About
Innovate UK Business Connect is the UK's innovation network that connects innovators with new partners and opportunities beyond their existing thinking, accelerating ambitious ideas into real-world solutions. It is part of the Innovate UK system operating under UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The organization helps businesses of all sizes access expert information, funding, and connections to drive innovation across diverse sectors including AgriFood, Biotechnology, Digital, Energy, Health, Manufacturing, Space, and many more. They support the UK's Net Zero targets and economic growth through various programmes, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, and global alliance initiatives.
Funding Opportunities
The ScaleUp Accelerator
The ScaleUp Accelerator helps scaling tech (often B2B SaaS) UK companies prepare for strong growth and Series A funding. The programme supports UK based tech companies who are currently at £500k to £1.5m net revenue and growing. The ScaleUp Accelerator is the perfect combination of upfront intensive learning and long-term support, with 6 weekly half day sprints followed by up to 12 months of support until your deal is done. This enables CEOs and founders to develop a credible plan and investor proposition to raise their Series A and grow to £10m and beyond. The programme leverages nearly a decade of expertise by The Accelerator Network team delivering award winning programmes and their partner White Horse Capital being embedded in the VC community, securing over £350m+ of funding. No upfront fees. No equity commitment. They offer to be your exclusive fundraising partner, subject to a 5% contingent success fee on completion of Series A funding round (within 12 months of the last investor event).
ICURe Engage programme cohorts
Innovate UK ICURe Engage is a 4-week, part-time programme which helps research students and technicians identify who could benefit from their research, and the benefits of entrepreneurship. The programme aims to identify potential beneficiaries of research, introduce participants to tools for commercialisation, and foster consideration of entrepreneurship as a pathway for achieving societal impact and a viable career choice. The ICURe Engage programme is open to all research students (including those pursuing research master's degrees, 1st or 2nd year PhD students, and Post-Docs) as well as technicians from all disciplines who are interested in entrepreneurship, regardless of whether they already have an idea. The programme includes a 2-day training bootcamp from Impact experts, introduction to ICURe, ideation, design thinking and Value Proposition Canvas, weekly hour-long conversations with peer group support and mentor for 3 weeks, around 5 hours of self-study and research over the 3 weeks, and consideration of how a venture delivering Impact may be funded. Participants are required to produce a short video report reflecting on knowledge gained and research area Impact potential. Participants get access to leading university resources, and fantastic networks of mentors and investors who join them early on their journey. The programme provides bespoke deep tech training, team-building, programmatic business and technology coaching, mentoring by leading deep tech and industry experts, engagement with client organisations, and connections to technology investors.
UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund
UKI2S invests in innovations emerging from the UK's publicly funded science and knowledge base. The fund specialises in engineering biology, defence & security, fusion energy, and space to facilitate sustainable growth, enhance the health and security of society, improve productivity, and deliver economic gains emerging from UK's public funding portfolio. UKI2S makes equity and convertible loan investments for a financial return. The fund invests in the pre-seed and seed stage and is often the first investor. Entry cheques are typically between £100k and £500k with follow-on investment capacity up to £1.5m in best-performing companies. The fund is happy to lead investments or follow, so long as their investment is a meaningful part of the round. To receive UKI2S funding, applicants must fulfil one of the following criteria: be based at one of their research campuses, work in a strategic priority area (engineering biology, defence & security, fusion energy, or space), or have innovation based on intellectual property associated with one of their partners.
British Business Bank Growth Guarantee Scheme
The Growth Guarantee Scheme is the successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme and is designed to support access to finance for UK smaller businesses as they look to invest and grow. The scheme launched with accredited lenders on 1 July 2024, with a wide range of products supported by different lenders, including term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending. The Growth Guarantee Scheme can generally support facility sizes of up to £2m and provides the lender with a 70% government-backed guarantee. Businesses can use the finance for any legitimate business purpose – including managing cashflow and investment. However, businesses must be able to afford to take out additional debt finance for these purposes. The British Business Bank administers the scheme on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. GGS-backed facilities are provided at the discretion of the lender, who are required to undertake their standard credit and fraud checks for all applicants.
British Business Bank Investment Fund for Northern Ireland
The Investment Fund for Northern Ireland will deliver a £70 million commitment of new funding to smaller businesses. The fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across Northern Ireland. The fund offers two different commercial finance options: debt finance with loans ranging from £25,000 to £2 million, and equity investments up to £5 million. The debt finance option is designed for smaller companies that can demonstrate growth potential and need capital for expansion activities such as leasing premises, hiring teams, funding marketing, purchasing equipment, or launching new products. The equity finance option provides long-term backing for established businesses with ambitious plans or large startups with high growth potential, helping to create a vibrant and sustainable venture capital market in Northern Ireland.
