Innovate UK Analysis for Innovators Round 11 – stage 1

Innovate UK Analysis for Innovators is a very different type of programme from Innovate UK’s usual grant funding competitions. It is focused on helping individual companies solve tricky and perhaps long running technical problems affecting existing processes, products or services.

The programme’s aim is to help boost a company’s productivity or competitiveness. It achieves this by bringing the UK’s top scientists and facilities, often otherwise inaccessible, together with companies to address problems in innovative ways.

This is stage 1 of a 2 stage competition. No funding is awarded at this stage. If you are successful at this stage, you will be invited to brokerage consultations with relevant programme partners. These will focus on potential approaches to solving your problem. You will work together to propose joint projects to develop solutions and apply for the stage 2 competition to request funding.

Following assessment, successful stage 2 applications will be grant funded, to work with the relevant programme partner organisations. Your stage 2 project’s total costs must be between £15,000 and £120,000.

To apply to this stage your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. A business of any size may make only one application to this competition.

As part of your application, you must include a short video, up to 2 minutes long. You must use Innovate UK Analysis for Innovators Video platform to record your video and then provide a link in your application.

If we are unable to view your video, your application will be made ineligible.

We have partnered with Pitchtape, an online platform where you can create and submit a video with the help of templates and recording tools.

You will need to create an account before you are able to record your video. The platform will guide you through this process and provide step by step instructions to help you create your video.

If you experience any technical difficulties whilst using the platform, you must contact Customer Support Service on 0300 321 4357 or support@iuk.ukri.org before the submission deadline. If you need assistance with using the video platform, please contact the Innovate UK KTN Analysis for Innovators support team.

Your application must:

• meet the programme problem scope requirements (see below)
• relate to work being undertaken in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• involve at least one of the programme partner organisations
• indicate a stage 2 project duration of between 3 and 6 months
• indicate a stage 2 project start date of between 1 May 2024 and 1 August 2024

Confirmation of your stage 2 project duration and start date will be agreed with your programme partner during brokerage following a successful stage 1 application.

The aim of this competition is to help businesses address their existing analysis and measurement problems. These are problems that can be best explored by scientists and cutting-edge facilities available in the UK.

You must outline what you consider to be the benefits of solving your problem, such as improved productivity or competitiveness.

We will only consider problems that:

• are related to an existing process, product or service
• are related to the measurement or analysis of some quantities or properties of your process, product or service
• are not effectively solvable by simple ‘off the shelf’ methods or techniques

You must outline any methods and attempts that you have previously tried to address the problem. Do not propose how the problem should be solved.

Analysis problems cannot be simply software related, for example pure data analysis.

We will not consider problems that are:

• not measurement or analysis problems
• ones we consider to be resolvable with easily available methods, such as those that do not require any innovative or cutting-edge science or facilities
• solely computer software analysis problems, such as algorithms to analyse objects
• not related to a company’s existing processes, products or services

In the Stage 2 competition we will not fund any projects that are:

• involved with primary production in fishery and aquaculture
• involved with primary production in agriculture
• relating to the purchase of road freight transport

See the competition page for the full list.

Innovate UK KTN will hold an online briefing from 10am-noon on Monday 7th August 2023: click here to register for a place. A recording will be available after the event.

If you are successful at stage 1, partner brokerage events will be held on various dates 9th-20th October.

Innovate UK KTN can provide assistance with your application. Innovate UK KTN can provide assistance with your application. Please contact our dedicated support team.