Innovate UK Smart Grants: January 2023

Fund Details

Your proposal must be business focused, with deliverable, realistic, adequately resourced plans to achieve return on investment, growth and market share following project completion. Questions for this round of Smart reflect the importance of obtaining economic benefits from public funding, and the potential for successful commercialisation, growth and exports.

To be in scope your proposal must demonstrate:

• a game-changing, innovative and disruptive idea that will lead to new products, processes or services
• an idea that is significantly ahead of others in the field, set for rapid commercialisation
• clear potential to positively impact the UK’s position, productivity and competitiveness within the global economy
• a clear, evidence based business plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
• why Smart funding is the right potential funding for your project, and the journey you have already been on to reach the point of application
• a team with the necessary skills and expertise to deliver the project successfully and on time, and to achieve rapid commercialisation
• awareness of all the main risks the project will face with realistic management, mitigation and impact minimisation plans for each risk
• sound, practical financial plans and timelines that represent good value for money, including the funding of post-project activities

Your project must focus on:

• taking customer and user needs into account to deliver more desirable and useful solutions
• identifying who is ready to buy your innovation
• being developed, planned and resourced beyond the end of the Innovate UK funded project, taking into account the focus of any project partners and their existing commitments
• fitting with and complementing your ongoing business planning and development, product offerings and organisational structure to maximise chances of success

Eligibility

Your project must:

• start by 1 October 2023
• end by 30 September 2026
• include at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) as the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner
• follow specific rules dependent on its duration
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

If your project’s duration is 6 to 18 months, it must:

• have total project costs between £100,000 and £500,000
• be single or collaborative

If your project’s duration is 19 to 36 months, it must:

• have total project costs between £100,000 and £2 million
• 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

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

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