The aim of this competition is to provide you with support for research and development and access to the capital investment you need to develop and commercialise your innovations.

Your proposal must have a clear route to market, a clear link to innovation and evidence that you can create a team to deliver your proposal.

You must be:

• registered in the UK as an SME by the time the award is contracted
• 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

Broader themes

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).

Specific themes

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.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies and markets, with a particular focus on future economy areas set out in the Innovate UK plan for action. We call this a portfolio approach. We will also take into account the impact of the grant in attracting investment and the likelihood of the investment completing within a reasonable time.

Research categories

We will fund feasibility projects, industrial research projects and experimental development projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

• not carried out by SMEs
• collaborative R&D projects
• not part of a company’s growth plan
• unable to demonstrate there is potential for return on investment and growth
• not working with an investor partner from the selected pool of investor partners

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
• dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product