New funding opportunities through the Medicines Manufacturing Challenge

Innovate UK is launching two new competitions through the Medicines Manufacturing Challenge this month. This funding will support the development of innovative technologies to manufacture medicines and accelerate patient access to new drugs and treatments.

1. Innovative technologies for nucleic acid medicines manufacturing

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £5 million to develop and commercialise innovative solutions for manufacturing nucleic acid medicines. Solutions must improve resource efficiency, productivity or scalability as compared with current manufacturing technology.

The lead organisation must be a UK registered business, research and technology organisation, not-for-profit or public sector organisation. They must collaborate with other UK registered organisations and the consortium must involve at least one grant-claiming SME. In addition, all projects must:

• have total costs between £100,000 and £2 million
• start before 1 June 2023 and end before 31 May 2025
• last between 12 and 24 months
• carry out all project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

2. Digitalisation and automation of medicines R&D and manufacture

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £5 million to develop and implement innovative digital and automated data collection technologies for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Solutions should demonstrate an improvement in resource efficiency or productivity.

To lead a project, your organisation must be a UK registered business, research and technology organisation, charity, not-for-profit or public sector organisation. They must collaborate with other UK registered organisations and ensure the consortium involves at least one grant-claiming SME. All projects must also:

• have total grant funding requests of between £100,000 and £1 million
• start before 1 June 2023 and end before 31 May 2025
• last between 12 and 24 months
• carry out all project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

More Information

Both Medicines Manufacturing Challenge competitions are open from 7^th November until 21^st December. If you want our help developing a competitive application, please get in touch today.

by Jonny O'Rourke

Innovate UK Smart Grants: October 2022

A new round of Innovate UK Smart Grants opens on 27th October. Through this competition, up to £25m is available for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy.

Scope

Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy.  To be in scope, proposals 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

Eligibility

Applications must include at least one SME; they can be the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner. The project must start by 1st July 2023 and end by 30th June 2026. It should also follow specific rules based on its duration:

1. Projects with durations between 6 and 18 months must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £500,000. They can be single or collaborative projects.
2. Projects with durations between 19 months and 36 months must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £2 million. In contrast to shorter projects, they must be collaborative.

More Information

This competition is open from 27th October until 18th January. For more information, please visit the competition page or attend the online briefing event on 3rd November.

RedKnight has a strong track record of securing Innovate UK Smart Grants and can help you develop a competitive application! If you would like help putting together a competitive proposal, please contact us today.

by Jonny O'Rourke

Zero Emission Propulsion CR&D competition open for applications

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £10 million for Zero Emission Propulsion CR&D projects. This funding is from the new Net Zero Mobility Programme.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support future propulsion technologies for the transport sector, covering maritime, rail, automotive, and aerospace. There are a range of technologies that are in scope for each sector, including:

• Maritime: Clean maritime technologies for all sizes and categories of maritime vessel are in scope.
• Rail: Technologies can target all locomotive classes including those for freight and passenger carrying services and carriages.
• Automotive: Technologies can cover both niche and mainstream on and off-road vehicles.
• Aerospace: Technologies for drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), advanced air mobility (AAM), and electric or hybrid passenger aircraft.

Projects must address one or more of the following: improved range and overall system performance capability; decreased total cost of ownership; adoption of and transition to zero emission end products; or strengthening of the UK supply chain.

In addition, applicants must show a need for the project by including an end customer within the consortium. They can be a funded partner or non-funded project adviser.

Eligibility

All projects must:

• have total costs between £250,000 and £1.5 million
• have a maximum project duration of 18 months
• start before 1st August 2023
• claim the grant funding before 31st March 2025
• carry out all project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

The lead organisation must be a UK registered business and work in collaboration with other UK registered organisations. The consortium has to involve at least one SME.

More Information

The Zero Emission Propulsion CR&D competition is open from 17^th October until 7^th December. Apply via the competition page or contact us if you would like help with your application.

by Jonny O'Rourke

Funding available for circular economy innovation projects

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £1.5 million for circular economy innovation projects. This competition is part of the UKRI National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research programme, which aims to accelerate the UK’s transition to a circular economy.

Scope

This competition will support feasibility studies, industrial research and experimental development projects that address the challenges of transitioning to a circular economy. Specifically, projects can focus on one or more of the following examples:

• piloting the introduction of a circular economy business model
• development or improvement of products and processes to enable remanufacturing, repair and retention of value
• increasing understanding and exploitation of material flow data in a defined place, for example; city, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), cluster, region
• scaling-up of credible feasibility studies
• evaluating whether proposed approaches are more sustainable when considering broader life cycle thinking

Innovate UK will also consider other focus areas that clearly address the challenges of this transition.

