Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £5 million into supply chain innovation projects. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.
The aim of this competition is to support feasibility studies to explore new ways of making supply chains more resource efficient and resilient.
This will be achieved by addressing cross cutting challenges faced by the six Industrial Strategy’s growth driving sectors and the Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries in scope.
Your proposal must be aligned to at least two of the following six high growth sectors defined in the Government’s Industrial Strategy. Alternatively, it must be aligned to at least two of the advanced manufacturing frontier industries identified in the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan.
High growth sectors in scope:
- advanced manufacturing
- clean energy industries
- creative industries
- defence
- digital and technologies (includes artificial intelligence, engineering biology, advanced connectivity, quantum, semiconductors, and cybersecurity)
- life sciences
Advanced manufacturing frontier industries:
- automotive
- batteries and energy storage
- aerospace
- advanced materials including composites, metals, polymers, ceramics, glass, and smart materials
- agri-tech, manufacturing and processing technologies for the agri-food value chain
- space
Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have a 20% chance of success.
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Projects can be collaborative, but businesses can also work alone.
To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size or a UK registered RTO. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered business of any size claiming grant funding on this application.
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
- business of any size
- academic institution
- charity
- not for profit
- public sector organisation
- research and technology organisation (RTO)
To work alone your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. RTOs cannot work alone.
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, limited to no more than 30% of the project’s total eligible costs.
A business can only lead on one application and can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications. If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.
An RTO can only lead on one application and can be included as a collaborator on any number of applications.
An academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation can collaborate on any number of applications.
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Your project must:
- have a grant funding request between £50,000 and £100,000
- be up to nine months in duration
- start on 1 July 2026
- end by 31 March 2027
Your project must:
- be a feasibility study
- focus on solutions that are either new or not yet widely used
- address improvements in supply chain resilience and resource efficiency that are transferable across sectors or industries
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The aim of this competition is to support feasibility studies to explore new ways of making supply chains more resource efficient and resilient.
This will be achieved by addressing cross cutting challenges faced by the six Industrial Strategy’s growth driving sectors and the Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries in scope.
Your proposal must be aligned to at least two of the following six high growth sectors defined in the Government’s Industrial Strategy. Alternatively, it must be aligned to at least two of the advanced manufacturing frontier industries identified in the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan.
High growth sectors in scope:
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Clean Energy Industries
- Creative Industries
- Defence
- Digital and Technologies
- Life Sciences
Advanced manufacturing frontier industries:
- automotive
- batteries and energy storage
- aerospace
- advanced materials including: composites, metals, polymers, ceramics, glass, and smart materials
- agri-tech, manufacturing and processing technologies for the agri-food value chain
- space
Your project must:
- be a feasibility study
- focus on solutions that are either new or not yet widely used
- address improvements in supply chain resilience and resource efficiency that are transferable across sectors or industries
- identify the growth-driving sectors or the advanced manufacturing frontier industries you are targeting
- clearly identify the critical cross-cutting challenges being addressed and demonstrate how your project addresses these critical challenges
- address supply chain validation through involvement of at least one end user in the project
The involvement of the end user can be in the form of, but is not limited to:
- being on a project advisory board
- being a non-funded project collaborator or a funded project collaborator
In this competition, we will not accept letters of support from the end user.
Within your application you must:
- demonstrate a clear route to scale in the UK
- assess commercial, technical and operational viability of your innovation
- explain how this project delivers growth to your company as part of future UK resource efficient and resilient supply chains in UK manufacturing
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Innovate UK will hold an online briefing on Monday 2 February, noon-1pm: click here to register for a place. A recording and slides will be available afterwards.
On the same page, you can also register for drop-in sessions to ask specific questions about your project or find potential project partners. These will be held on Monday 9 February, 11am-noon, and Thursday 26 February, 10am-11am.
For further questions or to find a project partner, you can also contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s sector teams:
Innovate UK's application and funding process
If you need more information about how to apply, please read our funding support pages. For additional support, reach out to our team of innovation experts who are ready to help you navigate the application process and maximise your chances of success.
For more information
Accessibility and Inclusion
Innovate UK welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and 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.