Companies and their partners can apply for up to £350,000 in grant funding to develop new professional and financial services technologies.
Innovate UK’s £7 million Innovation in Professional and Financial Services competition is now open.
Closing on 9 November, this competition is designed to support businesses developing apps, platforms and other technologies in the Professional and Financial services space.
This competition is split into two strands:
- Single applicants
- Collaboration
This blog will focus on the collaboration strand, which is open to consortia involving at least two organisations.
If you’re working on a relevant technology single-handedly, check out our blog on the single applicants strand.
Key Details
- The competition runs from 5 September to 9 November 2022
- Up to £350,000 in grant funding is available
- Your project must be a feasibility study or experimental development project and start by 1 April 2023
Below are the key things you need to know about the eligibility criteria and the application process for the Innovation in Professional and Financial Services – Collaboration competition.
Take a moment to read through this information. Then contact GrantTree for a quick, no-strings-attached assessment of your eligibility.
Am I Eligible for the Collaboration Strand?
Here are the key eligibility criteria for the Innovation in Professional and Financial Services – Collaboration competition.
Your Collaborative Project
To qualify for this competition, your project must focus on one or more of the following areas:
- Legal services
- Accountancy and audit
- Insurance
- Open finance innovation
- Financial planning and support for SMEs and consumers
- Compliance and crime prevention
- Payments and transactions
In addition, your project must:
- Have total qualifying costs of between £50,000 and £500,000
- Last 6 to 18 months
- Start by 1 April 2023
- Be a feasibility study or experimental development project
You must carry out all of your project work and exploit its results in the UK.
Leading A Project
To lead a project, your company must:
- Be a UK-registered business
- Collaborate with at least one other eligible UK-registered organisations
- Include at least one SME in your consortium if you are a large business
You can read about Innovate UK’s definition of SMEs and large businesses in this blog.
Academic institutions and research technology organisations (RTOs) cannot lead a project.
Being a Project Partner
- Business
- Academic institution
- Charity
- Not for profit
- Public sector organisation
- Research and technology organisation (RTO)
How Do I Apply?
The application is split into three sections: Project details, application questions, and finances.
Project Details
This section includes a 400-word project summary, a 400-word description of how your project matches the competition’s scope, and a 400-word public description explaining how you would like Innovate UK to describe your work to third parties.
Application Questions
This section comprises 11 questions covering a range of areas, including the need or challenge your project is looking to address, the members of your project team and their roles, your target market, and how you are going to manage your project effectively.
Finances
This is where you’ll enter your project costs, organisation details and funding details.
Maximise Your Chances with GrantTree
Securing an Innovation in Professional and Financial Services grant could be a game changer for your business. But putting together an eye-catching application can be a difficult, time-consuming process. And because Innovate UK awards are extremely competitive, there’s every chance you won’t be given funding.
However, you can significantly increase your chances of success by working with an innovation grants specialist like GrantTree. Our team helped nine companies secure nearly £3 million from the last round of the notoriously-competitive Smart competition and are standing by to help you create a compelling submission for the Innovation in Professional and Financial Services grant..
If you want help applying or would like to discuss our services in greater detail, just drop us a line!
