Analysis for Innovators Returns for Round 6
A new round of Analysis for Innovators (A4I) is open for applications! UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £3 million to resolve productivity issues by working with the best UK scientists and cutting-edge research facilities.
This is the expression of interest (EoI) stage and so there is no funding available. Moving forward, successful applicants will attend brokerage consultations with A4I partners to find the best approach for solving their problem. They will then work together to propose joint projects in stage 2 which, if successful, will receive grant funding.
Eligibility
In stage two, your project must fulfil the following criteria:
- have total eligible costs of up to £50,000
- start by 1 January 2022 and end by 31st March 2022
- carry out all of its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- involve at least one of the A4I co-funding partner organisations
A business can only lead on one application in this round of the competition, while previously submitted applications are also ineligible.
Scope
Within your application, you must outline the benefits of solving your problem. For example, this may include improved productivity or competitiveness. Innovate UK will only consider problems that:
- are related to the measurement or analysis of some quantities or properties of an existing process, product or service
- are not effectively solvable by simple ‘off the shelf’ methods or techniques
You must outline any methods and attempts that you have previously tried to address the problem. However, your application should not propose a solution.
More Information
Analysis for Innovators is open from 29th July until 18th August. Successful applicants will be notified by 8th September, with online partner brokerage sessions set to take place between 10th - 20th September. More information is available on the competition page.
If you’re looking for funding to develop a new innovative product, process or service, rather than to solve a problem, you may be interested in Innovate UK’s Smart Grants competition.
Innovation Funding Opportunities to Support Healthy Ageing
Innovate UK’s latest competition, Healthy Ageing Social Ventures, will invest £4 million in the development of products and services to support healthy ageing. The funding is from UKRI’s £98 million Healthy Ageing Challenge. It aims to help people remain active, productive, independent and socially connected for as long as possible.
All projects must deliver social impact and address one or more of the seven themes of the Healthy Ageing Challenge Framework:
- Living well with cognitive impairment
- Sustaining physical activity
- Maintaining health at work and work in later life
- Managing the common complaints of ageing
- Design for age-friendly homes
- Creating healthy active places
- Supporting social connections
This is phase 1 of a potential 2-phase competition, where only successful applicants from phase 1 will be eligible to apply to take part in phase 2. In phase 1, funding will be split across two strands:
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Feasibility Studies
Up to £50,000 is available per feasibility study, which should involve planned research or critical investigation to gain knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services. Projects should last no longer than 12 months. They must start by 1st March 2022 and end by 28th February 2023.
-
Industrial Research
Organisations can apply for a share of £3 million and propose projects that last up to 24 months. Successful applicants will receive between £50,000 and £150,000 for prototyping and evaluation work. Projects should start before 1st March 2022 and end by 29th February 2024.
More information
Both strands open for applications on 19th July and close on 15th September 2021. More information is available on the competition pages: feasibility studies and industrial research. Prospective applicants can also attend a webinar on 15th July to learn more about the fund.
If you’re thinking of applying and want to increase your chances by working with a grant funding specialist, get in touch today.
Funding Available for Automated Vehicle Projects
The Department for Transport and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are working with Innovate UK to find and fund three automated vehicle projects. A total of £1.5 million will be available for the continued development of technologies and assurance processes to enable the safe use of fully automated vehicles.
Scope
Your project can focus on one or more of the following themes:
- Automated driving system (ADS) development, to reduce safety driver intervention requirements
- Sensing and perception system development to reduce safety driver intervention requirements
- Remote monitoring or remote operation
- Scenario development or scenario application for intended deployment area
- Strategies for coping with scenarios that exceed operational design domain
- Automated incident detection (including “near misses”), automated monitoring, and associated data handling
However, this is not an exhaustive list, and Innovate UK will consider other areas of focus. Where this applies, you should also read the list of projects that Innovate UK will not fund.
Eligibility
Firstly, all projects should have total eligible costs between £25,000 and £1 million. Work should begin by 1st October 2021 and end by 31st March 2022, lasting between 3 and 6 months.
