Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 – Funding for Next-Generation AI Technologies

Theme 4: AI Safety and Assurance Technologies

This theme supports technologies that improve the reliability, safety and verification of advanced AI systems.

Priority areas include:

• Agentic runtime control and action assurance
• Dynamic AI evaluation, simulation and safety testing environments
• Formal and runtime verification for autonomous or safety-critical systems
• Automated adversarial safety testing to identify previously unknown AI failures

The aim is to develop technical approaches that enable AI systems to be tested, controlled and verified against safety-related risks.

Who Can Apply?

The competition is open to UK-registered micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

To be eligible, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Be a UK-registered SME.
• Undertake the funded project activities in the UK.
• Intend to exploit the project results in the UK.
• Spend the majority of the funding within the UK.
• Submit only one application per organisation.
• Propose a project with eligible costs between £150,000 and £250,000.

The competition does not permit subcontractors.

Applicants must also meet Innovate UK's financial eligibility requirements and demonstrate that their organisations are not in financial difficulty.

What Must Projects Deliver?

Phase 1 is designed to establish the technical feasibility of ambitious AI innovations.

Successful projects must deliver five key outputs.

1. Proof-of-concept prototype

A working proof of concept demonstrating the whole technology stack, core architecture or a critical subsystem.

2. Validation methodology

A clearly defined approach for testing the innovation against predefined technical benchmarks and measurable success criteria.

3. Evidence of technical novelty

Demonstration of how the proposed technology advances beyond existing AI capabilities or enables genuinely new functionality.

4. Scaling rationale

An explanation of how the technology and its associated business model could support future commercial growth.

5. Technical white paper

A document presenting the technical development, validation approach and findings generated during the project.

Applicants must also identify one key technical uncertainty that the project will address during Phase 1.

Synthetic or simulated datasets may be used where appropriate to demonstrate technical feasibility.

Why This Opportunity Matters

The Frontier AI: SME Champions competition provides an opportunity for UK SMEs to advance early-stage AI technologies that may otherwise struggle to secure funding because of their technical complexity and development risks.

By supporting focused feasibility projects, the programme enables businesses to validate critical technological assumptions, demonstrate novel capabilities and establish stronger foundations for future investment.

Its emphasis on intellectual property, technical benchmarking and commercial scalability also encourages applicants to consider how their innovations could create sustainable competitive advantages.

For SMEs developing genuinely novel AI technologies, Phase 1 funding could provide an important step towards transforming an early-stage technical concept into a commercially viable innovation.

How Inventya Can Help

Developing a competitive application for the Frontier AI: SME Champions competition requires more than demonstrating an innovative AI concept. Applicants must establish technical novelty, measurable feasibility, defensible intellectual property and a credible commercial opportunity, while ensuring their proposals align with the programme's specific themes and eligibility requirements.

Inventya can support UK SMEs throughout the application process, helping them develop a compelling technical and commercial case for funding.

Our support can include:

• Eligibility and scope assessment: Evaluating the proposed technology's TRL, technical novelty and alignment with the competition's four priority themes.
• Technical proposal development: Defining the core AI innovation, critical technical uncertainty, development methodology and measurable validation objectives.
• Intellectual property and defensibility strategy: Supporting background and foreground IP planning, freedom-to-operate considerations and the identification of sustainable competitive advantages.
• Market analysis and commercialisation planning: Quantifying the serviceable addressable market, identifying target customers, assessing competitors and developing a credible route to market.
• Project planning and risk management: Preparing realistic technical work plans, milestones, risk registers and supporting application documentation.
• Budgeting and funding justification: Developing eligible project budgets, demonstrating value for money and explaining the additional impact of public funding.

With experience supporting technology-driven SMEs, innovation funding applications and commercialisation strategies, Inventya can help businesses translate ambitious AI concepts into structured, evidence-based proposals that demonstrate both technical feasibility and long-term growth potential.