Innovate UK Growth Catalyst for late-stage startups
Innovate UK is piloting a new programme called Growth Catalyst. It seeks to accelerate highly innovative startups on their journey to becoming successful scale-ups and beyond.
Opportunity Details
Award
Up to £30m in grant funding with aligned equity investment from our investor partners. Bespoke business growth action plan, developed with Innovate UK specialist support. Access to existing Innovate UK programmes – funding, talent development, infrastructure, and market entry support.
What is the Growth Catalyst?
Innovate UK’s Growth Catalyst is a new integrated package of funding and support, designed to accelerate highly innovative start-up businesses through specific stages on their journey to becoming scale-ups and beyond.
Our first Growth Catalyst pilot is aimed at innovative late-stage start-up businesses (seed to series A) working in clean energy or climate technology.
We plan two further Growth Catalyst rounds this year, potentially in different industry sectors. The next pilot will be aimed at early-stage (pre-seed) start-ups.
What could Growth Catalyst do for business?
We are offering successful applicants a new tailored funding and support package.
This package could support your business to progress innovative solutions towards a fully developed and tested product or service that may be delivered at scale.
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Through this package, we offer successful applicants funding through our proven Investor Partnerships model, together with expert support from IUK Business Growth, IUK Business Connect and Catapults. Specifically, it includes:
- Funding and Investment – R&D grant funding aligned with, and subject to, private equity investment through our investor partners, helping you to secure the capital you need to grow and innovate at the same time.
- Expert business support – strategic guidance from teams across Innovate UK to build a personalised, milestone-driven business journey that supports you to access the right innovation services at the right time for you.
- Connection – connections to industry experts and research partners to support you to enhance your innovation, explore market opportunities and accelerate business growth.
- Specialist skills and industry infrastructure – learning opportunities in business leadership, innovation management and technical development to refine and improve your business’ capabilities.
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It will be open to applications from 2nd May 2025.
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We are interested in applications from late-stage startups (seed to series A), which are developing innovative solutions in clean energy or climate tech.
Our focus is on technology and innovations that help deliver the government commitment to clean power for the UK and accelerate to net zero. This includes solutions that make a significant contribution to mitigating climate emissions across energy, mobility, industry and agriculture.
Funding will be through our investor partnerships programme – so in order to apply, first you need to have gained traction with at least one of the Investor Partners on the Innovate UK Investor Partner list.You must identify your investor partner in your application, so please ensure your investor partner is aware and in full support of the application.
We will ask investor partners for validation of that support for your application through an Expression of Interest to confirm how the grant funding will impact on the proposed investment and the current stage of completion.
Note, the funding process will be on a competitive basis, so not all eligible applicants will secure funding.
* Subject to terms and conditions and meeting of criteria as set out when you apply. All grants are subject to meeting criteria, terms and conditions and continued compliance throughout the process.