What replaced Innovate UK Smart grants?
A lot of pages still describe Smart as a quarterly, any-sector grant. It has not opened since January 2025. This page says what happened, what Innovate UK funds instead, and which grant competitions are open today.
What replaced Innovate UK Smart grants?
Nothing like-for-like. Smart grants, Innovate UK's open, any-sector grant, closed to new applications when the November 2024 round closed on 22 January 2025, and UKRI says funding is being aligned to Innovate UK's new strategic direction. The successor named by government is Growth Catalyst, a £130 million scheme pairing grants with private investment, restricted to Industrial Strategy growth sectors. Innovate UK's March 2026 strategy concentrates on six sectors and promises stage-gated grants and loans calibrated to stage and risk, and in October 2026 UKRI announced Velocity, an account-managed service launching fully in September 2027. In practice, funding now comes through sector and technology competitions, some open only by invitation from an investor partner, with expected chances of success stated in recent briefs from 2 to 10 per cent. A project that once suited Smart now needs a sector competition, a regional scheme or R&D tax relief.
What happened to Smart Grants
Smart was Innovate UK's open, any-sector grant: four rounds a year, each open for a few months, for projects “from any area of technology” applied “to any part of the economy”. That description is still accurate, in the past tense. The sequence since is short.
Four Smart rounds run on the Innovation Funding Service: January, April, July and November 2024.
Smart grants: November 2024 (competition 2057, up to £15 million) closes at 11:00am. It is the last Smart round to date.
UKRI’s Smart guidance page changes to: “Smart grants are now closed for new applications as funding is being aligned to Innovate UK’s new strategic direction.”
Written answer to Parliament (UIN 96113): “The Smart grants programme has been paused while Innovate UK redesigns its funding programmes”, pointing to the new £130 million Growth Catalyst scheme.
Innovate UK publishes its strategy, focusing on six Industrial Strategy sectors: advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defence, life sciences, and digital and technologies. Smart is not mentioned.
Innovate UK publishes the Smart Grants impact evaluation “final report”, covering 2019–20 to 2024–25, written as a retrospective.
The Innovation Loans expression of interest, the last any-sector Innovate UK route, no longer appears among the competitions listed on the Innovation Funding Service.
UKRI announces Velocity, “a new end-to-end innovation service to help companies start, scale and stay in the UK”, launching fully in September 2027.
Sources: Innovation Funding Service competition 2057; UKRI Smart innovation funding guidance; parliamentary written question 96113 (answered 9 December 2025); UKRI, “Turning breakthrough ideas into the UK's next industry giants” (19 March 2026); UKRI, Smart Grants impact evaluation final report (14 July 2026); UKRI news, “UKRI is transforming how it works” (13 October 2026); the Innovation Funding Service competition list. Checked 13 October 2026.
What replaced it: Growth Catalyst
The only successor named by government is Growth Catalyst, a £130 million Innovate UK scheme “focused on scaling innovative businesses in Industrial Strategy growth sectors”. It offers grants alongside aligned private investment and tailored support, and ministers cite a 10:1 record of follow-on investment. It is not a like-for-like replacement: where Smart was open to any sector, Growth Catalyst is limited to the six sectors Innovate UK now prioritises.
It runs in two forms. Investor Partnerships rounds pair a grant with money from a registered investor who has to invite you to apply; Round 2 closed on 3 February 2026 with feasibility grants of £50,000 to £300,000 and development grants up to £2 million. Early Stage: New Innovators offered £25,000 to £50,000, fully funded, to micro and small companies applying for the first time; it last ran from 7 July to 6 August 2025, and no 2026 round is listed on the Innovation Funding Service as of today.
How Innovate UK funds businesses now
Innovate UK's strategy, published on 19 March 2026, sets the direction. It concentrates on six sectors: advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defence, life sciences, and digital and technologies. It promises “grants and loans calibrated to stage and risk”, with stage-gated funding that starts small at the riskiest stage, and “a new advisory front door” to point businesses at the right support. The transition to the new model began in April 2026.
The newest piece is Velocity, which UKRI announced on 13 October 2026 as an end-to-end service to help companies start, scale and stay in the UK. The strategy describes it as account management for high-potential businesses, which can apply or be referred. It launches fully in September 2027, so it is not a route for a project that needs funding this year.
Until then, the money flows through competitions with a defined sector, technology or partner. Smart's final rounds funded roughly one application in thirty-five. The new competitions publish their own expected odds, and they range from about the same to one in ten.
| Competition | Funding | Expected chance of success |
|---|---|---|
| Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 | £3.1 million; £150,000 to £250,000 per project | 2% |
| Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems | Sector competition for UK SMEs | 4% |
| Next Wave: Breakthrough, Wave 1 (closed 11 August 2026) | £10 million; £100,000 to £500,000 per project | 10% |
Expected chances of success as stated in each competition's brief on the Innovation Funding Service, read 13 October 2026.
