Innovation funding opportunities
Looking for funding and support to develop your idea? At Innovate UK Business Connect, we connect businesses, researchers and innovators with the right opportunities they need to grow.
Explore opportunities for funding and expert guidance, to help turn your innovation into a commercial success.
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2027 European Prize for Women Innovators
Opens: 02/09/2026
Closes: 01/12/2026
The 2027 European Prize for Women Innovators is your chance to gain European recognition for the impact of your work and inspire the next generation of innovators.
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Farming Innovation Programme: Small R&D Partnership Projects Rd 5
Opens: 01/09/2026
Closes: 14/10/2026
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £13 million for small R&D partnership projects. This funding is from the industry led R&D Partnerships Fund, a part of the Defra Farming Innovation Programme.
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Contracts for Innovation: Engineering Biology for Defra and Food Standards Agency, phase 1
Opens: 01/09/2026
Closes: 14/10/2026
Organisations can apply for a share up to £3 million inclusive of VAT, to develop and scale Engineering Biology platforms, products and services.
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National Materials Innovation Programme: CR&D Rd1
Opens: 01/09/2026
Closes: 28/10/2026
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £12m for collaborative industrial research in materials for health, structures, electronics, or metamaterials.
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Wind Innovation Hub: Accelerating Innovations
Opens: 31/08/2026
Closes: 05/10/2026
The Accelerating Innovations programme will provide tailored in-kind funding, to a maximum value of £100k per organisation, for up to 20 high-potential UK companies developing mission-aligned technologies, products and services for the offshore wind sector.
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Investor Partnerships – ACT and Semiconductors
Opens: 01/09/2026
Closes: 14/10/2026
UK registered SMEs can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners.
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Advanced Manufacturing: Measurement and Sensing Pilot
Opens: 26/08/2026
Closes: 07/10/2026
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 million as part of a pilot. This is to support high potential businesses developing a technology, product or service in measurement, instrumentation or sensing for UK manufacturing.
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UK Space Agency: International Bilateral Fund – Call 3
Deadline 4 Nov: encouraged to send EoI by 14 Sep.
Up to £1.5m per project to build international partnerships working on mutual space priorities.
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Electricity Demand Turn Up trial: EOI for flexibility providers
Opens: 20/08/2026
Closes: 16/09/2026
UK registered businesses providing flexibility services can submit an expression of interest for a trial assessing if DTU can reduce renewable electricity curtailment in Great Britain. Successful applicants can apply for a share of up to £16 million.
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ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant: Round 11
Opens: 20/08/2026
Closes: 30/09/2026
Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a grant of £2,500, to engage an external Project Facilitator to support the development of a Full ADOPT Grant application.
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Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis
Opens: 01/09/2026
Closes: 28/10/2026
Up to £25.4 million funding available to support the clinical validation and evaluation of early cancer diagnostic technologies and devices.
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Critical Minerals Programme: Critical Minerals Accelerator
Opens: 05/08/2026
Closes: 30/09/2026
Funding to support UK-based projects that strengthen critical mineral supply chains and develop innovative capabilities across the critical minerals sector.
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BBSRC ICURe Explore January 2027
Opens: 01/09/2026
Closes: 20/11/2026
BBSRC ICURe Explore provides financial support of up to £35,000, including a maximum of £20,000 for the Entrepreneurial Lead’s salary, as well as funding for assumption testing and customer discovery activities.
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ARIA: Nature Inspired Computation - Olfactory Perception and Open Olfactory Resource
Opens: 12/08/2026
Closes: 30/09/2026
ARIA seeks to build the foundations for general-purpose olfactory perception – matching or exceeding biological systems in programme challenges.
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Full ADOPT Grant: Round 9
Opens: 14/08/2026
Closes: 07/10/2026
Farming, growing or forestry businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million for on-farm trial and demonstration projects, to improve adoption of new ideas or solutions in the agricultural sector.
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Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2026 – 2027 Round 3
Opens: 13/08/2026
Closes: 14/10/2026
UK registered academic institutions, RTOs or Catapults, working with businesses, can apply for a share of up to £12.5m to fund innovation projects.
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EIT Culture & Creativity: Shape and Scale - financial support for Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries
Opens: 10/08/2026
Closes: 12/10/2026
Cultural and creative startups and scaleups that are looking to accelerate growth, attract investment, and expand internationally, are invited to apply for financial support under the Shape Acceleration Programme and Scale Post-Acceleration Programme.
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Connected Places Catapult: Diesel-Free Sites Adoption Programme
Closing Soon
Opens: 10/08/2026
Closes: 07/09/2026
Connected Places Catapult seeks SMEs who have proven diesel-free infrastructure solutions and are looking for opportunities for wider industry adoption through live demonstration and industry engagement.
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Connected Places Catapult: Infrastructure Productivity Scale-Up Programme
Opens: 17/08/2026
Closes: 14/09/2026
Connected Places Catapult is seeking applications from high potential businesses with proven solutions that can address one of the infrastructure sector’s most pressing productivity challenges.
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DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund Drawdown 5
Opens: 10/08/2026
Closes: 04/11/2026
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million to create scale up manufacturing facilities for zero emission vehicle technologies.
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iX Challenge - Comparing and validating high-precision timing signals at scale
Opens: 10/08/2026
Closes: 18/09/2026
This challenge seeks innovative solutions in comparing and validating high-precision timing signals at scale.