Eligibility

All projects must fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

• Have total costs between £100,000 and £150,000
• Start no earlier than 1^st May 2023 and end before 31^st October 2024
• Last between 12 and 18 months
• Carry out all project work in the UK
• Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

To lead a project or work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered SME. Within your application, you must also include a letter of support from at least one of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centres or the NICER CE-hub.

More Information

This competition is open from 13^th October until 7^th December. For more information and to apply, click here. Or, if you would like to discuss an application with one of our innovation funding experts, contact us today.

by Jonny O'Rourke

Innovation Loans Future Economy Competition

There are continued opportunities for UK registered businesses to apply for Innovation Loans from Innovate UK. A share of £25 million is available for innovative, late-stage projects with strong commercial potential.

In the Strategic Delivery Plan 2022-25, Innovate UK confirmed a full national roll-out of the Innovation Loans programme. They have committed £50 million for ten competitions in 2022-23, with an additional £15 million allocated to the DASA Innovation Loans programme.

Eligibility

You can apply for a loan of between £100,000 and £2 million to fund your project’s eligible costs. Projects can last up to 5 years, including both the R&D and commercialisation phases. Loan recipients must also:

• Be a UK-registered SME
• Carry out their project from or in the UK and intend to exploit the project’s results from or in the UK
• Give evidence that their business is suitable to take on a loan

Scope

All projects must lead to new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of current state-of-the-art solutions. They can also involve a new or innovative business model. Projects should focus on one or more of the following themes and sub-themes:

Net Zero

• energy
• impact of industrial processes and use of materials
• agriculture and food and other sources of emissions
• capital intensity

Health and Wellbeing

• tackling ill health
• enhancing wellbeing
• diet and food

Next generation digital technologies

Technology families

• advanced materials and manufacturing
• artificial intelligence
• digital and advanced computing
• bioinformatics and genomics
• engineering biology
• electronics, photonics and quantum technologies
• energy and environment technologies
• robotics and smart machines

Dates

Innovation Loans Round 6 is open for applications until 9^th November 2022. The next round will open on the day the previous round closes, with the final round closing on 8^th March 2023.

How RedKnight can help

RedKnight has a strong track record of securing Innovate UK funding and can help you develop a competitive application! Please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.

If you’re looking for grant funding, you may be more interested in Innovate UK Smart Grants. 

by Jonny O'Rourke

£5 million available to scale up manufacturing in the PEMD supply chain

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £5 million to scale up manufacturing in the Power Electronics, Machines and Drives (PEMD) supply chain. This funding is from Innovate UK’s Driving the Electric Revolution challenge. The competition has two strands:

1. PEMD Scale-up: Strand 1, adopting manufacturing best practice

This strand is for collaborative feasibility projects that will facilitate and de-risk the transfer of knowledge, solutions and technologies from other manufacturing sectors into the UK PEMD community. The aim is to improve manufacturing best practice in these technologies which are critical for net zero. The following elements of the manufacturing supply chain are in scope:

• materials processing
• sub-component and component manufacturing
• sub-system integration and assembly
• final assembly of PEMD specific modules
• remanufacturing
• end of life disassembly and recycling

Eligibility

To apply, your project must have a grant funding request of between £50,000 and £400,000. It must start by 1^st May 2023 and last between six and twelve months. You must carry out all project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.

2. PEMD Scale-up: Strand 2, manufacturing process development

Innovate UK is also looking to fund innovative process development projects that impact manufacturing cost, capability and efficiency to grow resilient manufacturing PEMD supply chains. Again, projects must be collaborative. The following elements of the manufacturing supply chain are in scope:

• materials processing
• sub-component and component manufacturing
• sub-system integration and assembly
• final assembly of PEMD specific modules
• remanufacturing
• end of life disassembly and recycling

Eligibility

To apply, your project must have a grant funding request of between £50,000 and £800,000. It must start by 1^st May 2023 and last between six and eighteen months. You must carry out all project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.

More Information

This competition is open from 21^st September until 9^th December. Further information is available on the competition pages: Strand 1 and Strand 2. If you are looking for bid writing support, please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.

by Jonny O'Rourke

Innovate UK publishes Strategic Delivery Plan 2022-2025

Innovate UK's recently published Strategic Delivery Plan sets out how it will support UK business innovation over the next three years. There are several key highlights for UK grant applicants to be aware of, as summarised below:

New innovation focus areas

Over the next three years, Innovate UK will focus on innovation and commercialisation in the following areas:

1. Net Zero - As part of an overall investment of over £1.2 billion in Net Zero, Innovate UK will focus on key challenges and technologies through Catapults, ISCF challenges, and targeted programmes. Key themes include power, mobility, and green finance.
2. Healthy Living and Agriculture – Over £600 million will be invested in Healthy Living and Agriculture over the Spending Review period. Significantly, there will be an expansion of the Biomedical Catalyst programme.
3. Digital and Technologies – With a £380 million budget, Innovate UK will invest in new programmes in five key areas: Creative Catalyst, Bridge AI, Quantum, Services, and Semiconductors.

