Biomedical Catalyst 2022 Round 1: Industry-led R&D
The Biomedical Catalyst will return later this month! In Round 1, UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of £15 million to develop innovative health or healthcare-focused products, technologies and processes.
Scope
Projects can focus on any health or healthcare challenge. They can include a range of activities, such as:
- experimental evaluation (at laboratory scale)
- use of in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate proof of concept or safety
- exploring potential production mechanisms
- prototyping
- product development planning
- intellectual property protection
- a demonstration of clinical utility and effectiveness
- a demonstration of safety and efficacy (including phase 1 and 2 clinical trials)
- regulatory planning
As this is the Industry-led R&D stream of the Biomedical Catalyst programme, applicants must also demonstrate existing evidence of commercial and technical feasibility.
Eligibility
All projects must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- have total project costs between £150,000 and £4 million, not exceeding a grant request of £2 million
- have at least 50% of the total project costs shared by the SMEs, if collaborative
- start before 1 December 2022 and end before 30 November 2025
- last between 6 months and 36 months
- carry out all project work in the UK and 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. You can work in collaboration with other organisations, including businesses of any size, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations, or research and technology organisations. They must also be registered in the UK.
More Information
Round 1 of the Biomedical Catalyst is open from 28th March until 25th May. For more information, please visit the competition page or join the online briefing event on 5th April.
RedKnight has a strong track record of securing funding for life science companies. If you would like to discuss working together, please contact us to arrange a free consultation.
£4.7m available for innovation in time resilience, dissemination and application
Innovate UK is working with the National Physical Laboratory to invest up to £4.7 million in business-led innovation in time resilience, dissemination and application. The key areas for development are resilience; distribution; trust, assurance and security; and integration and processing of signals.
The competition has three aims:
- Support and enable business-led innovation across the UK supply chain in resilient time, frequency and synchronisation (TFS) for the development of products, services and end-user applications.
- Develop a TFS ecosystem and capability for relevant industries and critical national infrastructure.
- Disrupt and create new markets, both in the UK and globally, to improve the provision of TFS.
Strand 1: Demonstrator
This strand is for projects undertaking late-stage industrial research or experimental developmental projects. Strand 1 projects must:
- have total costs between £70,000 and £1 million
- start by 1 November 2022 and end by 31 March 2024
- last between 9 and 18 months
In addition, projects must be led by a UK-registered business. They can work in collaboration with other UK registered businesses, research and technology organisations, academic institutions, public sector organisations, charities or not for profits.
Strand 2: Feasibility
This strand is for projects undertaking early-stage feasibility studies. Strand 2 projects must:
- have total costs between £50,000 and £250,000
- start by 1 November 2022 and end by 31 October 2023
- last between 6 and 12 months
In addition, projects must be led by a UK-registered business. They can work in collaboration with other UK registered businesses, research and technology organisations, academic institutions, public sector organisations, charities or not for profits.
More Information
Innovation in time resilience, dissemination and application is open from 14th March until 1st June. More information is available on the competition pages (Strand 1 and Strand 2), where you can also register to attend the briefing event on 25th March.
If you are looking for bid writing support, please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.
Innovation Loans return for 2022
Innovate UK’s Innovation Loans programme has returned for 2022! This follows a successful pilot programme that has been delivered by Innovate UK since 2017, providing £163 million to 200 businesses around the UK.
Scope
Loans are available for innovative, late-stage projects with strong commercial potential. All projects must lead to new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of current state-of-the-art solutions. They 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
Eligibility
Innovation loans can be for between £100,000 and £2 million. Projects must start by July 2022 and 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
More Information
The funding available will be allocated across a series of four competitions that run from 10th March until 13th July. For more information, visit the competition page and register to join the online briefing event on 21st March.
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 also be interested in Innovate UK Smart Grants.
Grant funding available for UK-South Korea collaborative R&D
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £2 million to fund collaborative innovation with businesses from South Korea. This funding is from Innovate UK in partnership with the Korea Institute for the Advancement of Technology.
Scope
This competition will fund collaborative research and development projects focused on industrial research. All proposals must demonstrate:
- a clear game-changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
- a strong and deliverable business plan
- sound, practical financial plans and timelines
- good value for money
- a clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation
- considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
- the benefits of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
- a clear definition of where IP can be used and shared between the participants and countries
- a clear route to market within no more than 2 to 3 years of project completion
Eligibility
All projects must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Firstly, the consortium must include at least one business registered in South Korea.
- All projects must last between 24 and 36 months, starting by 1st November 2022 and ending by 31st October 2025.
- UK applicants can apply for a maximum grant of up to £350,000.
- They must also carry out the majority of their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.
