Innovate UK Smart Grants: January 2022

Fund Details

Your proposal must demonstrate:

• a clear game-changing, innovative, disruptive, and ambitious idea leading to new products, processes or services
• an idea that is significantly ahead of others in the field, set for rapid commercialisation
• a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses (and documents) market potential and needs
• a clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
• a team, business arrangement or working structure with the necessary skills and experience to run and complete the project successfully and on time
• awareness of all the main risks the project will face (including but not limited to, contractor or equipment failure and recruitment delays) with realistic management, mitigation and impact minimisation plans for each risk
• clear, considerable potential to significantly impact either or both, the UK economy and productivity in a positive way
• sound, practical financial plans and timelines that represent good value for money, which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions

Your project should:

• demonstrate realistic, significant potential for global markets
• take customer and user needs into account to deliver more desirable and useful solutions

Innovative research and development (R&D) projects across a variety of technologies, markets and research categories can be funded, including feasibility, industrial research, and experimental development projects.

Eligibility

If your project’s duration is 6 to 18 months, it must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £500,000 and can be single or collaborative. If your project’s duration is 19 to 36 months, it must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £2 million and be collaborative.

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be an SME if you want to work alone
• be a UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO) if collaborative
• include at least one SME if you are a large business or RTO and wish to collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, academic organisations, public sector organisations or charities
• claim grant funding
• carry out all your project work in the UK
• intend to commercially exploit the results from or in the UK

Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone. Innovate UK will NOT fund projects that:

• do not meet the competition eligibility or scope
• do not address the size, potential and access to market for the innovation
• do not evidence the potential for their idea or concept to lead to a significant return on investment (ROI), positive economic impact, growth and scale-up of the business
• are dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
• are dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

Talk to us today if you would like to apply for this opportunity.