Increased range of innovation finance support 

Innovate UK will ensure that businesses can access funding at all stages of innovation. They will:

• Continue to provide grant funding for high-potential early-stage innovation ideas on the route to commercialisation through Innovate UK Smart Grants.
• Launch the full national roll-out of the Innovation Loans programme, committing £50 million for 10 competitions in 2022–2023.
• Provide early-stage funding through Fast Start: Innovation grants for small and microbusinesses that have not previously received Innovate UK funding.
• Roll out a scaled-up programme of Investor Partnerships for investment-ready SMEs.

In addition, there will be growth and commercialisation support through Innovate UK EDGE for high-potential scaling businesses.

Supporting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Innovate UK will also take steps to create a more diverse innovation ecosystem in the next three years. For example, they are planning to:

• Introduce the No Limits Mission in 2022.
• Deliver a new £2.5 million cohort of Women in Innovation awards and a new £2.4 million cohort of Young Innovators awards.
• Launch the Inclusive Innovation Awards to celebrate success and showcase good practice.
• Act to engage and enable disabled innovators to benefit from Innovate UK support.

Levelling up

To support the government’s commitment to level up the UK, Innovate UK will:

• Invest in the Catapult network and Innovate UK KTN to deliver Government priorities across the UK.
• Implement a programme of Launchpad investments across the UK.
• Deliver three new Innovation Accelerator pilots in partnership with BEIS and local leadership.
• Increase funding for global programmes by 2025 to build partnerships with key countries in areas of complementary strengths.

How RedKnight can help

RedKnight has a strong track record of securing innovation funding and can help you develop a competitive application! If you would like to explore an Innovate UK application, please contact us to arrange a free consultation.

The Strategic Delivery Plan is available to read here.

by Jonny O'Rourke

£2.5 million available for smart and sustainable plastic packaging projects

UK registered businesses and organisations can apply for a share of £2.5 million for early-stage and mid-stage projects in smart and sustainable plastic packaging. This funding is from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge - the largest and most ambitious UK government investment to date in sustainable plastics research and innovation.

The SSPP aims to establish the UK as a leading innovator in smart and sustainable plastic packaging for consumer products. Its goals are to drive cleaner growth across the supply chain and deliver a dramatic reduction in plastic waste entering the environment by 2025.

Scope

Funding is available for projects that address widely known problems in relation to plastic packaging for consumer products. To be in scope, projects must aim to:

• help make the plastics packaging supply chain more circular
• deliver the objectives of the UK Plastics Pact, creating a circular economy for plastics, keeping them in the economy and out of the natural environment
• embed life cycle thinking and end of life in packaging design and decisions

Eligibility

All projects must meet the following criteria:

• have a grant funding request between £30,000 and £250,000
• start before 1st April 2023 and end before 31st March 2025
• last up to 24 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

Projects can be single or collaborative. To lead a project or work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered business, a research and technology organisation (RTO), or a charity, not for profit or public sector organisation. If the lead organisation is an RTO, it must collaborate with two businesses (at least one SME).

More Information

This competition is open from 12^th September until 9th November. You can find more information and apply for SSPP funding via the competition page. If you are looking for bid writing support, please contact us as soon as possible to arrange a free consultation.

by Jonny O'Rourke

Funding available for innovation in professional and financial services

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £7 million for projects that develop new products and services within Professional and Financial Services. The aim of this competition is to advance these sectors by supporting them in the creation and adoption of digital approaches and new digitally supported services. The competition is split into two strands:

1. Innovation in Professional and Financial Services – single applicants (SMEs only)
2. Innovation in Professional and Financial Services – collaboration

Scope

Your project must focus on one or more of the following areas:

• legal services
• accountancy and audit
• insurance
• open finance innovation
• financial planning and support for consumers and SME’s
• financial regulatory compliance and financial crime prevention (such as fraud and anti money laundering)
• payments and transactions

In your proposal, you should explain how you will help these sectors to 1) deliver better products and services, 2) increase access to these services, and 3) make these services more effective for their customers.

Eligibility

Your project must:

• have a total grant funding request between £50,000 and £200,000 for single applicants
• have a total grant funding request between £50,000 and £500,000 for collaborations
• start before 1st April 2023
• last between 6 and 18 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

To apply to Strand 1, your organisation must be a UK-registered SME. To lead a collaborative project in Strand 2, your organisation must fulfil the following criteria:

• be a UK registered business of any size
• collaborate with other eligible UK registered organisations
• if you are a large organisation, include at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)

More Information

This competition is open from 5^th September until 9^th November. You can find more information on both strands via the Innovation Funding Service.

RedKnight has a strong track record of securing innovation funding and can help you develop a competitive application! If you would like to explore an application, please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.

by Jonny O'Rourke