BridgeAI Innovation Exchange - Call for challenge holders

About the opportunity

The BridgeAI Innovation Exchange (iX), led by Innovate UK Business Connect, offers an exciting opportunity for leading UK enterprises to tackle critical productivity challenges. By hosting these challenges, organisations can benefit from cutting-edge AI solutions from selected solution providers who are supported by access grant funding of up to £50,000 per project. As a challenge holder, your organisation can harness the power of AI to boost productivity, drive innovation, and create scalable impacts that resonate across the UK economy.

Why participate as a challenge holder?

Becoming a challenge holder on the BridgeAI iX platform offers your business a rare opportunity to:

• Identify and Address Key Productivity Issues: Bring forward a significant challenge impacting productivity within your sector.
• Collaborate with AI Innovators: Work closely with top solution providers who bring cutting-edge AI approaches that align with your business objectives.
• Drive Scalable and Lasting Impacts: Develop solutions that benefit not only your organisation but also promote AI adoption and enhance productivity across the UK.

With BridgeAI iX, your organisation can lead a high-impact, strategically focused project, working with solution providers who will bring fresh perspectives and specialised AI expertise to meet your defined goals.

Who should apply?

Eligible Challenge Holders are medium to large UK-based enterprises, operating within one of our priority sectors and possessing clear, measurable objectives. You’ll need:

• A defined productivity challenge with potential for broad, scalable solutions.
• High-quality, relevant data to support solution development and integration.
• A commitment to collaboration, as you’ll engage with AI solution providers to ensure effective solution delivery

Eligible sectors

To participate, Challenge Holders must operate within the following high-growth potential sectors:

• Creative industries
• Construction
• Agriculture and food processing
• Transportation including logistics and warehousing

Please note, we cannot accept applications related to Marketing and Advertising.

This scheme is being managed by the BridgeAI Programme team at Innovate UK Business Connect. Please fill in this form to submit your application. Applications are limited to one challenge per company. Applications will then be assessed, and successful applicants will enter a process to further define their challenge.

Solution providers will undergo an initial assessment by Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect to ensure they meet the opportunity’s eligibility criteria. This evaluation will focus on factors such as innovation level, technical feasibility, and the potential for a positive impact on business productivity, among other key metrics. Following this assessment, up to six solution providers will be shortlisted for interviews with the Challenge Holder, who will make the final selection. Grant funding will be awarded directly to the chosen solution provider, with quarterly progress checks conducted before each grant instalment is released.

Key dates

Applicants must confirm their availability for key dates between 10th February 2025 and 28th February 2026, and the ability to meet online on the critical dates listed below:

• Challenge holder EOI application deadline: 7 February 2025, 12:00 pm
• Notification of successful challenge application: 14 February 2025
• Challenge definition deadline: 21 February 2025
• Challenge review and sign-off: Conducted via email from 24 to 28 February 2025
• Solution provider competition launch: 24 March 2025
• Solution provider application deadline: 23 April 2025
• Pitch day: One full day online, scheduled between 23 and 27 June 2025
• Confirmed selection of solution provider: 2 July 2025
• Project duration: 1 September 2025 to 28 February 2026 (5 months)