Entrants to this competition must be:

• established businesses, academic institutions, start-ups, SMEs, or individual entrepreneurs
• UK based or have the intention to set up a UK base

Applications will be assessed on:

• relevance to the defined challenge
• benefit of implementation
• feasibility/economic viability
• innovative nature
• ability to launch in line with expected timescales
• credibility of applicant company
• coherence of the proposed business model
• development potential
• maturity of the solution
• suitability for the intended geographic market

• Launch of the challenge: 3 November 2026
• Deadline for applications: 16 December 2026
• Selection and notification of finalists: 18 January 2027
• Date of pitch day: w/c 25 January 2027

Successful applicants will be given an opportunity to present their proposal to Rolls-Royce SMR and Innovate UK Business Connect. The challenge offers potential routes into civil nuclear and other safety-critical enclosed-environment applications where dependable carbon dioxide control is required.

The benefits package for a successful applicant may also include:

• support from Innovate Uk Business Connect
• support in the development of a prototype or pilot
• technical support
• invitation to attend or present at Innovate UK Business Connect events
• a potential business collaboration

Existing background IP associated with a potential solution will remain with Solution Provider(s). Where any new IP generation is envisaged, it will be subject to the mutual IP agreement of the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger. 

Any commercial deployment of a transferred solution or newly developed solution, through licensing, joint venture, partnership, or direct investment, will be subject to the commercial agreement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger. 

Where necessary, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be signed to uphold confidentiality in the engagement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger. This would be expected to be after final company selection. All entries are treated as confidential and only shared with Innovate UK and the challenge holder, however if the innovator is concerned about sharing IP, it is suggested that details of IP are not disclosed. Instead, focus on the outcomes of the technology proposed at this application stage. Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect do not take any share of IP ownership or enter commercial ventures through the iX programme. 

Functional requirements

The solution should:

• remove carbon dioxide from recirculating air uniformly and support maintenance of a habitable enclosed environment for 24 hours
• provide passive carbon dioxide removal without the reliance on external electrical power
• ancillary monitoring or control equipment may be independently powered, for example by batteries
• be suitable for intermittent emergency duty and extended standby periods
• offer a compact system architecture (small footprint)
• minimise dependence on external utilities, operator intervention and complex supporting equipment where practicable
• enable safe installation, inspection, maintenance, replenishment or regeneration and storage
• avoid introducing unacceptable hazards to occupants, plant or the environment

Technical requirements

Applicants should provide, where available:

• the carbon dioxide removal mechanism, performance envelope, and factors affecting removal efficiency
• power, airflow, consumable, regeneration and control needs
• expected shelf life, service life, storage conditions and maintenance philosophy
• failure mechanism, means of detection and proposed fail-safe or recovery provisions
• materials, fire, chemical, toxicity, contamination, waste and disposal considerations
• existing test data, operational experience, standards compliance and technology readiness
• a proposed qualification and V&V roadmap covering representative testing, analysis and traceability, including assessment of performance under relevant environmental and operational conditions such as vibration and other service-life effects

Applicants do not need to demonstrate all listed capabilities at the point of application. Solutions that credibly address a subset (for example ~50%) of the requirements, particularly where the core capabilities are met (bullets 1 – 5), are acceptable and encouraged. RR‑SMR recognises that additional functionality may be developed collaboratively, subject to technical feasibility and value.

The application form for this challenge will require applicants to provide company information and answer 3 questions – Idea Summary, Technology Readiness and Intellectual Property – each with a limit of 300 words.

Optionally, up to 3 supporting documents can be attached to the application. We recommend that supporting documents are limited to those which are directly relevant to the application. Please note that applications with no supporting document will not receive any penalty in assessment. Supporting documents which the Assessment Panel deems to be superfluous may be disregarded. Examples of useful additional documents include product images or short specification sheets, slide decks detailing the solution and/or company background, or solution case studies.

We recommend that you complete the application form in Google Chrome as other browsers may have compatibility issues. The application form does not need to be completed in one session and can be saved for future edits. Please ensure that you toggle “Stage Complete” for each section before submission. Note that you will no longer be able to edit your application once you have clicked “Submit Idea” at the bottom of the Summary page.