Contracts for Innovation: Enabling Commercial Quantum Networking
Organisations can apply for a share of £20 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop a deployable prototype of an enabling component or sub-system for commercial quantum networking.
Open now
Opened: 14 April 2026
Closes: 20 May 2026
Medicines Manufacturing: Labs of the Future
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £7.5 million to support the development and use of digital, automated, and robotic technologies. This aims to improve the speed and efficiency of pharmaceutical process development and manufacturing.
Open now
Opened: 13 April 2026
Closes: 27 May 2026
Frontier AI Benchmarking Datasets
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £4.5 million. This programme focuses on the creation, curation, annotation and exploitation of FAIR-data and benchmarks which will fuel AI industry growth. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Open now
Opened: 21 April 2026
Closes: 27 May 2026
ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant: Round 8
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 Grant application.
Open now
Opened: 15 April 2026
Closes: 27 May 2026
Battery innovation feasibility studies round 2
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million for innovation in battery technologies for electrification. This funding is from the battery innovation programme.
Open now
Opened: 9 April 2026
Closes: 27 May 2026
Battery innovation concept development round 2
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. This funding is from The Battery Innovation Programme.
Open now
Opened: 9 April 2026
Closes: 27 May 2026
Medicines Manufacturing: Labs of the Future
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £7.5 million to support the development and use of digital, automated, and robotic technologies. This aims to improve the speed and efficiency of pharmaceutical process development and manufacturing.
Open now
Opened: 13 April 2026
Closes: 28 May 2026
Contracts for Innovation: ProQure - Scaling UK Quantum Computing
Organisations can apply for up to £14 million in phase 1 to develop, build and validate integrated quantum computing hardware and software to demonstrate commercial scale deployment and applications of your quantum computing solution.
Open now
Opened: 27 March 2026
Closes: 29 May 2026
AgriScale - Accelerating Agri-tech manufacturing: Industrial Research
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million for projects to close product technology gaps that are preventing movement towards commercial acceptance, scale up and manufacture. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Open now
Opened: 30 March 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
AgriScale - Accelerating Agri-tech manufacturing: Experimental Development
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £8 million for projects to accelerate Agri-tech manufacturing. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Open now
Opened: 30 March 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
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 or solutions in the agricultural sector.
Open now
Opened: 9 April 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
Future offshore wind technologies: industrial research
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £10 million to support Industrial research in Offshore Wind across the two strands of the competition. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Open now
Opened: 7 April 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
Future offshore wind technologies: feasibility studies
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million to support Feasibility Studies in Offshore Wind across the two strands of the competition. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Open now
Opened: 7 April 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
CfI: Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) – Call 1
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £15 million, including VAT, to develop near term, testable solutions that advance the UK’s Secure & Resilient and Sustainable Network Grand Challenges through deployable prototypes on UK testbeds.
Open now
Opened: 1 April 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
Dual-use aviation systems and autonomy
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million to develop aviation technologies and systems that support both civil and military use cases. The competition aims to support development and reduce barriers to adoption and commercialisation of key dual-use aviation technologies including uncrewed aircraft systems, hybrid electric aircraft and autonomous aviation systems.
Open now
Opened: 5 May 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £5 million to develop dual-use technologies to counter the illegal use of uncrewed aerial systems in both civil and military settings. The competition supports solutions that detect, track, identify and defeat UAS threats while minimising collateral damage.
Open now
Opened: 5 May 2026
Closes: 3 June 2026
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2.5 million to develop feasibility studies for frontier AI and foundation models. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Open now
Opened: 14 April 2026
Closes: 10 June 2026
Contracts for Innovation: Cyber scale in critical sectors
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £3.5 million inclusive of VAT, to develop, demonstrate and commercialise their cyber security solution in real end user environments within critical sector organisations.
Open now
Opened: 1 May 2026
Closes: 10 June 2026
Advanced manufacturing supply chain innovation: CRD
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £6.5 million for collaborative industrial research to make supply chains more productive, resource efficient and resilient.
Open now
Opened: 27 April 2026
Closes: 10 June 2026
CfI: Boosting fathers’ engagement to improve child outcomes
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop innovative interventions, technologies and frameworks that strengthen fathers’ engagement to improve children’s learning and development outcomes across all ages.
Open now
Opened: 5 May 2026
Closes: 10 June 2026
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2026 – 2027 Round 2
UK registered academic institutions, RTOs or Catapults can apply for a share of up to £10 million to fund innovation projects with businesses.
Open now
Opened: 20 April 2026
Closes: 24 June 2026
National Materials Innovation Programme: Feasibility studies Rd 2
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £2 million for feasibility studies designed to accelerate the translation of advanced materials innovations toward industrial adoption across high growth and strategic opportunity themes.
Open now
Opened: 4 May 2026
Closes: 24 June 2026
Growth Cohorts: Next generation low carbon concrete cohort entry
UK registered businesses can apply to join a cohort of ambitious businesses. These businesses will develop solutions to decarbonise concrete and access funding and sector-specific support, to develop and deliver innovation and growth plans.
Open now
Opened: 20 April 2026
Closes: 8 July 2026
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7: Pre-deployment trials
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £121 million across the three strands of this competition for innovative clean maritime technologies. This funding is from the Department for Transport (DfT).
Open now
Opened: 11 March 2026
Closes:15 July 2026
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7: Feasibility studies
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £121 million across the three strands of this competition for innovative clean maritime technologies. This funding is from the Department for Transport (DfT).
Open now
Opened: 11 March 2026
Closes: 15 July 2026
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7: Deployment trials
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £121 million across the three strands of this competition for innovative clean maritime technologies. This funding is from the Department for Transport (DfT).
Open now
Opened: 11 March 2026
Closes: 15 July 2026
Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Energy Efficiency
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.
Open now
Opened: 26 March 2026
Closes: 16 September 2026
Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Electric Power
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.
Open now
Opened: 26 March 2026
Closes: 16 September 2026
Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Alternative Fuels
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.
Open now
Opened: 26 March 2026
Closes: 16 September 2026
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million to create scale up manufacturing facilities for zero emission vehicle technologies.
Open now
Opened: 17 September 2025
Closes: No submission deadline
Innovate UK Venture Builder Pilot Expression of Interest
Innovate UK is funding up to £150,000 for a pilot Innovate UK Venture Builder Programme to support new deep-tech spin-outs and to help them in raising their first significant investment. This is the Expression of Interest stage of the competition.
Open now
Opened: 22 April 2026
Closes: No submission deadline
If you are an established innovative small to medium-sized business based in the North West with great potential, take the next step on your growth journey with us by identifying your growth stage and how we can help.
Click here to contact Innovate UK Business Growth by email
Innovate UK Business Growth is a part of Innovate UK, the UK innovation agency that drives economic growth.