British Business Bank Investment Fund for Wales
The Investment Fund for Wales will deliver a £130 million commitment of new funding to the country. The fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across Wales. The Investment Fund for Wales offers a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25,000 to £100,000, debt finance from £100,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. The fund covers the whole of Wales, including rural, coastal and urban areas. It is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across Wales, providing funds to businesses that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance.
Henry Royce Institute: Access Schemes
Through its facility access schemes, the Henry Royce Institute provides funding to utilise its extensive portfolio of state-of-the-art materials science and engineering equipment. Royce funded access schemes are open to researchers and students based at UK academic institutions, Research Technology Organisations, and UK-based SMEs. As the national institute for advanced materials, Royce has an extensive catalogue of equipment including facilities to make, test and characterise materials. The SME Equipment Access Scheme is open to UK-based SMEs, spin-outs and start-ups and offers subsidised access to its extensive portfolio of equipment under minimal financial assistance. The scheme is designed to overcome cost barriers and de-risk experimental materials-based R&D, and complete proof of concept studies to help pave the way for future collaborations with Royce. The Researcher and Student Equipment Access Schemes offer funding for UK based doctoral and research masters students, and researchers at all stages of their career from PDRAs through to tenured academics. The access schemes are designed to open up Royce facilities to the UK academic materials community, build relationships and develop future collaboration opportunities. Applications for funded access should be submitted directly to the facility where the required equipment is located. Proposed work packages should meet at least one of the following criteria: development of new materials, systems or processes; improving understanding of the performance or failure of materials or materials systems; a materials issue which is impacting the study in some way; method development which would widen the scope of Royce's capabilities; or alignment with any of the Royce Core Research Areas.
ICURe Discover programme cohorts
Innovate UK ICURe Discover is a part-time online market exploration programme for researchers and technicians, with up to £2,500 support for market discovery activities. The programme aims to enhance market awareness and deepen the understanding of potential technology applications using the lean startup methodology. Participants will learn how to use this approach to gauge their potential customers' opinions about their idea, product, or service. The programme is suitable for participants looking to explore the potential of their early-stage projects or those who require a part-time commitment for market exploration. Part-time market discovery spanning 8-11 weeks includes training on how to gather market feedback that indicates the next steps for research and potential for commercialisation, access to a team of experts and network of entrepreneurs, investors and funders, training in commercial viability using tools such as the Business Model Canvas, and developing an understanding of existing market offerings and competitive landscape. ICURe Discover is a pre-requisite to attend if participants wish to apply for ICURe Explore or Exploit programmes.
ICURe Explore
Innovate UK ICURe Explore is a fast-paced, full-time, 12-16 week market exploration programme designed for research teams from across the UK to explore technology applications and test value propositions through extensive market engagement globally. The programme provides financial support of up to £35,000, including a maximum of £20,000 for the Entrepreneurial Lead's salary, as well as funding for assumption testing and customer discovery activities. The programme is designed using lean start-up methodology, which applies the scientific method (hypothesise, test, evaluate) to business ideas. Participants learn to test what potential customers think about their innovation through extensive market engagement. The programme includes up to 5 days of intensive bootcamp training on developing a hypothetical business model and identifying customers' pain points, access to expert teams and networks of entrepreneurs and investors, membership in a national community of participants, and support for 3 months of tailored market discovery using online software platforms, video conferencing and marketing tools. Applicants must have completed ICURe Discover before applying to ICURe Explore.
British Business Bank Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will deliver a £660 million commitment of new funding to smaller businesses across the North of England. The fund offers a range of commercial finance options including smaller loans and debt finance from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. It covers the whole of the North of England, including rural, coastal and urban areas in North East England, North West England, and Yorkshire and the Humber. The fund is designed to increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the North of England, providing funds to businesses that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance. It has embedded ESG awareness into its design and will help support the UK economy's transition to net zero. Three types of funding are available: Smaller Loans (£25k-£100k) to fill the funding gap for growth and development projects; Debt Finance (£100k-£2m) designed for smaller companies that can demonstrate growth potential; and Equity Finance (up to £5 million) for established businesses with ambitious plans, or large start ups with high growth potential.
British Business Bank Midlands Engine Investment Fund II
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund II will deliver £400 million of new funding to small and medium-sized businesses across the Midlands. The fund aims to build on the success of the first Midlands Engine Investment Fund and will drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating opportunities for new and growing businesses in the Midlands. The fund offers a range of commercial finance options including debt finance from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. The fund covers the whole of Midlands, including the West Midlands, East Midlands and South East Midlands (Luton, Bedford and Milton Keynes). The Midlands Engine Investment Fund II is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the Midlands, providing funds to businesses that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance. The new fund has embedded ESG awareness into its design and will help support the UK economy's transition to net zero.
