Innovate UK Smart grants: November 2024

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £15 million in the best game changing and world leading ideas, designed for swift, successful commercialisation. Innovate UK’s Smart grants programme is intrinsically positioned, by design, as a focused and uniquely differentiated product to support and propel the government’s five key missions: (1) driving economic growth; (2) advancing clean energy; (3) enhancing public safety; (4) expanding opportunities; (5) strengthening healthcare.

Projects 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 in with and complementing your ongoing business planning and development, product offerings and organisational structure to maximise chances of success.

Project must start by 1 July 2025, end by 30 June 2027, include at least one micro, small or medium enterprise (SME) as the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner, follow specific rules depending on its duration, carry out all of its project work in the UK, and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK. If project’s duration is 6 to 18 months, it must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £500,000, and be single or collaborative. If project’s duration is 19 to 24 months, it must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £1 million, and be collaborative.

Application deadline: 22 January 2025 11:00am. 

This competition open on 14 November 2024 and closes at 11am on 22 January 2025. 

Find out more about this funding opportunity here