Secondly, the lead organisation must:
- Be a UK registered business of any size, a research organisation or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
- Be an autonomous driving systems (ADS) developer
- Have an existing automated driving system that has been tested and demonstrated on the UK public roads under the UK Code of Practice: Automated vehicle trialling (Feb 2019)
- Collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, public sector organisations or charities
- Collaborate with a potential autonomous vehicle service provider, or fleet customer who will operate the automated vehicles for example a local authority
- Carry out its project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
This competition is open from Monday 28th June until Wednesday 28th July. For more information and to apply, visit the competition page. Alternatively, please contact us if you'd like to discuss your application with one of our advisers.
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Smart Grants: Innovate UK makes £25 million available for disruptive innovations
Innovate UK has announced that a new round of Smart Grants will open on 28th May, with a deadline of 25th August 2021. £25 million will be available for disruptive R&D innovations that could significantly impact the UK economy.
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.
Your proposal 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 (including contractor or equipment failure, recruitment delays, etc) 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, which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions.
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 1 February 2022 and end no later than 31 January 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 £25,000 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 most recent success stories here. For our assistance in putting together a competitive proposal, please contact us today.
If you’re looking for further help, download our free application guide today! Drawing on our extensive experience with Innovate UK, it will take you through each of the application questions and explain what an assessor is looking for.
£7 million available for sustainable plastic packaging solutions
Innovate UK will invest £7 million in sustainable plastic packaging solutions in order to deliver the 2025 UK Plastics Pact targets. This funding is from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme, which is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Scope
Funding is available to address widely known problems related to plastic packaging for consumer products. Therefore, all projects should improve the sustainability of the plastic packaging supply chain and contribute towards delivering the targets of the UK Plastics Pact.
Projects can focus on one or more of the following themes:
- The minimising or reduction of plastic packaging
- Packaging suitable for reuse, refill and online delivery
- Sustainable solutions for film and flexibles
- Food grade recycled polypropylene and polyethylene
- Behaviour change leading to less packaging waste or higher recycling rates
- Solutions that address the UK Plastics Pact target for problematic or unnecessary single use plastic packaging items
However, this is not an exhaustive list and Innovate UK will also consider other innovative projects.
Eligibility
To lead a project or work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered business. You can collaborate with other organisations, including businesses, academic institutions, charities, and research organisations. In addition, you should conduct all project work in the UK and intend to exploit your results from or in the UK.
All projects must:
- Claim a grant between £200,000 and £4 million
- Start in early 2022 and end by 32 March 2025
- Last between 12 and 36 months
The Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging competition is open from 18th May until 8th September. For more information or to submit an application, click here. If you’re looking for bid writing support, please contact us to arrange a free consultation.
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Funding available to develop solutions to fusion energy challenges
A new Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition, funded by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, aims to encourage innovation in the fusion industry. Organisations can apply for a share of £2 million to develop solutions to fusion energy challenges in two key priority areas (outlined below).
This is phase 1 of a potential 2 phase competition, where only successful applicants from phase 1 will be able to take part in phase 2. However, a decision to proceed with phase 2 will depend on the outcomes from phase 1 and assessment of a separate application into a subsequent phase 2 competition.
Scope
Your proposal must demonstrate the feasibility of your project and relate to one of the key priority areas:
1) Accelerating fusion power plant design with next-generation digital tools
2) Reducing fusion power plant fuel requirements with advanced production and handling technology for Hydrogen isotopes
For more information on what this should involve, click here. Innovate UK will prioritise applications that help the innovation be formally accepted for future use in a fusion plant environment, for example by obtaining relevant regulatory certificates or approvals during phase 2. In addition, they will favour innovations that consider sustainability as part of their technology development.
Eligibility
- Firstly, phase 1 contracts must have total costs between £50,000 and £250,000, inclusive of VAT.
- Projects can last up to six months; they should start by 1st September 2021 and end by 31st March 2022.
