Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £18.5 million for CR&D and R&D projects. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.
Your project will be to work on maturing and accelerating the availability of components that include semiconductors or novel technologies, required to deliver Smart Electronic Platforms.
These platforms are essential to deliver the economic, industrial and tactical benefits of automation and autonomy. These require the integration of multiple reusable components to be able to deliver the ‘Sense-Decide-Act’ pipeline of a smart electronic platform.
The aim of this competition is to drive forward the availability of a UK anchored catalogue of components, ready for integration and delivery into next generation smart electronic platforms. The target sectors for these platforms will be across industrial and tactical edge environments for automation and autonomy.
Your project must focus on undertaking the industrial research and innovation required to deliver one or more, as a component subsystem, reusable components. Examples of which include:
- integrated sensors
- secure processors
- AI hardware accelerators
- actuator drivers
- support components such as integrated power management
A key requirement for the ‘Decide’ components is to provide the resilient hardware on which “AI runs” securely and efficiently. Projects must not include the research and innovation of the AI model, a communications module, or the end application.
Proposed components must be delivered in a consumable format, either as:
- a component for integration into a packaged device, such as system in package
- or as a packaged part for integration onto a platform’s printed circuit board (PCB)
You must clearly define the following proposed component’s:
- functional interfaces
- reusability requirements
- provide evidence that the target component can be adopted by third party integrators commercially developing market specific smart electronic platforms and solutions
Your proposal must detail the background and arising technologies the project will utilise to create the proposed reusable component. This needs to also indicate the extent to which the background and arising technologies secure a potential market.
The proposal must also include an estimation of the potential market secured by the proposed component and the associated total addressable market size.
Projects with a strong unique selling point (USP) in the market will be prioritised during portfolio selection.
Innovate UK will also apply a ‘portfolio approach’ to ensure that projects that are funded represent a balanced portfolio of projects across:
- technology
- technology maturity
- competitive USP in the target market
- eligible project costs
- project duration
- risk profile
- available budget
Our experience from previous competitions suggests that you could have a 20% to 30% chance of success.
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To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.
To work alone your organisation must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME).
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)
No single partner can account for more than 70% of the total eligible costs in a collaboration.
A business can only lead one application. A business, academic institution, research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit or public sector organisation can only be included as a collaborator in three applications.
If a business is leading an application, it can collaborate in up to 2 further applications.
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Your project must:
- have a grant funding request of between £500,000 and £2 million
- last between 12 and 18 months
- start by 1 August 2026
- end on 31 January 2028
Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.
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The aim of this competition is to drive forward the availability of a UK anchored catalogue of components, ready for integration and delivery into next generation smart electronic platforms. The target sectors for these platforms will be across industrial and tactical edge environments for automation and autonomy.
Smart Electronic Platforms are the integrated printed circuit boards whose purpose is to deliver the automation and autonomy in our modern digital world. These platforms consist of multiple integrated components, that include semiconductors and novel technologies, delivered through a packaged part or for use on a printed circuit board (PCB).
Typical components may include the secured processing and memory components, components for AI acceleration, integrated power management components, integrated sensors or the interfaces to drive actuators. Together they support a Sense, Decide, Act pipeline typical of smart electronic platforms.
Component development within the project may also require software development to enable the use of the developed component within a smart electronic platform.
Your project must ensure these components are made ready for integration into a smart electronic platform’s Sense, Decide, Act pipeline.
Operating environment
Industrial Edge
Refers to high reliability environments such as:
- energy grids
- manufacturing
- critical infrastructure
These are where decisions must be made with energy efficient, low latency and verifiable resilience and security. These environments demand high duty cycle performance and long term reliability.
Tactical Edge
Refers to environments where:
- connectivity is intermittent, contested or denied
- intelligence must be delivered locally
The Tactical Edge requires the delivery of complex, real time processing within the physical and operational boundaries of a platform for example, autonomous vehicle, drone, robot or mobile tactical hub.
Requirements for all projects
Your project must have components that will:
- be ready for integration into a package for example, system in-package, multi-chip modules
- deliver an in-package part ready for integration onto a smart electronic platform
Your application must:
- define a target use case supporting industrial automation or autonomy
- describe what the proposed component is needed for and how it will contribute to the smart electronic platform required in the target use case
- describe why your proposed component USP will address the market need
In addition, your application must:
- describe how the project will increase the integration readiness of the proposed component
- define the reusability approach for the proposed component, including its interfaces and any external dependencies required for integration into a smart electronic platform
- explain how the proposed component can be adopted by a third party for example, system integrator, for subsequent integration into a final product with commercial practices for supply, support and maintenance
Your project must satisfy the following integration readiness criteria by project completion:
- functional readiness: your project must provide evidence, physical or digital, that the component performs its intended task within the smart electronic platform environment
- interface readiness: the component must meet the reusability requirements needed to connect to the target smart electronic platforms
- consumable format: the component must be delivered in a fixed format, physical or digital, that is ready to be consumed or used by a third party for example, system integrator, for integration into a smart electronic platform
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Your project must focus on the development of components ready for integration within smart electronic platforms used in industrial automation and autonomy.
Examples of components across the Sense, Decide, Act pipeline and platform enablement components include the following:
Sense – Sensing components
Components used for providing sensors with the physical world delivered for integration through for example:
- in-package for example, system in-package or multi-chip modules
- placement on the smart electronic platform’s PCB
- as an interface component to connect to an external sensor to the smart electronic platform
Decide – Processing, AI acceleration, storage and memory components
Processing elements tailored for real time analysis, decision making, command and control, including:
- the secure processors and hardware components for AI acceleration
- integrated memories and storage
- integrated communications where the primary purpose is the ‘Decision’ component
Act – Actuation and physical drive components
Component drivers required for off platform actuation and platform power regulation, including:
- integrated processing
- interface units
Platform – Enablement and ancillary components
Components may include:
- components required for in-package and in-platform data movement and routing
- hardware security modules, for example, Root of Trust, eSIM, secure enclaves
- power management and control components which will be integrated in-package or whose primary purpose is to operate on the smart electronic platform
These examples are not intended to be exhaustive.
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We are not funding projects that:
- do not propose a component that will be made ready for integration by a third party for example, by a system integrator, onto a smart electronic platform
- do not define a specific target use case supporting industrial automation or autonomy
- do not focus on the Sense, Decide, Act pipeline or platform enablement components of a smart electronic platform
- develop standalone technologies that cannot be readily made available for integration into a packaged part or on a smart electronic platform’s PCB
- develop components that would not be delivered through the procurement of an integrated smart electronic platform
- develop software that is not a requirement to enable the use of the proposed component within its target smart electronic platform
- develop a component the primary purpose of which is to act as the external communications module for integration onto the smart electronic platform
- include the research and innovation of the AI model, platform level communications module or the software for an end application
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Innovate UK will hold an online briefing at 11:00am on Wednesday 25 February: click here to register for a place. The briefing recording and slides will be available after the event.
If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Electronics team.
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.
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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.