Innovate UK funding while the strategy reset plays out
As of September 2026, Innovate UK is still in mid-reorganisation – a process that started under Keir Starmer and, a year later, now had a new set of priorities from Andy Burnham. However, its funding calendar hasn’t slowed down.
Since the start of September, Innovate UK has opened well over a dozen new competitions worth several hundred million pounds combined, and its first quarterly newsletter confirms a clear pipeline running into 2027. Whatever the bigger structural picture looks like next year, there is substantial funding open for application now, with more on the way shortly.
Open grants, across the priority sectors
These are open to any eligible UK business applying directly through the Innovation Funding Service, with no prior relationship with Innovate UK required. A snapshot of what’s live at the time of writing:
- Scaling performance of quantum computing hardware, CR&D: up to £33 million, closing 18 September, so act quickly if this fits
- Battery Innovation, Feasibility Studies and Concept Development: up to £25 million each, closing 2 December
- Accelerated cancer diagnosis (Office for Life Sciences): up to £25.4 million, closing 28 October
- DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund, for zero emission vehicle manufacturing: up to £150 million, closing 4 November
- National Materials Innovation Programme, CR&D: up to £12 million, closing 28 October
- Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D: up to £8.5 million, closing 3 November
Two routes stay open with no fixed deadline at all: Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, that fund a graduate placement with a university or Catapult partner to help a business innovate, and the Innovation Loans Expression of Interest, for SMEs with close to market projects and strong commercial potential. Both are worth keeping in your back pocket regardless of where the wider reset lands.
What’s coming next, sector by sector
Innovate UK’s new quarterly newsletter gives a genuinely useful look ahead. Highlights by sector:
- Digital and technologies: a run of Frontier AI competitions through to April 2027, starting with the Frontier AI Core Hub and SME Champions strand in October, followed by R&D Consortia funding in December and further SME Champions and Hub Infrastructure rounds into next year
- Advanced manufacturing: further National Materials Innovation Programme rounds through February 2027
- Clean energy: a Growth Cohorts entry point for businesses decarbonising concrete production, opening across several rounds from December
- Defence: the Defence and National Security Innovation Exchange, for businesses already in the defence or national security supply chain, with an expression of interest opening soon
- Cross cutting: a fourth round of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships in September, with further rounds pencilled in for November and February
Creative industries opportunities are still to be confirmed, worth watching for clients in that sector.
Growth Catalyst, Smart Grant’s replacement, is live
The first Growth Catalyst strands have opened, including Investor Partnerships for ACT and Semiconductors, which pairs grant funding with backing from selected private investors. Up to £130 million has been committed to Growth Catalyst for 2025/26, a solid early signal for the programme built to succeed Smart Grant.
The bespoke support layer is for existing clients only
Two smaller but useful schemes sit underneath Innovate UK Business Growth: the RTO Catapult Grant, offering 100% funded access to Catapults and RTOs up to £15,000, and the IP Audit scheme, offering up to £2,250 towards a professional IP audit. Both are only available to businesses already receiving Business Growth’s advisory support, identified as a need by their specialist. The route in runs through the advisory relationship first, not a cold application.
Scaleup Programme: paused, not withdrawn
Innovate UK has confirmed the Scaleup Programme has paused new expressions of interest from businesses outside its existing client base, in line with the wider strategy renewal. Worth flagging clearly to clients rather than pointing them at a route not currently accepting new applicants. It’s a pause tied explicitly to the reset, not a withdrawal of support.
The pattern worth understanding
Put together, the picture is an encouraging one. Open competitive grants remain the widest door into Innovate UK funding, genuinely available to first-time applicants, and the pipeline into 2027 already looks well stocked. The bespoke advisory schemes sitting behind Business Growth are real and valuable, but they follow a grant win rather than replace one. Getting the first application right is still what opens everything else.
We are working with SMEs across multiple sectors to help set grant strategy and execute on grant applications. If you are considering grant funding, or have not had any luck so far with your applications, contact us – we are happy to have a no obligations online meeting.
Alex Chalkley
I have over 20 years experience in founding and scaling businesses, mainly focused on the non-dilutive funding sector. Since 2008, I have built, trained and mentored teams to successfully draw down over €100m in non-dilutive funding from the UK and EU for clients spanning multiple sectors.
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