Future Economy Investor Partnerships SME: round 3

The selected investor partners have demonstrated that they have the credibility, capability, capacity and appetite to invest in innovative, technology-led businesses that align with our programmes. These programmes will focus on the future economy as described in our plan for action.

The Future Economy investor partnership programme brings together:

• Innovate UK’s expertise in identifying innovation and using grant funding to change the risk profile of businesses
• investor partners’ aligned funding and expertise in identifying opportunities and teams that can best use extra investment finance

This approach aims to provide you with support for research and development and access to the capital investment you need to develop and commercialise your innovations.

Innovate UK provides support for your investment readiness and for engaging with suitable investors via Innovate UK Edge and Innovate UK KTN. In the first instance you should contact Innovate UK Edge for support in understanding your readiness for investment and also to look at your wider strategy for growth.

You should also contact Innovate UK KTN to establish if there are specific programmes for connecting businesses in your sector to relevant investors. Support and connections to sector specific investors may also be provided by the relevant catapult centre.

You will need to establish a relationship and a level of investment traction with one of our approved investor partners before you apply for funding. A full list of selected investor partners is provided at Innovate UK Investor Partners – UKRI and Innovate UK KTN investor partnerships websites.

The investor partner must have confirmed with you that you are in a position to apply for grant funding as you will be asked to identify them in the application.

To apply your organisation must:

• be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized business (SME) by the time the award is contracted
• carry out its project work in or from the UK
• intend to exploit the results in or from the UK
• have discussed and agreed your proposal with your investor partner before submitting your application

This competition is open to single applicants only. Subcontractors are allowed but should usually be from the UK.

You can only submit one application into this round of the competition.

The eligibility criteria will depend on your research category.

For feasibility studies projects:

• your total project costs must be between £50,000 and £300,000
• the project duration must be between 6 and 12 months

For industrial research projects:

• your total project costs must be between £100,000 and £1 million
• the project duration must be between 6 and 24 months

For experimental development projects:

• your total project costs must be between £250,000 and £2 million
• the project duration must be between 12 and 24 months

You must be able to raise the aligned finance needed to draw down the award, through the issue of new shares or convertible debt.

You must also demonstrate that if your project is funded, it will:

• have significant market impact
• be scalable
• be attractive to other equity investors

We are looking to support projects that focus on the future economy areas included in the Innovate UK plan for action. The broad theme areas are:

• net zero
• health and wellbeing
• next generation digital technologies and technology families

Innovation and ideas can come from anyone and anywhere. We want to see investments unlocked for the diverse and extraordinary talent in the UK. We are encouraging diverse applicants and inclusive project applications, pushing beyond the status quo.

We encourage innovation involving communities that are typically under-represented, including:

• from regions that have historically accessed lower levels of investment (outside London, Oxford and Cambridge)
• ethnic minority groups
• women and other marginalised genders
• disabled people
• people with non-traditional education backgrounds

To support this, we also have a targeted theme on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

The investor partnership programme will be focused on specific themes for the future economy areas that include:

Net Zero

• capital intensive technologies
• power – particularly offshore wind, civil nuclear, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and whole systems integration
• heating and retrofit
• mobility
• resource efficiency for materials and manufacturing
• critical circular materials
• battery technologies for transport and energy storage (Faraday Battery Challenge)

Health and Wellbeing

• innovative solutions to health and healthcare challenges (Biomedical Catalyst)
• advancing life-changing Cancer Therapeutics, focussed on immunotherapies and paediatric oncology
• the application of extended reality for digital mental health, including immersive content that could be delivered as a digital mental health therapeutic in formal healthcare settings (Mindset)
• controlled environment agriculture and alternative proteins

Next generation digital technologies

• projects within the creative industries which are underpinned by innovative digital technology as well as sustainable innovations, such as circular fashion (Creative Catalyst)
• adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in targeted industries (Bridge AI)

Knows No Limit (equality, diversity and inclusion)

• innovations from diverse founders or senior decision-makers that are from under-represented groups and are role models
• innovations outside of the future economy theme areas, including those that support under-served communities and groups

These programmes are described in more detail in the UKRI investor partnerships and Innovate UK KTN investor partnerships websites.

If your project is not focused on one of the specific themes above then it may be supported if it is in the future economy areas of net zero, health and wellbeing and digital and technologies as set out in the Innovate UK plan for action.

In scope and the specific themes questions, you must explain which theme your project most closely relates and why. If it does not relate to one of the specific themes, but is within the broader future economy scope, then indicate to which broader theme it relates to and why.

