start on 1 January 2027. Applicants need to be aware that this will require an accelerated project set up period and you must be able to put the necessary arrangements in place to support a rapid project mobilisation.

It is strongly encouraged that either you or a member of your consortium must attend one of the briefing events or engage with the Medicines Manufacturing team prior to submitting an application. This can be achieved by:

• attending the in person networking event in London on 9 September 2026: register to attend

• attending the online briefing event on 11 September 2026: see dates section

• contacting a member of the Medicines Manufacturing team to discuss your application

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 or lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered:

• business of any size

• academic institution

• research and technology organisation

• charity

• not for profit

• public sector organisation

The lead applicant in phase 1 must be an organisation who can:

• convene the full medicines manufacturing ecosystem

• enable industry to drive the strategic direction, setting priorities, defining use cases

The lead applicant in phase 2, in addition to being able to carry out the above, must also demonstrate the ability to:

• oversee large scale, multi-partner virtual infrastructure programmes

• provide a trusted and neutral governance and leadership through the project and beyond

• drive commercialisation of the MMDI

The lead applicant may differ between phase 1 and phase 2 but they must be able to demonstrate that they have the ability to carry out all required tasks.

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

Project team

To collaborate with the lead in phase 1, your organisation must be a UK registered:

• business of any size

• academic institution

• charity

• not for profit

• public sector organisation

• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs in the application.

The consortium for phase 2 can include, but is not limited to:

• data architecture hosts

• business development lead

• regulators

• end users, for example, data users and data depositors

• advisory group or steering board

Non-funded partners

Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.

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

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

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.

An eligible organisation that is leading an application can be included as a collaborator in two further applications and if not leading, can collaborate in any number of applications.

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 grant terms and conditions

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

Minimal Financial Assistance (and de minimis where applicable)

Grant funding 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 three year rolling financial period.

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

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

The applicable period is made up of:

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

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

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

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

• de minimis Regulation

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

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

EU Commission rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, you should take independent legal advice. We cannot advise on individual eligibility or your legal obligations.

Funding

Up to £500,000 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.

Your total project costs will be eligible for up to 100% funding subject to MFA subsidy rules. You must apply for 100% funding. Total project costs detailed within your application must be between £50,000 and £100,000. Costs must not be below the minimum of £50,000 or exceed the maximum project size of £100,000. If your total project costs do exceed the maximum then your application will be made ineligible.

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.

The aim of this phase 1 competition is to provide seed funding to establish a consortium and prepare a case for an award in phase 2 to establish the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI).

Your phase 1 and phase 2 proposals must align with relevant UK Government priorities for growth, productivity and innovation, demonstrating how it supports the ambitions of the UK Industrial Strategy, the Life Sciences Sector Plan and wider UK priorities. Proposals must clearly articulate the strategic value of the MMDI to the UK medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem, including its potential to strengthen UK capability, innovation, productivity, investment and resilience, and deliver tangible economic and sector benefits.

Your project must use the funding in this phase 1 competition to support the collaborative development of a high quality application for phase 2. It is important that you understand the vision for the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI), as this will inform your Phase 1 activities and provide the foundation for your Phase 2 proposal.

The long term vision for the MMDI is an institute that:

• is delivered by an organisation that provides trusted, neutral leadership and has the capability, governance and long term commitment required to operate and maintain the MMDI beyond the funding period

• enables the collective action on shared challenges through trusted collaboration that accelerates innovation, productivity and sector wide impact

• is inclusive and supports organisations of all sizes across the medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem to contribute or access relevant data

• is designed for scale, demonstrating value through targeted proof of concept use cases in Phase 2 while building a pipeline of industry relevant applications

• leverages existing capabilities where possible by aligning with relevant data architectures, standards, platforms and initiatives to enable efficient, lower risk and faster implementation

• delivers tangible technical value through a clearly defined access and operating model

• drives adoption through a credible commercialisation and adoption strategy that attracts both national and international customers

• achieves commercial and financial sustainability beyond the funding period through a credible commercialisation strategy and a clear approach to securing industry investment and support

• enables regulatory acceptance of digital and AI enabled approaches, supporting their safe, effective and wider adoption across the sector

• acts as a catalyst for the adoption of common standards and frameworks across the medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem

• builds trust in data driven approaches through evidence, standards and best practice that increase confidence in AI, digital tools and model informed development and manufacturing

Eligible activities in phase 1 include, but are not limited to:

• building a strong consortium to successfully deliver the MMDI phase 2

• hosting workshops, engagement events, and consultation activities

• convening stakeholders and facilitating collaboration across the sector to assess sector needs, challenges, and opportunities for value creation