British Business Bank South West Investment Fund
The South West Investment Fund offers a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. The new fund covers the entire South West region including Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. The fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the South West. It is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for South West smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance. The new fund has embedded ESG awareness into its design and will help support the UK economy's transition to net zero. The fund provides three types of finance: Smaller Loans (£25k-£100k) to fill the funding gap for growth and development projects, Debt Finance (£100k-£2m) designed for smaller companies that can demonstrate growth potential, and Equity Finance up to £5 million for established businesses with ambitious plans or large start ups with high growth potential.
British Business Bank Investment Fund for Scotland
The Investment Fund for Scotland will deliver a £150 million commitment of new funding to the country. The fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across Scotland. The Investment Fund for Scotland offers a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans and debt finance from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. The fund covers the whole of Scotland, including rural, coastal and urban areas. It is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across Scotland, providing funds to businesses that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance. The new fund has embedded ESG awareness into its design and will help support the UK economy's transition to net zero. The fund is available for growth and development projects, established businesses with ambitious plans, or large start ups with high growth potential.
Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF)
The Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund provides capital grants to support investments over £8m in the manufacture of human medicines, medical diagnostics and medtech products. The government has committed up to £520 million for life sciences manufacturing, to help deliver on the government's missions to kickstart economic growth and build an NHS fit for the future. The fund is UK and sector wide and provides capital grants for investments in the manufacture of human medicines (including both the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished product), medical diagnostics for both disease identification and monitoring, and MedTech products including all types of medical devices related to human health. Applications are assessed quarterly on a rolling basis until all funding has been allocated.
DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund: open-ended competition
The DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund is a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) led programme aimed at transforming the UK's automotive industry by supporting R&D and the commercial scale up of innovative zero emission vehicle technologies. Innovate UK, working with the Department for Business and Trade and the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, will invest up to £150 million to support manufacturing facility and process development at pilot scale or demonstration scale. The aim is to enable businesses to validate manufacturing capability and commercial viability, achieving market entry at the targeted production volume from the project outcomes. Projects must focus on strategically important technologies for on-board vehicle applications including electrical energy storage, electric machines and drivetrains, power electronics, fuel cell systems, hydrogen storage, light weighting materials, and zero emission vehicle assembly. Proposals must justify the funding required with a case for government intervention and be matched by substantial private investment. The competition supports businesses in developing manufacturing readiness at pilot or demonstration scale through activities including facility planning, equipment procurement, process development, quality control, staff training, and supply chain development. Projects must demonstrate how they will unlock at least twice the grant request in private investment and how they will enable entry into the vehicle supply chain markets.
IHI (Innovative Health Initiative) 12th Call For Proposals
The Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) is a partnership between the European Union and health industry associations. IHI JU aims to translate health research and innovation into real benefits for patients and society, and ensure that Europe remains at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary, sustainable, patient-centric health research. Under IHI call 12, proposals must address an unmet public health need; require a large-scale, ambitious, cross-sector, public-private partnership; have clearly-described impacts on society, the economy and science; take account of the pre-competitive nature of IHI projects; and contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the EU's health industries and the implementation of relevant EU policies. The call includes 5 topics covering health determinants, integration of health R&I efforts, people-centred healthcare solutions, digitalisation and data exchange in healthcare, and assessment of innovative integrated healthcare solutions. Applicants must ensure that at least 45% (ideally 50%+) of their project's costs are covered by in-kind contributions from IHI's industry members and contributing partners.
Horizon Europe 2026-27: EU Missions - Adaptation to Climate Change
The EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change aims to support at least 150 European regions and communities towards climate resilience by 2030. This comprehensive funding programme offers multiple calls focused on helping regions and local authorities understand climate risks, develop adaptation pathways, and implement innovative solutions to enhance resilience. The mission addresses the inevitable impacts of a warmer climate by supporting practical measures and technologies across various sectors. The programme includes numerous funding calls opening between February 2026 and February 2027, with deadlines extending through September 2027. Topics range from national adaptation hubs and climate services standardization to protecting cultural heritage, improving inland waterway resilience, and deploying AI for climate resilience. The mission also features joint calls with other EU programmes focused on health adaptation and urban nature restoration. UK organizations and businesses can apply for Horizon Europe funding as part of international consortia. The programme requires collaboration with at least three countries, including at least one EU Member State. Funding amounts vary significantly by call, from approximately €3 million to €20 million per project, with most projects receiving between €1 million and €10 million. This mission contributes to delivering the European Green Deal and addresses the differentiated impacts of climate change across regions, economic sectors, and societal groups.