Your application will be considered out of scope if you do not answer this clearly.

Innovate UK KTN held an online briefing event on 7th July: click here to watch the recording.

Innovate UK provide support for your investment readiness and for engaging with suitable investors via Innovate UK Edge and Innovate UK KTN. In the first instance you should contact Innovate UK Edge for support in understanding your readiness for investment and also to look at your wider strategy for growth. You should also contact Innovate UK KTN to establish if there are specific programmes for connecting businesses in your sector to relevant investors. Support and connections to sector specific investors may also be provided by the relevant catapult centre.

Contact relevant teams within KTN:
Net Zero
Health
Digital

You will need to establish a relationship and a level of investment traction with one of our approved investor partners before you apply for funding. A full list of selected investor partners is provided at Innovate UK Investor Partners – UKRI and Innovate UK KTN investor partnerships websites.

The investor partner must have confirmed with you that you are in a position to apply for grant funding as you will be asked to identify them in the application.

To be successful, your project must be independently assessed by Innovate UK as fundable and receive investment directly, led or catalysed by the investor partner.

Can the investor portion be split amongst multiple (2 or 3) investors?     

Aligned investment may be syndicated with more than one or more investors alongside the selected investor partner. Those investors can be from the pool of investors or from outside the pool. The investor partner would typically take the lead role, and only one investor can be the “named” investor partner and you cannot change them after the application has been submitted.

Are you able to raise money from an investor through a Convertible Loan Note, and have that matched by Innovate as part of this scheme?           

Convertible loan notes can be used as a part or all of the aligned investment. Advanced subscription agreements (ASAs) can also work.

If you are rejected the first application, can you reapply and is there a limit to the number of times you can reapply?

You can reapply once.

How is the diversity measured?       

Under-representation is defined from the list that includes those from:

• regions that have historically accessed lower levels of investment (outside London, Oxford and Cambridge)
• ethnic minority groups
• women and other marginalised genders
• disabled people
• people with non-traditional education backgrounds

For additional context, Innovate UK as part of UKRI has published addressing under representation for more detail here.

What is the process for approaching the investors?

Information on the pool of investor partners is provided in the directory. This includes a description of their areas of interest along with preferred means of making contact. Our partners at Innovate UK KTN will also support you in making connection through a number of initiatives including “Office hours”. We would also suggest that you contact Innovate UK Edge who will be able to help establish that you are investor ready. They work closely with Innovate UK KTN and can also assist in making connections with investors.

Our directory of investor partners is here. You can contact Edge directly to find out more here. All the investor partners are expecting – and indeed are welcoming – engagement of applicants in this programme. You need to get a commitment from the Investor partner that they are interested in investing subject to a successful grant application and also that they are prepared to take the role of the investor partner.

When should the investor partner close the investment round?   

The grant funding can only be accessed if there is clear deal additionality i.e. the investment wouldn’t happen without the grant funding. From our perspective, if you are successful in closing an investment before we have made the grant funding decision, then it is a clear indication that there the grant wasn’t a key factor in the investment decision. As a result we will not provide grant funding where the investment is closed prior to our grant funding decision i.e. after you have been notified that you have been successful. We normally require the investment to be completed within 3 months of the notification, but can extend this by a month or two if there is a clear momentum towards completion and you are keeping the investor partnership team fully informed.

What are the rough timelines for this process?      

The Expression of interest should be agreed a week before the deadline to give you time to enter a thought through application. We will then reach out to your confirmed investor partner a month after the competition closes to summarise the current position of the fundraise. This information along with the assessors scores and feedback provides us with the information to make a decision as to whether we can make an offer of a conditional grant. The timing of this conditional offer as around 6 weeks after the competition closes. We then allow you up to 3 months to complete your investment.

Can the investor partnership grant funding work alongside an innovate loan application or an existing grant (for separate project activities)?           

Yes.

Can you use a project that was unsuccessful at applying to a recent Innovate UK call?   

Yes.

Can SMEs introduce investor partners to Innovate UK / Innovate UK KTN etc if they are not already included in the list? What procedures do you follow to vet investment partners?       

Yes, we have an application process for investor partners that considers their capacity, capability, credibility and aligned interest. This runs every three months.

Are investors that have just applied to the pool eligible for the current round? Or do we need to wait for them to be officially approved to be partners on this?       

Investors have to be “selected” investor partners before they can support you in their application for a grant via the investor partnership programme. If you are already in discussions with them as an investor then you should continue to develop those discussions.