- Contracts will only be awarded to a single legal entity. However, you can employ specialist consultants or advisers if you can justify subcontracting components of the work.
The competition is open from 17th May until 30th June. You can find more information on the competition page. Alternatively, to discuss an application with one of our innovation funding specialists, please contact us today.
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Biomedical Catalyst 2021: £18 million available for innovative life science companies
Innovate UK will reopen the Biomedical Catalyst on 7th June 2021. UK-registered companies will be able to apply for a share of £18 million to develop their novel healthcare products, technologies and processes.
The Bioindustry Association (BIA) has welcomed the announcement of additional funding. Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive, said:
“The Biomedical Catalyst is a key source of early-stage funding for UK bioscience companies to help them scale scientific ideas into products and therapies for patients. We are delighted that the Government, UKRI and Innovate UK have listened to the life sciences community and see the benefit of pump priming the translation of UK life science innovation into economic benefit for the nation in continuing to support this tried and tested programme.”
Background
The Biomedical Catalyst is a funding programme with three key objectives:
- Deliver growth to the UK life sciences sector
- Deliver innovative life sciences products and services into healthcare more quickly and effectively
- Provide support to academic and commercially led research and development
An Ipsos MORI report concluded that the Biomedical Catalyst has successfully met its objectives. Since its inception in 2012, It has offered strong value for money, increased companies’ R&D investment by 93%, and increased employment by 11 to 15 percent over 3 to 5 years.
Scope
This competition combines the early and late-stage strands of the Biomedical Catalyst. The aim of an early-stage award is to create a data package that is sufficient to support the testing of your product or process in a clinical setting or another relevant environment. In contrast, the late-stage award is designed to test a well-developed concept and show its effectiveness in a clinical setting or another relevant environment. It should therefore build on prior credible research on a product prototype or process.
Projects can focus on any health and care sector or discipline, for example:
- Medical technologies and devices
- Stratified healthcare
- Advanced therapies (gene and cell therapies)
- Digital health
- Drug discovery
- Diagnostics
In particular, Innovate UK will welcome applications that support innovation in the following areas: child health technologies; innovations that support clinical trials in the UK; biomedical innovations that combat the threat of antimicrobial resistance.
Eligibility
Firstly, your project must have total eligible costs between £250,000 and £4 million. It should start from 1st April 2022 and last between 12 and 36 months. To lead a project or work alone, your organisation must fulfill the following criteria:
- Be a UK registered SME
- Carry out its project work in the UK
- Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
You can collaborate with the following types of organisation: UK-registered businesses of any size, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations, or research technology organisations. However, large companies will not be eligible for grant funding.
This competition closes on 26th August 2021. If you’re looking for bid writing support, please contact us to arrange a free consultation.
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Funding available for hydrogen transport demonstrations
Innovate UK has announced a new competition to demonstrate the use of green hydrogen in transport. The competition is funded by the Department for Transport as part of the UK Government’s ambition to build a fully operational hydrogen transport hub by 2025.
Up to £2.5 million is available for demonstrations of hydrogen-powered vehicles in real-world operational settings across Tees Valley. The competition aims to further the UK’s understanding of how hydrogen can support the long-term development of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub (HTH), subsequently driving demand to decarbonise the transport system.
Eligibility
Firstly, all projects should have total eligible costs between £200k and £1 million. They should start by 1st September 2021 and end by 31st March 2022. To lead a project, your organisation must be registered in the UK and work in collaboration. Lastly, you should carry out all project work and exploit your results from or in the UK.
Scope
All applicants must use a hydrogen vehicle or vessel in an operational setting to replace, complement or add to existing transport fleets or operations. While projects can operate vehicles partly outside the Tees Valley, they must maintain their main logistical connection with the area.
