Welcome to the July 2019 edition of funding opportunities.
In this funding blog you will find £ millions of Government investment into research and development (R&D). The modern Industrial Strategy is now in place and an up to £4.7 billion challenge fund for R&D is starting to be pumped into UK organisations via these highly competitive competitions. For this reason, Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has a fully funded Bid Writing Support Service to help Dorset organisations to win some of this money.
In the past month we have helped an organisation win £220K of grant funding and started to support circa £500K in Innovate UK (IUK) grant funding working with two Dorset SMEs. If you are a Dorset-based organisation looking to lead or partner on a challenge fund / IUK competition then you can apply for one-to-one support with our fully-funded specialist bid writing service by clicking here.
Funding Opportunities:
Here are some of the latest competitions from Innovate UK (click on the blue links for more information):
- Featured Grants:
August expression of interest: ATI Programme
The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme, formerly UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme, provides funding to industrial research and capital projects to encourage innovation in UK civil aerospace.
Closes: 21 August 2019
Analysis for innovators round 5: phase 1 expression of interest
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 million to address measurement and analysis problems with one or more analysis partner organisations. There is also a similar competition running under de minimis state aid funding which awards eligible project costs between £25,000 and £50,000 for smaller projects up to 3 months.
Closes: 4 September 2019 (both calls)
Driving the electric revolution: Accelerated supply chain development
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £19 million across two strands for collaborative projects that develop supply chains for power electronics, machines and drives in the UK. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).
- Strand 1 (projects with total eligible project costs between £1 million and £3 million)
- Strand 2 (projects with total project costs between £250,000 and £1 million)
Closes: 25 September 2019 (both calls)
Commercialising quantum technology
Large collaborative projects round 1
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £27 million to collaborate on developing quantum products and services. This funding is from the ISCF.
Feasibility and industrial research projects round 1
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £6 million for quantum technology innovation projects. This funding is from the ISCF.
Closes: 30 October 2019 (both calls)
- Other grant funding opportunities:
UK and USA: innovation in global composites markets
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.7 million to develop innovative technologies for global composites markets with US partners. Applicants must also include a US project team (see specific themes section).
Closes: 21 August 2019
Manufacturing made smarter: round 1 (fast start)
Up to £30 million is available for projects to transform the productivity and agility of UK manufacturing. Projects must have the potential for rapid impact.
Closes 28th August 2019
Accelerating the building of housing using geospatial intelligence: SBRI competition
Organisations can apply for a share of £250,000, including VAT, to investigate how technology can be used to monitor developments of all sizes and types. Closes: 28 August 2019
Enabling data access in accountancy, insurance and legal services: Innovation Lab
Individuals can apply to join a workshop developing project proposals to enable increased access to data within the accountancy, insurance and legal sectors. Closes: 4 September 2019
EUREKA: Singapore open competition
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 million to develop innovative proposals with Singapore and other EUREKA countries.
Closes: 6 September 2019
Eureka Eurostars 2: round 12
UK SMEs can apply for a share of up to £2.5 million to collaborate in research with partners across Europe and associated countries.
Closes: 12 September 2019
Innovation loans: July 2019 open competition
Loans for game-changing innovations with strong commercial potential that will significantly improve the UK economy.
Closes: 18th September
Energy catalyst round 7: early stage, mid-stage and late stage
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £22 million across 3 strands to help provide clean, affordable and secure energy in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or both.
- Early stage for feasibility studies
- Mid-stage for industrial research
- Late stage for experimental development
Closes: 18 September 2019 (all calls)
Enabling integrated diagnostics for early detection
Up to £20 million is available for multidisciplinary consortia to develop and evaluate integrated diagnostic solutions for early detection and diagnosis. This includes funding from the ISCF.
Closes: 23 September 2019
Key technology components for local energy systems
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £3 million to develop technology components that help improve the efficiency of local energy systems.
Closes: 9 October 2019
UK Research and Innovation strength in places fund: wave 2 Expressions of Interest
Consortia of UK businesses and research organisations can apply for ‘seed corn’ funding of up to £50,000 to develop full applications for wave 2 of the UKRI Strength in Places Fund. Projects must be collaborative and led by either a UK based business or a UK publicly funded research organisation. All consortium members should be based within the project’s geographical area and have the support of local civic leadership.
Closes: 9 October 2019
Innovate UK Smart Grants: July 2019
Opportunity to apply for a share of up to £25 million to deliver ambitious or disruptive R&D innovations that can make a significant impact on the UK economy. Closes: 16 October 2019
Newton-Ungku Omar Fund Grand Challenge 2019: phase 1
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 million and Malaysian businesses a share of RM 5.5 million to collaborate on innovative solutions to large societal challenges.
Closes: 23 October 2019
For all Innovate UK applications click here.
- News:
SBRI Healthcare
There are two new Small Business Research Initiatives (SBRI) Healthcare that have just launched. Click here. SBRI Healthcare is an NHS England & NHS Improvement initiative, supported by the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and managed by LGC Group
Heard of the British Business Bank (BBB)?
The BBB are a government-owned business development bank dedicated to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses. Whether you’re looking for finance to start a business, grow to the next level, or stay ahead of the competition, they say that they can deliver greater volume and choice of finance.
Scaling-Up?
If you are a business thinking about scaling-up, then you will be interested to hear about the SETsquared Partnership’s Scale-Up Programme. Providing you with a tailored package of support as you scale up, their programme can help you to set up and run R&D projects in collaboration with the SETsquared partner universities (Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey) and the University of Cardiff, as well as access investment, sales channels and new talent. Click here to find out more.