Successful applicants will benefit from an intensive 9-12 month, three phase programme with bespoke support from an innovation and growth specialist throughout.

Get ready: A two-day preparation workshop to build knowledge and understanding of the market and opportunities, including cultural aspects, how to do business, protecting intellectual property, and support to better articulate your value proposition.

Visit the market: Explore the innovation opportunities first-hand through pre-arranged matchmaking events, meetings with key contacts, research organisations and potential collaborators and partners.

Exploit the opportunity: An exploitation workshop and one-to-one bespoke support from an innovation and growth specialist to help you follow-up and maximise the opportunities identified through the programme.

To apply for this GBIP, you must be:

• a UK-based innovation-led company with ambitions to grow and scale globally
• developing an innovation that is beyond proof-of-concept stage
• a company with fewer than 250 employees
• the CEO, founder, or senior decision maker in the business
• able to attend all workshops and complete all activities

If you have previously attended the SXSW USA conference with Innovate UK support, you are not eligible to apply.

Businesses that have been on a previous GBIP (in the same market and/or technology area) will need to demonstrate they have exploited the previous opportunity to be considered and how this programme will add significant additional benefit. Preference may be given to businesses that have not participated previously.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, a business can only take part in two GBIPs in any rolling 12-month period (measured by the date of the Get ready workshop).

Innovate UK is committed to improving the diversity of who we support. We welcome applications from under-represented groups.

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us as soon as possible before this GBIP’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the application deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email (support@iuk.ukri.org) or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Austin is home to the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference. It provides an opportunity for the creative global community to come together to learn cutting edge ideas, form partnerships, discover new technologies and network with other professionals who share a similar appetite for creative innovation.

This year, SXSW celebrates its 40th year with a re-imagined experience. The conference, film & TV and music festivals will run concurrently for the first time. 2026 sees the debut of dedicated clubhouse venues for Innovation, Film & TV and Music related industries to facilitate networking and connections.

The event features conference sessions, networking and mentor events, film festival screenings, music festival showcases, brand activations and much more.

Creative industries from around the world will converge in Austin, Texas for SXSW 2026 to experience opportunities for learning and valuable discoveries that happen when creatives and innovation come together.

The creative industries is a key sector at the SXSW conference and offers exciting and significant growth opportunities for ambitious UK businesses.

We are looking for creative industries businesses, ready to collaborate internationally, innovating beyond proof of concept in the following areas:

• Music Technology
• Film & TV
• Video Games

• Advertising & Marketing Technologies

This programme presents the UK creative industries with an opportunity for significant global growth.

Preference will be given to the Creative Catalyst cohort awardees (Creative Catalyst, Creative Industries Fund, Audience of the Future, SMART/Fast Start and Create Growth Programme). The intention is to have an equal split of (i) Creative Catalyst cohort awardees, and (ii) UK creative companies that have not yet received an award.

We reserve the option to adopt a portfolio approach to ensure a wide range of businesses represented across the sub-sectors and regions

• Build market knowledge and intelligence
• Seed new business partnerships, develop RD&I collaborations, and identify partners for bilateral funding calls
• Introductions to senior figures and influential contacts
• Raise your profile and stimulate new business opportunities and ideas
• Improve your value proposition, hone your skills, and grow in confidence to tackle global markets
• Connect with peers, expand your network, and learn from like-minded, ambitious businesses

• Application deadline – Friday 14^th November 2025 at 2pm
• Application outcome – Thursday 4^th December 2025
• Get ready workshop – Wednesday 28^th & Thursday 29^th January 2026
• Market visit – Wednesday 11^th to Tuesday 17^th March 2026
• Exploit the opportunity workshop – Wednesday 10^th June 2026

• Attending the SXSW Conference 2026
• Introductory briefing with Department for Business Trade (DBT) USA
• Introductions to other UK delegations
• Access to conference sessions, networking and mentor events, showcases and brand activations
• Participation in potential showcase event

Innovate UK will fund and organise flights, accommodation, in-market travel and conference fees for successful applicants.

Innovate UK will also pay for any reasonable adjustments throughout the initiative. Only one representative from each company will be funded and the same person is required to participate in all parts of the programme.

On acceptance to the programme, a commitment fee of £1000 will be obtained from each participant. This will be refunded on completion of the full activities (Get ready workshop, Visit, Exploit the opportunity workshop, and active engagement with an innovation and growth specialist) and agreed work plan.

Non-completion after formal acceptance may result in forfeiting some or all of the commitment fee.

Read an inspiring story from My SMASH Media who attended the SXSW GBIP in 2025.

Fiona Gillies, CEO at My SMASH Media, says:

Innovate UK’s Global Business Innovation Programme was an invaluable resource. It gave us direct access to key stakeholders in the US and helped us establish industry relationships that are already paying off. South by Southwest helped us get an insight into the US market and gain additional US users.

We’re a small media tech start up but already 6% of our users are US-based, it’s going to be an important market for us, so it’s been useful to discuss strategy and marketing and has enabled us to focus on developing our business goals.

The application process includes both a written application and a video presentation of up to 2 and a half minutes.

Download a copy of the application template word document.