In more detail, all projects must:
- demonstrate a green zero-emission hydrogen transport solution by 31 March 2022 for 3 months
- operate the demonstration in an open public setting or controlled environments, such as warehouses and distribution centres
- offer a method to track their solution against performance indicators against a baseline comparator to understand benefits or challenges and then deploy this solution as part of the demonstration
- report on the benefits for passengers, customers and residents in the Tees Valley
- develop plans for long-term activities to create a demand for hydrogen in the Tees Valley from 2022
As part of your project, you should also:
- undertake desk-based research into future engagement with the hub after 31 March 2022
- show how the activity proposed for 2021 to 2022 will support the hub’s longer-term ambitions
- outline how post-2022 activity will transition into a commercially viable ongoing hydrogen-fuelled transport activity or a larger trial on the ground encompassing hydrogen production and its wider use beyond transport.
- explore the policy landscape associated with the deployment of a specific hydrogen vehicle or vessel to help inform wider policy discussions
More Information
For more information, including the competition’s full scope and eligibility criteria, click here. Alternatively, please contact us if you’d like to discuss an application with one of our advisers.
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Innovation loans available for SMEs
From 26th April, SMEs can apply for innovation loans from Innovate UK. These loans are for highly innovative, late-stage projects with strong commercial potential. Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy.
Innovate UK’s pilot programme of innovation loans started in 2017. Through seven competitions so far, the programme has provided £80 million to over 100 successful applicants! In addition, Innovate UK approved £77 million in innovation continuity loans to nearly 100 SMEs as part of the UK Government’s coronavirus response package.
Eligibility
Innovation loans of between £250,000 and £1.6 million are available for experimental development projects. They can last up to 4 years, including both the R&D and commercialisation phases, and should start by September 2021.
To take on an innovation loan for a project, you must fulfil the following criteria:
- Be a UK registered SME
- Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- Give evidence that your business is suitable to take on a loan
Please note that individuals, academic institutions, research organisations and large companies are ineligible for innovation loans.
Scope
The competition aims to help SMEs make their innovations a successful, commercial reality. Innovate UK will evaluate your application on two grounds: firstly, the quality of your project proposal and secondly, the suitability of your business to receive a loan. Therefore, your proposal must demonstrate:
- an appropriate and evidenced loan request
- a clear route to commercial success with potential to make a significant and positive impact on the UK economy and productivity
- realistic, significant potential for global markets
- a strong management team
- why you are unable to fund the project from your own resources or other forms of public or private-sector funding
This competition is open from 26th April until 2nd June. If you have any further questions or would like support with your application, please get in touch.
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£1.5 million available to develop assays for SARS-CoV-2 cellular immune responses
A new Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) will fund the development of effective assay system approaches to measuring cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. The competition is part of the Covid-19 National Core Studies programme.
Scope
The competition aims to develop effective approaches to measuring human cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 natural infection or vaccines, to improve both clinical management and vaccine deployment. Funding is exclusively available for technical feasibility studies.
Assays that qualitatively and quantitatively measure the antibodies that recognise and neutralise SARS-CoV-2 are already available. However, assays to measure cellular immune responses rapidly and reproducibly are more limited.
Therefore, projects must develop a novel assay system that can define the magnitude and profile of T-cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the project should focus on assays that work in a clinical or laboratory setting, whilst considering the ease, speed and reproducibility of sample preparation. Specifically, assays that use whole blood rather than requiring complex cell separation protocols are a priority.
Specific Themes
All projects must fulfil the following criteria:
- Have a defined and justified intended use (research, clinical or diagnostic) for the assay
- Identify, justify and if required validate the biomarkers or cellular characteristics you propose to measure
- Develop or evaluate a sample preparation and assay format able to sample and measure the biomarkers or cellular characteristics with the required performance, test procedure and operational characteristics for the intended use
Eligibility
Projects can start from 1st October 2021 and should last between 1 and 12 months. With £1.5 million available, Innovate UK expects to fund 3 projects with total eligible costs of up to £700k. Organisations of any size can lead a project. Contracts will only be awarded to single legal entities, but you can work with others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations or the third sector as subcontractors.
For more information, visit the Innovate UK competition page. Alternatively, please contact us if you’d like to discuss an application with one of our advisers.
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