More Information
This competition is open from 14th February until 6th July. For more information, please visit the competition page or join the online briefing event on 22nd February.
RedKnight has extensive experience of developing bids for transnational innovation projects. To find out more about how we can help, please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.
Innovate UK Smart Grants: January 2022
Innovate UK has launched a new round of Smart Grants! Through this competition, £25 million will be available for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovation. Applications are due between 17th January and 13th April.
Scope
Smart is Innovate UK’s ‘open’ grant funding programme. Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy. This includes the creative industries, science or engineering, and the arts, design and media. Projects can overlap with the grand challenge areas, although Innovate UK is also keen to support projects in other areas.
Proposals must demonstrate:
- A clear game-changing, innovative and/or 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 with realistic management, mitigation and impact minimisation plans for each risk
- Clear, considerable potential to significantly impact the UK economy and/or productivity in a positive way
- Sound, practical financial plans and timelines that represent good value for money
Eligibility
Your application must include at least one SME; they can be the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner. The project must start no later than 1st October 2022 and end no later than 30th September 2025. Your project must also follow specific rules based on its duration:
- Projects with durations between 6 and 18 months must have total eligible project costs between £25,000 and £500,000. They can be single or collaborative projects.
- 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.
RedKnight Consultancy has significant experience in supporting applications for Innovate UK Smart Grants. You can view one of our success stories here. If you need help putting together a competitive proposal, please contact us today.
You may also be interested in our Innovate UK application guide – subscribe to RedKnight’s monthly newsletter today to receive a free copy direct to your inbox!
Grant funding opportunity for UK-Singapore collaborative R&D
From 24th January, UK registered businesses will be able to apply for a share of £3 million to develop collaborative R&D with businesses from Singapore. This funding is from Innovate UK in partnership with Enterprise Singapore.
The competition has an open scope, but applications from the following sectors are of particular interest: advanced manufacturing and materials, agrifood tech, mobility and transport, cybersecurity, and health and life sciences.
Scope
This competition will fund business-led, collaborative research and development projects focused on industrial research. All proposals must demonstrate:
- a clear game-changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
- a strong and deliverable business plan
- sound, practical financial plans and timelines
- good value for money
- a clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation
- considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
- the benefits of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
- a clear definition of where IP can be used and shared between the participants and countries
- a clear route to market within no more than 2 to 3 years of project completion
Eligibility
All projects must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Firstly, the consortium must include at least one business registered in Singapore.
- All projects must last between 24 and 36 months, starting by 1st September 2022 and ending by 31st August 2025.
- UK applicants can apply for a maximum grant of up to £350,000.
- They must also carry out the majority of their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.
More Information
This competition is open until 20th April 2022. For more information, please visit the competition page or join the online briefing event on 3rd February.
RedKnight Consultancy has significant experience in developing bids for transnational innovation projects. To find out more about how we can help, please contact us to arrange a free consultation.
APC 20: £25m available to develop low carbon automotive technologies
Through APC 20, the Advanced Propulsion Centre will invest up to £25m in late-stage, collaborative research and development of automotive technology and processes. This will support the UK automotive sector’s transition towards net zero.
Scope
This competition is seeking proposals for collaborative R&D projects that design, develop and manufacture zero emission on-vehicle technologies for on-road or off-road vehicles. All projects must:
- support the growth and security of the UK’s automotive supply chain
- deliver vehicle technologies and associated manufacturing processes which support the transition to net zero
- align with the UK’s strategic aims in this area, such as the Automotive Council’s Roadmaps
There are several technologies in scope for this competition, such as:
- battery cell components or systems
- fuel cell and associated balance of plant
- electric machines and power electronics
- fossil-free fuel internal combustion
- hydrogen storage and management systems
- recycling or recovering materials from any of the above
- digitalisation leveraged during the development, production or in-service phases
Eligibility
Firstly, all projects must have total eligible costs between £5 million and £40 million. They must be a minimum of 50% match funded and last between 18 and 42 months, starting by 1st September 2022. In addition, all project work must take place in the UK.
To lead a project, your organisation must fulfil the following criteria:
- be a UK registered business of any size
- have an active registered business base in the UK
- be a grant recipient
- involve at least one SME if the lead is not one
- include in your consortium a vehicle manufacturer or tier 1 supplier who supplies parts directly to an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
- collaborate with others
Innovate UK also suggests that projects should involve a maximum of six partners. The collaborating organisations can be any of the following types of UK registered organisation: businesses of any size, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations, or research and technology organisations.
More Information
APC 20 opens on 12th January and closes on 2nd March. For more information, please visit the competition page or attend the applicant briefing webinar on 12th January.
RedKnight can help you produce a competitive application, significantly increasing your chances of securing funding! Please contact us to discuss an application in more detail.
