Competitive non-dilutive R&D grants from the UK’s innovation agency for game-changing early-stage projects.
- Provider:
- Innovate UK
- Referral needed:
- No
What you need to qualify
- All applicants must be UK-registered companies and carry out their project activities in the UK
- The project must include at least one small or medium-sized enterprise
- The innovation should be completely new and ahead of anything similar on the market, either a completely new product, service or process or a brand new use for an existing one
- You must be able to demonstrate a clear and sizeable market need
- You must provide a robust and deliverable plan for quick and successful commercialisation
Eligibility
- Eligible stages
- Idea, Pre-seed, Seed
- Countries
- Global, subject to the provider’s eligibility and approval
How to apply
- 1
Find an open Smart Grants round
Innovate UK publishes each Smart round as a competition on the Innovation Funding Service and applications are submitted there when an opportunity is published. Smart Grants is paused, and no Smart round appeared in the competition list read on 18 August 2026.
- 2
Read the criteria published with that round
Innovate UK tells applicants to check the specific criteria and guidelines published with each funding opportunity, because scope, funding limits and project duration are set per round rather than by the standing scheme guidance.
- 3
Submit on the Innovation Funding Service before the round closes
Every competition on the Innovation Funding Service carries its own closing date, shown next to the competition on the search page, and the application is completed and submitted in that service.