Successful applicants will benefit from an intensive 9-12 month, three phase programme with bespoke support from an innovation and growth specialist throughout.

Get ready: A two-day preparation workshop to build knowledge and understanding of the market and opportunities, including cultural aspects, how to do business, protecting Intellectual Property, and support to better articulate your value proposition.

Visit the market: Explore the innovation opportunities first-hand through pre-arranged matchmaking events, meetings with key contacts, research organisations and potential collaborators and partners.

Exploit the opportunity: An exploitation workshop and one-to-one bespoke support from an innovation and growth specialist to help you follow-up and maximise the opportunities identified through the programme.

To apply for this GBIP, you must be:

• a woman founder, co-founder or senior decision maker
  within a UK-based innovative company with ambitions to
  grow and scale globally
• a company with fewer than 250 employees
• able to attend all workshops and complete all activities

Businesses that have been on a previous GBIP (in the same market and/or technology area) will need to demonstrate they have exploited the previous opportunity to be considered and how this programme will add significant additional benefit. Preference may be given to businesses that have not participated previously.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, a business can only take part in two GBIPs in any rolling 12-month period (measured by the date of the Get Ready Workshop).

Innovate UK is committed to embedding representation and inclusion into all areas of our work. We welcome applications from individuals across all communities and from a wide range of different backgrounds.

We are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this GBIP’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the application deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email (support@iuk.ukri.org) or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).’

Sweden stands out as one of the leading nations in Northern Europe
for Artificial Intelligence (AI), serving as a central hub for innovation
across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Its progressive approach to
technology, combined with a strong commitment to Equality,
Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), makes it an ideal environment for
advancing the role of Women in AI.

AI Sweden actively supports initiatives such as Women in AI and the 2022 publication of WAI @ Work – Shaping the Future of Work for Women in AI. These efforts foster an inclusive ecosystem where women can thrive across all dimensions of AI development, deployment and leadership.

The Swedish AI sector is experiencing significant growth, driven by public and private investment. Women-led businesses are highlighting both the demand and potential for targeted support and collaboration.

Existing collaborations between Sweden and the UK reflect a shared commitment to inclusive innovation and demonstrate a strong foundation for future joint ventures.

According to Stanford’s AI Index 2025, Sweden ranks fourth globally for AI investment and boasts one of the highest concentrations of AI talent in Europe. It is consistently recognised as one of the best countries to launch an AI startup.

This programme is centred around the theme ‘AI for Resilience’. This thematic approach aligns closely with both Swedish and British strategic priorities.

We invite women founders, co-founders or senior decision makers within a UK-based innovative company in the AI sector, particularly those focused on resilience, to apply for this programme.

Applications should fall into one of the following areas which include some illustration of AI applications:

• Infrastructure resilience: Smart infrastructure management, urban planning and resilience, health & social care resilience, interoperability and standards
• Adoption and deployment of responsible and trustworthy AI: Ethical AI frameworks, bias mitigation, public trust and engagement
• Supply chain robustness: AI-Driven supply chain optimisation, traceability and transparency and cross-border collaboration
• Environmental sustainability: AI for climate adaptation, circular economy and carbon footprint reduction

We intend to adopt a portfolio-based approach to diversify the Global Business Innovation Programme and maximise the impact across the multiple areas stated above

• Build market knowledge and intelligence
• Seed new business partnerships, develop RD&I collaborations, and identify partners for bilateral funding calls
• Introductions to senior figures and influential contacts
• Raise your profile and stimulate new business opportunities and ideas
• Improve your value proposition, hone your skills, and grow in confidence to tackle global markets
• Connect with peers, expand your network, and learn from like-minded, ambitious businesses

• Application deadline – Friday 24 October 2025 at 5pm
• Application outcome – Friday 31 October 2025
• Get ready workshop – Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 January 2026
• Market visit – Sunday 8 to Friday 13 February 2026
• Exploit the opportunity workshop – Tuesday 28 April 2026

• Introductory briefing with the British Embassy
• Visits to research and technology organisations
• Attending the TECHARENA 2026 event in Stockholm
• Company site visits and meetings with key contacts
• High quality networking opportunities

Innovate UK will fund and organise flights, accommodation, in-market travel and conference fees for successful applicants.

Innovate UK will also pay for any reasonable adjustments throughout the initiative. Only one representative from each company will be funded and the same person is required to participate in all parts of the programme.

On acceptance to the programme, a commitment fee of £1000 will be obtained from each participant. This will be refunded on completion of the full activities (Get ready workshop, Visit, Exploit the opportunity workshop, and active engagement with an Innovation and growth specialist) and agreed work plan.

Non-completion after formal acceptance may result in forfeiting some or all of the commitment fee.

The online application form can be found here.

You can also download  a copy of the application template word document here.

If you have any questions, we are happy to help, email us at event.enquiries1@iukbg.ukri.org.

To make a complaint, please follow the Innovate UK complaints procedure.