• engaging relevant communities, industry participants, regulators, and other stakeholders

• identifying, validating and prioritising proof of concept use cases that demonstrate sector value

• scoping and assessing potential data host organisations, including their capabilities and suitability

• exploring data sharing and data access activities to build understanding and reduce risk, including identifying the legal, technical and governance requirements needed to enable effective and sustainable data use

• producing reports, evidence, and recommendations to inform the phase 2 proposal

• exploring relevant national and international initiatives and capturing lessons learned

• identifying opportunities to leverage existing data assets, standards, platforms, and infrastructure

• developing options for long term commercial and financial sustainability beyond the initial funding period

• collaborative development and preparation of the phase 2 application

This list is not exhaustive, and you may propose additional activities that support the development of a robust and credible phase 2 application.

Your phase 1 project must deliver:

• a blueprint for the MMDI, setting out the proposed vision, objectives, governance model, federated data architecture, operating model, implementation approach and roadmap for delivery

• a committed delivery consortium, bringing together the partners, stakeholders and capabilities required to deliver phase 2 and support the long term success of the MMDI

• a landscape and options assessment, reviewing relevant UK and international data initiatives, demonstrators, governance models, standards and infrastructure, including lessons learned, opportunities for alignment and areas of differentiation

• a prioritised use case and implementation plan, demonstrating a clear industry need, strong market pull, expected sector benefits and suitability as an initial Phase 2 demonstrator

• an initial data governance, trust and interoperability framework, identifying the standards, governance arrangements, security requirements and interoperability mechanisms needed to support trusted data sharing within a federated model

• a business model and value proposition, demonstrating how the MMDI will deliver value, encourage adoption and achieve long term financial sustainability

• an initial roadmap for scale and adoption, setting out how the MMDI could evolve from an initial use case into a sustainable national capability

These outputs must provide a strong evidence base and strategic framework for a phase 2 proposal and support the long term development and operation of the MMDI.

Innovate UK may, in certain circumstances, facilitate discussions between similar or complementary Phase 1 projects to support the development of stronger Phase 2 proposals

Use cases

Your proposed use case can either be application based to address a need across multiple modalities, or focus on a specific modality.

You must propose an initial use case as part of your phase 1 application.

You must provide clear evidence and justification to support your proposed use case. This can include:

• a clearly identified industry need

• strong market pull

• expected benefits to the medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem

• the potential for wider adoption

During your phase 1 project, you must further develop and validate your proposed use case. Following stakeholder engagement, technical feasibility and emerging opportunities, the use case may be refined or changed for Phase 2.

You must demonstrate how your proposed use case could scale to support additional use cases over time, helping to build a pipeline of opportunities that strengthens the UK's competitive position in medicines development and manufacturing.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies and the capabilities of the lead organisation. We call this a portfolio approach.

Projects we will not fund

In phase 1 we will not fund projects that:

• involve the construction, refurbishment, or operation of physical building infrastructure

• involve medicines discovery or non-human medicine data

• include use cases that are not related to medicines development and manufacturing

• do not clearly contribute to the development of a future phase 2 proposal

• focus primarily on networking, engagement, or community building activities without a defined phase 2 ambition and delivery plan

• focus on laboratory based experimental research or development

• solely generate new experimental data through wet-lab activities

• involve the procurement or implementation of commercial IT or data management systems

• primarily benefit a single organisation rather than the wider medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem

• are led by an organisation that cannot demonstrate experience of convening multi-stakeholder consortia and engaging key medicines development and manufacturing stakeholders

​In Phase 2, in addition to the above, we will not fund projects that:

• directly duplicate, rather than build upon, activities already being delivered by existing innovation networks, Catapults, trade associations, or other sector organisations

• focus solely on the development of AI, digital twins, software platforms, or analytics tools without demonstrating how they support the objectives of the MMDI

• primarily benefit a single organisation rather than the wider medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem

The Phase 2 requirements listed in this brief reflect our current expectations and may be updated. Any changes will be communicated during Phase 1.

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

9 September 2026

In person networking event in London: register to attend

11 September 2026

Online briefing event: join at 10am

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

14 October 2026 11:00am

Competition closes

16 November 2026

Applicants notified

1 January 2027

Project start from

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

• if collaborative, that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

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 who will work with you on the project and invite them 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 also explain why your organisation is best placed to lead phase 1 and demonstrate how it meets the requirements for a lead organisation.

The lead organisation should be able to:

• convene the full medicines manufacturing ecosystem

• enable industry to drive the strategic direction, setting priorities, defining use cases

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 7. 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 and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.