Horizon Europe 2026-27: EU Missions - Restore our Ocean and Waters
This Mission tackles one of our most pressing challenges-restoring the health of the ocean, seas, and inland waters-by 2030. Through research and innovation, public engagement, and targeted blue investments, this Mission takes a systemic approach to protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas and waters, and make the sustainable blue economy carbon-neutral and circular. The Mission operates through area-based lighthouses in major sea and river basins: Atlantic-Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic-North Sea, and Danube-Black Sea. These lighthouses are living labs for demonstrating, deploying and scaling up solutions. The Mission includes multiple funding calls across 2026 and 2027 focusing on topics such as marine habitat mapping, aquatic pollution solutions, co-management of marine ecosystems, ocean technology testing sites, digital twin ocean development, coastal resilience to climate change, seafood supply chain circularity, green harbours, sustainable tourism, and blue forest ecosystem restoration.
Horizon Europe 2026-27: European Research Infrastructures
The European Research Infrastructures Work Programme supports activities to consolidate, evolve, open, integrate and interconnect a world leading ecosystem of research services for researchers and innovators in Europe. As part of Pillar I of Horizon Europe (Excellent Science), the programme encompasses both national and pan-European infrastructures, covering the continuum of needs from the creation of fundamental knowledge to technology development and innovation, while supporting open science. The programme aims to improve the sustainability of the research infrastructures ecosystem and synergies amongst funding sources, support human resources and skills development for an optimal functioning of research infrastructures, and reinforce the international dimension of research infrastructures in particular with regards to shared global challenges. It enables transnational access to research infrastructure services with two main targets: curiosity driven research, and challenge-driven research (also considering the development of new or customised services, to better serve interdisciplinary approaches). The programme promotes collaboration in the upgrading and design of scientific instruments and tools, including through cooperation with industry and through creating research infrastructure innovation ecosystems. Reduction of the environmental footprint of research infrastructures is also a focus. Calls are organized under several thematic areas (Destinations): INFRADEV (developing and optimizing the European Research Infrastructures landscape), INFRAEOSC (enabling an operational, open and FAIR European Open Science Cloud ecosystem), INFRASERV (offering services supporting transnational access to state-of-the-art facilities), and INFRATECH (developing the next generation of scientific instrumentation and digital solutions). Multiple calls open from March 2026 onwards, with 2026 calls closing 10-16 June 2026 and 2027 calls closing 15 June 2027. Projects range from €1m to €40m, with a total budget exceeding €600m.
European Space Agency: Call For Proposals - Responsible Fishing
The European Space Agency's BASS (Business Applications and Space Solutions) program seeks space-based solutions to improve monitoring, safety and sustainability of the fishing industry. The call addresses critical challenges facing the fishing sector including illegal fishing, pollution, climate change impacts, and growing consumer demand for sustainable fish products. The program aims to support the development of commercially successful space-based business applications using satellite Earth observation, satellite navigation, and satellite communications technologies to promote sustainable fishing practices, combat illegal fishing, improve vessel tracking, enhance safety at sea, and support ecosystem management. ESA provides funding, technical and business support for entrepreneurs and businesses from any sector to develop innovative space-enabled services and products addressing topics such as IUU fishing monitoring, overfishing prevention, habitat protection, marine protected area surveillance, product traceability, ghost gear detection, harmful algae bloom monitoring, and worker safety in fisheries.
European Space Agency: Call For Proposals - Wildfire Response
ESA invites proposals for innovative services that advance wildfire management using space technology and data. This initiative is part of the Wildfire Safety initiative and focuses on Wildfire Response, specifically seeking solutions advancing early detection of wildfires, near-real-time fire evolution monitoring, fire behaviour simulation and prediction. The program addresses the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe's Southern Mediterranean region and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Proposals must demonstrate credible customer engagement, clear market potential leading to commercially viable service concepts, potential technical feasibility with a pathway to implementable solutions, and clear added value from the use of space data or space-based technologies. Satellite data and technology must play a critical role in proposed solutions, including satellite Earth observation for mapping and monitoring, satellite positioning for guidance systems, and satellite communications for connectivity.
SMART: SCOTLAND grants for feasibility studies for SMEs
The SMART: SCOTLAND grant is one of Scottish Enterprise's research and development (R&D) grants that aims to support high-risk, highly ambitious projects. It provides support to conduct feasibility studies and is only available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based in Scotland, supporting activities that have a commercial endpoint. The grant can support feasibility studies that help to show your idea could work in the real world. Your business will need to own any intellectual property (IP) generated from your project. The SMART grant aims to support priority areas for economic transformation including creating an internationally competitive energy transition industry in Scotland, scaling the impact of Scotland's innovation strengths into high-growth industries of the future, and driving capital investment to deliver a step-change in Scotland's productivity. Studies must last between 6 and 18 months, and grants can support up to 70% of the eligible costs for a small enterprise and up to 60% of the eligible costs for a medium enterprise, with a maximum grant of £100,000.
At a Glance
- Total Funding Opportunities
- 50
- Active Now
- 22
- Source Domain
- iuk-business-connect.org.uk
Catalog Data
This funder profile was automatically extracted from grant listings. Information may be incomplete.
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