Transforming Foundation Industries: Building a Resilient Recovery Competition Open

The “Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI): Building a Resilient Recovery” funding competition is now open and closes on Wednesday 4th November 2020, whereby UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £8 million for projects supporting recovery and growth of the UK’s foundation industries.

The aim of this competition is to support an innovation-led recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and to protect the UK’s foundation industries innovation capability. Aligned with the objectives of the ISCF Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge, projects will have to demonstrate how they address resource or energy efficiency of foundation industries and support resilience and sustainability of the sector and its supply chains.

The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will work with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to invest up to £8 million in innovation projects. These aim to catalyse innovation to support fast recovery and growth from Covid-19 through innovations that improve productivity and sustainability of the UK’s foundation industries. Your proposal must help the UK’s foundation industries remain globally competitive and become more environmentally sustainable.

Your proposal must focus on resource or energy efficiency opportunities through the development of:

• long-term viability of domestic supply chains
• new markets
• new business models
• new products and services
• new processes

A portfolio of projects will be funded across a variety of technologies, markets, sectors, technological maturities and research categories. Your project must not focus on fuel switching or technologies for the capture of emissions, such as carbon capture and storage. Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £100,000 and £1 million.

Projects must:

• help the UK’s foundation industries remain globally competitive and become more environmentally sustainable
• indicate how the innovation helps meet the needs of business and/or industry as it emerges from Covid-19 pandemic and aids rapid recovery
• demonstrate that the business has the capability to deliver the project

KTN hosted a briefing webinar on 17th July for this event – you can watch this back here.

There was also a collaboration and networking webinar on 20th July, hosted by KTN, which outlined the scope of the competition and showcased pitches – this can be watched back here.

KTN hosted webinars on the Foundation Industries in June and July, focused on an Innovation Funding Masterclass and the Transforming Foundation Industries Hub Briefing Event webinar. To watch the recordings of these back please click here.

Find out more information and apply here.