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

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

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 six years. You must be prepared to release it to any public funding body which requests it.

Your answer can be up to 5 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.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

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.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 8. Sector need

Why does the UK medicines development and manufacturing sector need the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI), and what opportunities could it unlock?

Describe:

• the challenges currently limiting the effective use, sharing and exploitation of data across medicines development and manufacturing

• why these challenges cannot be adequately addressed through existing mechanisms or by a single organisation

• why a MMDI is needed and the strategic importance

• the opportunities that could be unlocked through a successful MMDI

• how the MMDI could benefit the wider ecosystem beyond productivity gains

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 9. Vision for the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute

What is your initial vision for the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI)?

Whilst it is expected that the concept of the MMDI will be fully developed during the phase 1 project stage, it is important for us to understand your initial starting point.

Describe:

• the proposed structure and framework of the MMDI

• your proposed use case or list of potential use cases to be explored

• the capabilities, services, or data infrastructure that could be developed

• the stakeholders who would benefit and how

• the long term outcomes and impact your vision could enable for the UK medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem with the use case in mind

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: Pathway to phase 2

What will you deliver during phase 1 and how will this support a phase 2 proposal?

Describe:

• the activities to be undertaken, including how the consortium will engage and convene the wider medicines development and manufacturing community

• the key stakeholders and partners to be engaged and why

• the expected outputs and deliverables for phase 1 that will inform decision making for phase 2

• how these will inform a phase 2 implementation project

• how the activity aligns with the MMDI vision and mission

• how it will support key questions related to trusted data sharing, interoperability, federation, governance, standards or data access

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

Question 11. Leadership and Capability

Why are you best placed to lead this activity?

What is the structure of your team?

Describe:

• why you are best placed to lead this activity, supported by evidence: including knowledge of the sector and the ability to convene relevant stakeholders

• the organisations involved and their roles, if applicable

• the relevant expertise, experience and capabilities within the team, consortium and any proposed subcontractors to deliver phase 1 activity

• access to the resources, infrastructure, networks and stakeholders needed to deliver the project successfully

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one 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 12. Project delivery and risk management

How will you deliver and manage your project?

Describe:

• the main work packages of the project, including the lead partner responsible for each and the associated costs

• your approach to project management, including the governance, reporting structures, tools, and mechanisms you will use to deliver the project successfully

• the key milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and decision points within your project plan

• the main risks and uncertainties associated with the project, including technical, commercial, managerial, stakeholder engagement, data governance, and environmental risks

• how you will monitor, manage, and mitigate these risks

• any critical project inputs, such as resources, expertise, stakeholder participation, data access, or external dependencies

• any regulatory, ethical, data protection, or compliance considerations and how these will be managed

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

You must submit:

• a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix

• a risk register as an appendix

Both appendices must be submitted as PDF documents no larger than 10MB each, be no more than two A4 pages in length and be legible at 100% zoom.

3. Finances

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

Academic institutions must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method and upload to IFS to support their costs. This is a replacement to the Je-S form which has now been decommissioned.

Your projects total grant funding request must not exceed the maximum of £100,000. If your grant funding request does exceed this maximum, then your application will be made ineligible.

You can make reference to any additional voluntary contribution in your application question answers but these must not be detailed in this finance section.

Each partner must submit their own individual MFA declaration form.

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.

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:

Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute Phase 1 - Assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

The Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI) can be defined as a trusted, secure, curated, and federated national data hub that enables collaboration across the medicines development and manufacturing ecosystem.

As a virtual infrastructure, it provides the capability to securely capture, curate, store, access, share, and apply data to advance medicines development and manufacturing.

The MMDI responds to a growing industry challenge: vast amounts of valuable data are generated across the medicines manufacturing sector, yet much of it remains fragmented, difficult to access, and underutilised.

By creating a trusted environment for secure data sharing and collaboration, MMDI will unlock the value of this data and accelerate the adoption of data driven technologies, including artificial intelligence, digital twins, and model based development approaches.

Through federated access to trusted and interoperable data, MMDI will help transform the medicines manufacturing sector, driving productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability.

The infrastructure will reduce development timelines, minimise experimental waste, improve manufacturing performance, and accelerate patient access to innovative medicines.

Ultimately, the MMDI should enable trusted insights, predictive models, and evidence based decision making from shared data. By bringing organisations together to address industry wide challenges, it will strengthen regulatory confidence in data driven approaches and accelerate the development and manufacture of the medicines of the future.

Briefing recording and slides

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

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project, for example your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

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.