Innovation funding opportunities
Looking for funding and support to develop your idea? At Innovate UK Business Connect, we connect businesses, researchers and innovators with the right opportunities they need to grow.
Explore opportunities for funding and expert guidance, to help turn your innovation into a commercial success.
Filter By
Sectors:
iX Challenge: Reducing blood-cell loss and measurement variability in field-deployable microfluidic diagnostic cartridges
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 06/11/2026
Beyond Blood Diagnostics seeks innovative solutions to reduce particle loss during flow stage process within a micro channel.
More information
iX Challenge: Secure, Cost-Effective Use of Cloud-Based AI Tools in the Defence Supply Chain
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 06/11/2026
The challenge holder is seeking an innovative, secure and commercially viable way to use cloud-based, AI-enabled engineering and manufacturing tools while protecting sensitive customer and defence-related data.
More information
iX Challenge: Resilient High-Altitude Communications, Navigation and Mission Connectivity for Persistent Autonomous Aircraft
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 06/11/2026
Innovate UK Business Connect is supporting Advanced Integrated Technologies Ltd (AiT) to identify innovative technologies capable of providing reliable, resilient and low-SWaP command, control, navigation and mission-data connectivity for a persistent autonomous aircraft operating in the stratosphere.
More information
iX Challenge: Edge AI with Low Size, Weight, Power, and Cost
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 06/11/2026
The iX programme is supporting Tekh to identify innovative hardware partners capable of developing low Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) computing hardware for Edge AI. The challenge will investigate how far AI compute can be reduced while retaining sufficient inference performance to deliver useful capability in constrained operational environments.
More information
iX Challenge: Extending protection to personnel travelling in armoured vehicles under drone attack
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 06/11/2026
VSS is looking to use open innovation to improve the survivability of personnel travelling in armoured vehicles when under drone attacks.
More information
iX Challenge: Verified reporting of the value created by defence contracts
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 06/11/2026
The iX programme is supporting e50K to find innovators who can capture, verify and deduplicate social value delivery across a multi-tier supply chain, so that the value a contract creates can be evidenced rather than asserted.
More information
Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: CR&D Round 2
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 02/12/2026
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to invest up to £7 million to support the development and adoption of sustainable technologies for the manufacturing of medicines.
More information
Investor Partnerships – Battery Innovation Programme
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 25/11/2026
UK registered SMEs can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners.
More information
Eureka collaborative R&D: Globalstars Japan 2027
Opens: 07/10/2026
Closes: 20/01/2027
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £2 million for collaborative industrial research projects with partners from Japan and select Eureka countries.
More information
ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant: Round 12
Opens: 01/10/2026
Closes: 11/11/2026
Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a grant of £2,500, to engage an external Project Facilitator to support the development of a Full ADOPT Grant application.
More information
FOAK Builder: working towards climate tech first-of-a-kind deployment
Opens: 07/10/2026
Closes: 05/11/2026
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest a minimum of £4.77 million to support ambitious, late-stage climate tech businesses as they move towards commercial scale deployment.
More information
Manufacturing Digitalisation Innovation Programme: Innovation and Scale-up Hub
Opens: 02/10/2026
Closes: 18/11/2026
UK registered RTOs or academic institutions can apply for a share of up to £4 million to build a hub to improve the targeting, quality and commercial impact of grant funded activity.
More information
Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships Round 1
Opens: 01/10/2026
Closes: 02/12/2026
UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £8 million to develop engineering biology products and services with selected investor partners.
More information
UK Defence Innovation: Security Open Call 2026 Cycle 2
Opens: 01/10/2026
Closes: 29/10/2026
The Security Open Call is a competition which UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) runs to find proposals that address security challenges faced by government stakeholders.
More information
UKAEA ICURe Engage - November 2026
Opens: 02/10/2026
Closes: 29/10/2026
UKAEA ICURe Engage is a 4-week, online, part-time programme designed to support researchers and technicians in exploring the potential market for their research.
More information
FLF ICURe Engage - November 2026
Opens: 05/10/2026
Closes: 09/11/2026
Future Leaders Fellows (FLF) ICURe Engage is a 4-week, online, part-time programme designed to support Future Leaders Fellows in exploring the potential market for their research.
More information
EIT Culture & Creativity: Innovation Projects 2026
Opens: 25/09/2026
Closes: 30/10/2026
EIT Culture & Creativity invites proposals for high-impact, close-to-market innovations, to receive support in accelerating progression from TRL 7 to full market deployment across the architecture, audio-visual media and fashion sectors.
More information
ARIA: Forecasting Tipping Points Phase 2 – Concept papers
Concept papers encouraged by 9 Oct: full proposals deadline 2 Dec, 2pm.
ARIA are inviting proposals related to ocean observing, forecasting, and decision-useful climate-evidence translation, with multi-million budgets for several areas.
More information
UK-Germany Bilateral Collaborative R&D: Round 5
Opens: 28/09/2026
Closes: 01/12/2026
UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £2.4 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Germany. You must collaborate with at least one German SME applying under the equivalent German ZIM programme.
More information
Contracts for Innovation: Battery innovation for dual use & defence Phase 1
Opens: 28/09/2026
Closes: 04/11/2026
The Battery Innovation Programme is investing up to £2m to accelerate innovative battery technologies that solve defence challenges.
More information
Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems
Opens: 12/10/2026
Closes: 18/11/2026
UK registered SME businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.66 million to deliver experimental validation of prototype AI systems for novel reusable components of efficient, structured and controllable learning systems.