Innovate UK Grants: How They Work and How to Apply

Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency and part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It funds businesses to develop new products, processes and services, often working with universities and research organisations. This guide explains the main types of Innovate UK funding, the rules that catch applicants out and how to find the right competition.

If you are a small firm looking at innovation support for the first time, our explainer on Innovate UK Business Connect covers the network that helps businesses find partners and opportunities.

What Innovate UK funds

Innovate UK describes its focus as backing the most promising deep tech businesses in the UK's priority sectors, helping them start, scale and stay in the UK. In practice, its funding falls into a few groups.

Themed competitions

Most grants come through competitions with a fixed opening and closing date. Each one has its own scope, such as a technology area, an industry challenge or a mission. Competitions set their own project sizes, lengths and funding rates, so the competition brief is the document that matters most. You can see current examples on GrantMatch, such as the National Materials Innovation Programme and Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D.

Smart grants are closed

For years, Smart was Innovate UK's open competition for any game-changing idea. Innovate UK now says Smart grants are closed for new applications while funding is aligned to its new strategic direction. Many older articles still describe Smart as open, so treat those with care.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) links a business with a university, college or research organisation. A graduate, called a KTP Associate, works inside the business for 12 to 36 months on a strategic project, supported by the academic partner. The partnership is funded by Innovate UK and the business together. The knowledge base partner, such as a university, research and technology organisation or Catapult, makes the application. At the time of checking, KTP 2026 to 2027 round 4 was open, closing on 27 January 2027 at 11am.

Contracts for Innovation

Through Contracts for Innovation, businesses apply for funded procurement contracts with government organisations to develop innovative solutions to their challenges. These are contracts rather than grants, so the terms are different. Read the brief closely. You can browse examples such as Innovation in play to improve child outcomes.

Loans, investor partnerships and support programmes

Innovate UK also offers innovation loans for small and medium-sized businesses with late-stage research and development projects, investor partnerships that pair public grant funding with private equity investment, the Biomedical Catalyst and Energy Catalyst programmes, international collaboration funding, and ICURe, which funds university research teams to move ideas from the laboratory towards commercialisation. See Women's ICURe Explore for one current example.

The funding rules that matter most

Innovate UK publishes general funding rules that apply across most competitions. These are the ones that most often decide whether an application is eligible.

Projects are mostly business-led

Innovate UK says it largely requires projects to be led by businesses. Other types of organisation can take part in collaboration with a business partner. In some competitions a research and technology organisation (RTO) can lead, where the competition allows it or no business in the consortium has the capacity to lead.

Collaboration rules

If a competition requires a collaboration, you generally need at least two grant-claiming partners, and no single partner can account for more than 70% of the eligible project costs. You must explain why the collaboration makes sense and how it will work.

You need to be a registered business

To apply as a UK registered business you need a Companies House registration number. Numbers that do not relate to a fully registered UK business, such as those with FC or BR prefixes, are not eligible, and businesses registered in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Crown Dependencies are not eligible as a UK business. Sole traders can be eligible if they can show they are a legal trading entity. Browse grants for limited companies and sole traders for other options.

You fund part of the cost

Innovate UK usually pays a percentage of your eligible project costs, and your business covers the rest. The rate depends on your business size and the type of research. In one recent competition, for example, micro and small businesses could claim up to 70% of eligible costs for industrial research and up to 45% for experimental development. Rates are set competition by competition, so always check the brief. Our guide to how to find match funding covers ways to fund your share.

Research organisations, charities and the third sector

The rules set different rates for non-business partners:

• Academic institutions can claim 80% of full economic costs.
• Other research organisations can claim 100% of eligible costs.
• Public sector organisations and charities doing research can apply for 100% of eligible costs, as long as they do not take part in economic activity or gain economic benefit from the project.
• Third sector organisations, such as voluntary and community groups, mutuals and co-operatives, can take part as non-funded partners.

Subsidy control

Innovate UK funding is a subsidy under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Where a competition uses the Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) route, each organisation can receive up to £315,000 over a rolling three financial year period. Keep a record of any other public funding you have received, because you may need to declare it.

How to apply

1. Find a competition. Open competitions are listed on the Innovation Funding Service and on the UKRI funding finder. GrantMatch also lists open Innovate UK grants with deadlines and amounts.
2. Read the whole brief. Check scope, eligibility, project size, length, funding rates and any briefing events.
3. Build your consortium early if the competition needs partners. Formal agreements take time.
4. Write the application. Applications are scored against the questions set out in the competition, and each question comes with guidance on what assessors look for.
5. Prepare the finances. Each partner enters its own costs. Make sure your share is affordable and your figures match the narrative. Our grant budget template guide explains the basics of a clear budget.
6. Submit well before the deadline. Competitions close at a fixed time, often 11am UK time, so do not leave it to the last hour.

Writing an application that scores well

Innovate UK assessors are often experts in your field, but they still need a clear case. A few habits help:

• Answer the question asked. Each question has guidance on what assessors look for. Use it as your checklist.
• Be specific about the innovation. Explain what is new, compared with what already exists, and why it matters.
• Show the market. Give evidence of customer demand, the size of the opportunity and how you will reach it.
• Make risks visible. A clear risk register with real mitigations reads as competence, not weakness.
• Be realistic. Assessors notice inflated forecasts and thin plans.

Our guide to how funders assess grant applications explains scoring in more detail, and our theory of change guide can help you set out the impact you expect.

Other places to look

Innovate UK is not the only source of innovation funding. The devolved nations have their own agencies, including Scottish Enterprise and Invest Northern Ireland, both of which run KTP programmes. Innovate UK Business Connect can help you find partners and opportunities, and other UKRI councils fund research that often involves businesses. Browse professional, scientific and technical grants on GrantMatch to see what is open now.

Find Innovate UK competitions that fit

Competitions open and close every week, and many have short windows. Set up a free GrantMatch profile and we will match you with open innovation grants for your sector and size, and alert you when new competitions are announced.