Funding available to advance the commercialisation of quantum technologies
From 17th January, UK organisations can apply for a share of £6m for projects to advance the commercialisation of quantum technologies in the UK. This funding is from the ISCF Commercialising Quantum Technologies Challenge.
Scope
Firstly, proposals must identify a clear market opportunity and an innovative project which exploits it. The project must meet the following criteria:
- study a commercial opportunity
- quantify performance objectives
- provide a roadmap of future exploitation
- exploit second generation quantum techniques.
Specific Themes
In addition, projects must address one or more specific themes:
- Connectivity: techniques for securing data in storage and in flight.
- Seeing the invisible: imaging, sensors and detectors for the environment, transport, autonomous systems, infrastructure, and healthcare.
- Positioning, navigation and timing: developing resilience and precision for situational awareness and time dissemination.
- Computing: advancing quantum computing for addressing intractable problems through modelling & simulation, machine learning and optimisation.
Eligibility
Projects must have total eligible costs of no higher than £500,000. They should start by 1st November 2022 and last between 12 and 18 months. Innovate UK also requires all project work to take place in the UK and an intention to exploit the results from or in the UK.
To lead a project or work alone, your organisation must:
- be a UK registered business of any size
- involve at least one grant claiming SME
You can also collaborate with other UK registered organisations, such as businesses of any size, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations, and research and technology organisations.
More Information
More information is available on the competition page. If you are looking for bid writing support, please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.
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WRAP and Innovate UK launch £1.7m competition to cut plastic pollution
WRAP and Innovate UK have launched a new fund to reduce plastic pollution in India, Chile, Kenya, and South Africa. The International Circular Plastics Flagship Competition has £1.7m available for solutions that respond to specific targets under the plastics pacts of these nations.
Scope
This competition will support market feasibility studies and early prototyping or pilot trials in global markets, with the overarching aim of reducing plastic packaging pollution. The funding focuses on the following four themes:
- flexible film packs including small format
- reusable packaging and new business models
- collection, sorting, cleaning and recycling
- end market development
All applicants must demonstrate that their proposal can address one or more of the specific challenge statements (see pp. 6-7 of the Guidance Document) for the country in which their project is taking place.
Eligibility
This competition is only open to UK registered organisations. They can apply for funding of between £50,000 and £250,000 to cover up to 100% of a project’s eligible costs. Where project costs are higher than £250,000, applicants will be expected to self-fund the excess amount.
To be eligible, applicants must have an innovative, replicable, tried and tested solution (TRL 6) that will address specific country challenges. In addition, they will need to complete the project and provide a detailed feasibility report by March 2023.
You can also find the full eligibility criteria on page 5 of the Guidance Document.
How to Apply
This competition has a single-stage application process. Before applying, you should complete WRAP’s pre-qualification questionnaire. If you meet the qualifying criteria, you will then receive a full application pack.
More Information
The International Circular Plastics Flagship Competition is open until 13th January 2022. For more information, see WRAP’s website or register to attend the briefing event on 2nd December.
If you are looking for bid writing support, please contact us in order to arrange a free consultation.
Made Smarter Innovation Programme launches funding call for digital innovation projects
The Made Smarter Innovation Programme has launched a new funding call for digital innovation projects. UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £20m if they have an idea to improve the resource efficiency and energy efficiency of manufacturing processes.
This competition has 2 strands:
- Strand 1 - Digital innovation with manufacturing data
- Strand 2 - Digital innovation in manufacturing processes
Scope
The competition aims to develop digital innovations to improve the sustainability of manufacturing processes. Therefore, all projects must focus on developing digital solutions to:
- Reduce the amount of waste or other in-process material losses through the manufacturing steps
- Reduce the energy consumed by a manufacturing process
- Better sequence or schedule the manufacturing operations to reduce material or energy consumption
- Better separate waste materials to facilitate material reuse
Projects must also fit into one of the competition’s two strands, which you can read more about here.
Eligibility
Firstly, the lead applicant must be a UK-registered business. In addition, they must work in collaboration with other UK-registered organisations and ensure that at least one SME is involved in the project.
All projects must:
- Cost between £1m and £8m
- Not exceed the maximum grant limits (50% for strand 1 and 40% for strand 2)
- Start before 1st September 2022
- Last between 12 and 24 months
- Include both manufacturing and digital technology capabilities in your consortium
- Apply to at least one manufacturing sector
- Involve a single factory or multiple factories
- Carry out all project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
More information
The latest Made Smarter Innovation competition will open from 1st November 2021 until 26th January 2022. For more information, please visit the competition page or register to attend the briefing event on 9th November. If you are looking for bid writing support, please contact us to arrange a free consultation.