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The Investor Partnerships – ACT and Semiconductors competition brings together Innovate UK grant funding and private investment to help promising UK technology SMEs accelerate R&D and commercialisation.
Up to £15 million has been allocated to the competition, targeting growth-oriented businesses developing Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT), semiconductor technologies, AI hardware, or innovations that combine connectivity and specialised semiconductor hardware.
Unlike a conventional Innovate UK grant, applicants must secure aligned private investment led or catalysed by an approved investor partner. The aim is to reduce the risk associated with innovative R&D while unlocking the capital businesses need to scale and commercialise their technologies.
Key Dates and Funding
Opens: 1 September 2026
Closes: 14 October 2026, 11:00am
Total Competition Funding: Up to £15 million
The eligible project size depends on the research category:
Projects must last between 6 and 18 months.
How Does the Funding Work?
Successful applicants receive an Innovate UK grant alongside investment from their named investor partner.
For industrial research, Innovate UK can fund up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small businesses and 60% for medium-sized businesses. The minimum aligned private investment must be at least equal to the grant funding.
For experimental development, funding can cover up to 45% for micro and small businesses and 35% for medium-sized businesses. Here, aligned investment must be at least twice the value of the Innovate UK grant.
Who Can Apply?
This competition is specifically for UK-registered SMEs and is open to single applicants only. Collaborative R&D projects are not eligible.
The SME must:
An SME can submit only one application to this round.
Investor Partner Requirement
Securing investor engagement is a central part of the competition.
The named investor partner must have submitted an Expression of Interest to Innovate UK and confirmed that the SME is ready to apply. Evidence of investment traction could include an indicative investment offer, ongoing due diligence or a term sheet.
Applications without an eligible named investor partner and the required Expression of Interest will be considered ineligible.
To receive funding, the project must therefore succeed on both fronts: it must be assessed as fundable by Innovate UK and secure the required aligned investment.
Technology Themes
The competition covers three main themes.
Theme 1: Advanced Connectivity Technologies
This theme supports secure, resilient and sustainable next-generation connectivity technologies.
Priority areas include innovations for advanced wireless networks, 5G and 6G, non-terrestrial networks, optical networks, spectrum efficiency, network sensing, advanced RF technologies and AI-enabled network architectures.
Particular priority is given to technologies addressing two ACT Grand Challenges: secure and resilient networks and sustainable networks.
Theme 2: Semiconductors and AI Hardware
This theme supports the development and commercialisation of semiconductor technologies, materials, equipment, components and manufacturing processes.
Areas can include:
The competition also supports the UK AI Hardware Plan, covering semiconductor technologies underpinning AI across data centres, edge computing and embodied AI systems.
Theme 3: Convergence of ACT and Semiconductors
The third theme targets solutions that bring connectivity technologies and semiconductor innovation together.
Examples include specialised semiconductor hardware for communications infrastructure, photonic systems for high-speed data transmission, hardware-software co-design, and integrated platforms combining sensing, compute and connectivity.
What Makes a Strong Project?
Projects must demonstrate more than technical novelty. Applicants need to show that their innovation forms part of a credible company growth strategy and has the potential to become a scalable commercial opportunity.
Proposals must demonstrate:
Innovate UK will consider innovation, additionality and investment traction when making funding decisions. This makes the investment proposition particularly important alongside the technical case.
Eligibility
The competition is open to UK-registered SMEs. Applicants must carry out their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or within the UK.
Overseas subcontractors may be used only where there is a strong justification for why an appropriate UK subcontractor cannot be used.
How Inventya Can Help
This competition requires applicants to present a strong R&D proposal and investment case simultaneously. Inventya can help SMEs build a coherent proposition that demonstrates why the technology deserves grant support and why the business represents an attractive investment opportunity.
Our support can include:
Inventya's experience across Innovate UK funding, investment readiness and deep-tech commercialisation can help SMEs develop a stronger proposition for both Innovate UK and their investor partner, connecting ambitious R&D with a credible pathway to scale.