Grant competitions open right now
Every Innovate UK grant competition currently open on the Innovation Funding Service, read live and sorted by closing date. Contracts for Innovation and KTPs are left out; the full list of open Innovate UK competitions has everything. None is open to every sector, so read the eligibility line first.
| 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 20266 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 20266 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 202613 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 202613 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 202620 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 202626 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 202626 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 202627 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 202627 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 202627 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 202627 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 202627 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 202627 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 202633 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 202633 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 202633 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 202641 days left |
| Underground hydrogen storage demonstrator DEVEX support UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.5 million for project development studies supporting underground hydrogen storage demonstrator facilities in the UK. Eligibility: This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations. | Grant | 13 January 202769 days left |
| Testing and validating underground hydrogen storage components UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £5 million for a collaborative programme to accelerate the development and validation of critical technologies needed… Eligibility: This competition is open to collaborations only. | Grant | 13 January 202769 days left |
| Investor Partnerships - National Materials Innovation Programme 1 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 | 19 January 202775 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 202776 days left |
| DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund Drawdown 6 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 | 27 January 202783 days left |
| UK-Netherlands Co-Innovation for Quantum Technology 2026 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.5 million for projects in quantum technology. Eligibility: This competition is open to UK and Netherlands collaborations only. | Grant | 9 February 202796 days left |
If your project does not fit a priority sector
This is the position most former Smart applicants are in, and there is no clean answer. Until recently Innovation Loans were the one any-sector Innovate UK route: £100,000 to £5 million of debt for SMEs with late-stage R&D. The expression of interest was no longer listed on the Innovation Funding Service on 13 October 2026, so check UKRI's funding finder for whether it reopens.
The devolved and regional schemes are open to any sector and are where the any-sector money now sits. In Wales, SMART Flexible Innovation Support funds feasibility work for organisations trading in Wales; our SFIS eligibility checker tells you in a minute whether you qualify. Scottish Enterprise and Scottish EDGE cover Scotland, Invest NI covers Northern Ireland, and England's growth hubs vary by region. See our innovation funding guide for the full map, and remember that R&D tax relief is available whatever your sector.
What Smart actually was, for the record
Most guides still quote the pre-2023 parameters. In its final rounds, from January 2024, Smart funded project costs of £100,000 to £500,000 for 6 to 18 month projects, or £100,000 to £1 million for collaborative projects of 19 to 24 months. Micro and small companies could claim up to 70% of feasibility and industrial research costs, but only 45% of experimental development, which is where most projects sat.
Innovate UK never published an official success rate. The “around 15%” figure that circulates, including on our own guide until today, comes from consultancy marketing. Secondary reporting of Innovate UK's own round statistics gives 46 projects funded from 1,645 applications in the round announced in September 2024, and 44 funded from 1,676 assessed in the final round: low single digits. That context matters when deciding whether to chase a successor competition or a regional scheme with better odds.
Questions people ask
Are Innovate UK Smart Grants still open in 2026?
No. The last round, Smart grants: November 2024, closed on 22 January 2025 and no Smart competition has opened since. UKRI’s guidance page states that Smart grants are closed for new applications while funding is aligned to Innovate UK’s new strategic direction. On 13 October 2026 a search of the Innovation Funding Service for “smart” returned no competitions.
Has Smart Grants been cancelled or just paused?
Officially paused. A DSIT minister told Parliament on 9 December 2025 that the programme “has been paused while Innovate UK redesigns its funding programmes” to align with the Industrial Strategy. No official source describes it as cancelled, and none gives a reopening date. Innovate UK did publish a “final” impact evaluation of Smart in July 2026, which reads as a retrospective.
What replaced Innovate UK Smart Grants?
Nothing like-for-like. The successor named by government is Growth Catalyst, a £130 million scheme that combines grants with aligned private investment, restricted to Industrial Strategy growth sectors; it runs as Investor Partnerships rounds and an Early Stage: New Innovators strand that last ran in July to August 2025. Around it, Innovate UK now funds through sector and technology competitions, and its March 2026 strategy promises stage-gated grants and loans “calibrated to stage and risk”. Velocity, an account-managed service for high-potential businesses, launches fully in September 2027.
What can a UK SME apply to now if its project does not fit a priority sector?
Very little at Innovate UK. Smart is closed, and the Innovation Loans expression of interest, the last any-sector route, was no longer listed on the Innovation Funding Service on 13 October 2026. Look at devolved and regional schemes instead: SMART Flexible Innovation Support in Wales, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish EDGE, Invest NI, and English growth hubs. R&D tax relief remains available whatever the sector.
What are the chances of winning one of the new Innovate UK competitions?
Lower than Smart’s, by Innovate UK’s own estimate. Recent competition briefs on the Innovation Funding Service state an expected chance of success: 2 per cent for Frontier AI: SME Champions, 4 per cent for Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems, and 10 per cent for Next Wave: Breakthrough. Across all programmes UKRI’s figures put Innovate UK’s award rate at around one in five, so the odds vary widely from one programme to the next.
What did Smart Grants actually fund in its final rounds?
From January 2024 the rounds funded project costs of £100,000 to £500,000 for 6 to 18 month projects, or £100,000 to £1 million for collaborative projects of 19 to 24 months. Micro and small companies could claim up to 70% of feasibility and industrial research costs but only 45% of experimental development. Success rates in the final rounds were in the low single digits: secondary reporting of Innovate UK’s own figures gives 46 projects funded from 1,645 applications in the round announced in September 2024, and 44 funded from 1,676 assessed in the final round.
Every date, amount and quotation on this page was checked against the Innovation Funding Service, ukri.org, gov.uk or the parliamentary record on 13 October 2026; the open-competition table updates itself from the Innovation Funding Service. If Smart reopens, tell us and we will correct this page the same day.
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Innovate UK Smart Grants: the guide, corrected
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Any-sector feasibility funding for organisations in Wales.
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