Granted Consultancy
200 Days Left

Canada-UK: Plant-based Protein Innovation

Fund Name

Canada-UK: Plant-based Protein Innovation

Project Length

12 - 18 months

Project Value

Up to £1.5m

Deadline

01.11.2023

This is stage 1 of a 2-stage competition.

  1. Expression of interest (EOI) (this competition): There is no funding at this stage.
  2. Full-stage application (FSA): if you are successful in this EoI competition, you will be invited to apply to the full-stage competition.

The aim of this Expression of Interest (EoI) competition is to find the best proposals to be put forward to the full application stage of the competition.

The aim of the full-stage competition is to support the development of the plant-based protein sector. The objective is to meet global consumer demands for alternative proteins and to create export opportunities for the technologies, products and services developed.

Check Your Eligibility

Back to Funding Opportunities

Fund details

Your project must include the use of plant-based proteins from crops that have the potential for deployment at scale across Canadian and UK food and feed supply chains. This can include, but is not limited to:

  • field peas
  • lentils
  • canola
  • beans
  • oats
  • lupin

Your project can consider innovations that utilise high-protein crops in combination with other plant-based proteins, for example, potato and hemp. You can also consider other innovations that help enhance plant-based products, including oils or fats derived from cellular or acellular fermentation.

Specific themes

  • ingredients – the development, scaling and optimisation of plant-based ingredients
  • products – the conversion of high protein crops, ingredients and co-products into consumption-ready goods
  • adding value or enhancing quality – innovations to improve the nutritional quality, consumer acceptability, sustainability and safety of plant-based products
  • animal feed or pet food applications – innovation related to uses focused on plant-based pet food and animal feed
  • co-product stream management – innovations to add value to by-products produced during the processing of crops and related ingredients for plant-based product manufacture

Innovate UK is not funding projects that:

  • focus solely on non-plant-based protein production, for example, cellular meat production
  • are collaborations involving fewer than three businesses
  • do not meet Innovate UK’s and Protein Industries Canada (PIC) eligibility criteria

Eligibility

Your UK project must:

  • have a maximum grant funding request of £1.5 million
  • last between 12 and 18 months
  • start by 1 September 2024
  • end by 28 February 2026
  • carry out the majority of your project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from the UK

To lead a UK project your organisation must:

  • be a UK-registered business of any size
  • collaborate with at least one Canadian registered SME that holds a current PIC membership
  • collaborate with at least one other business, from the UK or Canada
  • be or involve at least one UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Contact us