Open Innovate UK Competitions
Every competition listed on the Innovation Funding Service, read several times a day and sorted by closing date, with what type of funding each one is. Links go straight to the official competition page, which is where you apply.
Which Innovate UK competitions are open now?
As of 23 October 2026, the Innovation Funding Service lists 28 Innovate UK competitions open for applications, 9 of them closing within the next fourteen days, and 1 more opening soon. Of the open competitions, 22 offer grants, some alongside an investor, and 3 are Contracts for Innovation, which are procurement rather than grants. The next to close is CfI: Counter UAS Demonstrations in Prison Environments, on 28 October 2026. Every one is tied to a sector, technology, partner country or invitation: Innovate UK's open, any-sector Smart grants are closed to new applications, and its March 2026 strategy concentrates funding on six Industrial Strategy sectors. Competitions usually close at 11:00am UK time, not midnight, so plan to submit the day before. The odds are low: recent competition briefs state an expected chance of success as low as 2 per cent, so check eligibility and scope before you invest time in an application.
Closing in the next 14 days (9)
If you have not started, most of these are out of reach: a credible application takes weeks. If you have a draft, the deadline countdown covers the final week.
| Competition | Type | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| CfI: Counter UAS Demonstrations in Prison Environments Organisations can apply for a share of £900,000, inclusive of VAT, to demonstrate and test low-cost counter uncrewed aerial system (C-UAS) technologies that are able to detect and… Eligibility: To lead a project, you can: be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally work alone or with… | Contract | 28 October 20265 days left |
| CfI: Innovation in play to improve child outcomes Organisations can apply for a share of £3 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop practical solutions that reignite the importance of play and increase access to high quality, real… Eligibility: To lead a project, you can: be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally work alone or with… | Contract | 28 October 20265 days left |
| National Materials Innovation Programme: CR&D Rd1 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £12 million for collaborative industrial research to speed the translation of advanced materials innovations in three… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 28 October 20265 days left |
| Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D: Round 3 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £8.5 million to develop and scale Engineering Biology platforms, products and services. Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 3 November 202611 days left |
| CfI: Battery innovation for dual use & defence Phase 1 Organisations can apply for a share of £2 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop industrial research solutions to strengthen supply chain resilience and onshore critical dual use… Eligibility: To lead a project, you can: be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally work alone or with… | Contract | 4 November 202612 days left |
| Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis Innovate UK, on behalf of the Office for Life Sciences’ (OLS) Cancer Healthcare Goals programme, will invest up to £25.4 million, to support the clinical validation and evaluation… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 4 November 202612 days left |
| DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund Drawdown 5 UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million to create scale up manufacturing facilities for zero emission vehicle technologies. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations. | Grant | 4 November 202612 days left |
| Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 11, business and non-academic UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £110 million to deliver ambitious research and innovation and develop future leaders. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants with supporting organisations. | Fellowship | 4 November 202612 days left |
| FOAK Builder: Programme Entry Expression of Interest UK registered businesses can apply for support worth up to £315,000 to develop a Climate Tech First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) project. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants only. | Expression of interest | 5 November 202613 days left |
Open now (19)
| Competition | Type | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £3.1 million to deliver feasibility studies for frontier artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) technologies… Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants only. | Grant | 11 November 202619 days left |
| ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant: Round 12 Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a grant of £2,500, to engage an external Project Facilitator to support the development of a Full ADOPT… Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants only. | Grant | 11 November 202619 days left |
| Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems UK registered SME businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.66 million to deliver experimental validation of prototype AI systems for novel reusable components of efficient,… Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants. | Grant | 18 November 202626 days left |
| MDI Programme Innovation and Scale-up Hub UK registered eligible organisations can apply for a share of up to £4 million for a Manufacturing Digitalisation Innovation and Scale-up Hub to improve the targeting, quality and… Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants or collaborations. | Grant | 18 November 202626 days left |
| Investor Partnerships – Battery Innovation Programme UK registered SMEs can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants only. | Grant + investor | 25 November 202633 days left |
| UK-Germany Bilateral Collaborative R&D: Round 5 UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £2.4 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Germany. Eligibility: This competition is open to UK and Germany collaborations only. | Grant | 1 December 202639 days left |
| Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund (CKAF) Winter UK registered government research organisations can apply for grants from £50,000 up to £250,000 to move viable public sector knowledge assets towards commercial readiness. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants. | Grant | 1 December 202639 days left |
| Growth Cohorts: Next-gen low carbon concrete cohort entry Round 2 UK registered businesses can apply to join a cohort of ambitious businesses. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants only. | Grant | 2 December 202640 days left |
| Full ADOPT Grant: Round 10 Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a share of up to £5 million for on-farm trial and demonstration projects, to improve adoption of new ideas… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 2 December 202640 days left |
| Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: CR&D Round 2 Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to invest up to £7 million to support the development and adoption… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 2 December 202640 days left |
| Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships Round 1 UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £8 million to develop engineering biology products and services with selected investor partners. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants only. | Grant + investor | 2 December 202640 days left |
| Battery Innovation: Feasibility Studies Rd 3 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations. | Grant | 2 December 202640 days left |
| Battery Innovation: Concept Development Rd 3 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 2 December 202640 days left |
| BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Operational Systems UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £5 million to deploy Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions that perform, control or coordinate operational… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborative projects only. | Grant | 8 December 202646 days left |
| BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Decision Critical Systems UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £5 million to deploy Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions that support consequential judgements,… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborative projects only. | Grant | 8 December 202646 days left |
| BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Assurance and Compliance UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £5 million to deploy Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions that monitor, test, verify or evidence compliance… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborative projects only. | Grant | 8 December 202646 days left |
| UK-Singapore CRD 2026 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Singapore. Eligibility: This competition is open to UK and Singapore collaborations only. | Grant | 16 December 202654 days left |
| Eureka collaborative R&D: Globalstars Japan 2027 UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £2 million for collaborative industrial research projects with partners from Japan and select Eureka countries. Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 20 January 202789 days left |
| Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2026 - 2027 Round 4 UK registered academic institutions, RTOs or Catapults can apply for a share of up to £12.5 million to fund innovation projects with businesses. Eligibility: To lead a project your organisation must: be a UK registered higher education or further education institution, research and technology… | KTP | 27 January 202796 days left |
Opening soon (1)
Announced but not yet accepting applications. This is the window to check eligibility and line up partners.
| Competition | Type | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy Soils and Water for a Sustainable Environment UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £28 million for soil, water and environmental management. Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 28 January 202797 days leftOpens 19 November 2026 |
Before you apply to any of these
- Read the eligibility first. Many are open only to collaborations, only to SMEs, only to one region or only by invitation from an investor partner.
- Check the scope question. An Innovation Lead reads your scope answer alone and can reject the application before any assessor sees it. See how Innovate UK scores an application.
- Know the odds. See Innovate UK success rates and what costs you can claim.
- Looking for Smart? It is closed. Here is what replaced Smart grants.
Questions people ask
Where are Innovate UK competitions listed?
On the Innovation Funding Service (IFS), the government site where you also apply. UKRI’s funding finder lists the same opportunities alongside research council calls. This page reads the IFS list several times a day and groups it by closing date, so you can see what is closing soon without paging through it.
What time do Innovate UK competitions close?
Usually 11:00am UK time on the closing date, not midnight. Check the competition page for the exact time, and see our deadline countdown for what to do in the final week.
Is any Innovate UK competition open to every sector?
Not reliably any more. Smart grants, which were the open any-sector grant, closed to new applications and have not reopened. Current competitions are tied to a sector, a technology, a partner country or an invitation from an investor partner, so read the eligibility of each one before you start.
What is the difference between a grant and a Contract for Innovation?
A grant pays a share of your project costs, with the rate set by your business size and type of research. A Contract for Innovation, marked CfI, is a public procurement: a public body sets a challenge and buys the development of a solution from the organisations it selects, with contract values quoted inclusive of VAT. You are a supplier, not a grant recipient.
Source: the Innovation Funding Service competition search, read 23 October 2026. Titles, summaries, eligibility and dates are Innovate UK's; the funding type is our classification from the competition name. Always confirm details on the official competition page before you apply.
Explore More
What Replaced Smart Grants?
Where the any-sector money went, and what to apply for instead.
Learn more →How Innovate UK Scores an Application
The five stages and the 1 to 10 scale.
Learn more →How Long Does Innovate UK Take?
From the close to the decision, offer letter and start.
Learn more →Using ChatGPT on an Application
What UKRI allows and what to declare.
Learn more →