Innovate UK has opened a £1 million pilot backing UK SMEs that build measurement, sensing and instrumentation technology for advanced manufacturing supply chains, with a fixed award of £80,420 per business.
The Advanced Manufacturing Measurement and Sensing Pilot runs inside the UKRI Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chains programme. It is looking for businesses whose technology helps manufacturers see what is actually happening in their supply chains, so those supply chains get more productive, waste less and cope better when something goes wrong. Winners also get nine months of support alongside the money, covering peer networking, investor engagement and international market work.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To apply, you must be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise.
This one is a single company competition. You can't apply as a consortium, and you can only submit one application per business. Submit more than one and every application you have made becomes ineligible.
You can use subcontractors from anywhere in the UK through your normal procurement process. If you want to use a subcontractor based outside the UK, you have to justify it and show which UK contractors you approached first.
You also can't apply if you are subject to UK sanctions restrictions.
Your Project
Your application must:
- Be for total costs of no more than £80,420
- Finish all funded activity by 30 November 2027
- Start by 1 March 2027, on the first day of a month
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
Your project must also:
- Address a specific problem faced by advanced manufacturing supply chains in the UK
- Be based on measurement, sensing or instrumentation
- Improve productivity, resource efficiency or resilience
- Serve at least one of automotive, aerospace, battery, space, or the commercial production of advanced materials
- Show that you want to grow and scale, winning customers in the UK and overseas
You will also be asked to self-assess how mature your innovation is, choosing between idea or research stage, an initial prototype, process or tool, and scale up or standardisation. There is no minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for this one.
Innovate UK won't fund businesses that are:
- Developing new or improved advanced materials
- Developing technology for the Agri-tech supply chain
- Manufacturers looking to build a new technology approach for their own operations
You also can't apply on the basis of a project. This competition backs the business, not a single piece of work. Primary production in fishery, aquaculture and agriculture is out of scope too.
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
Every successful business gets the same award, whatever its size. There is no sliding scale by company size and no split by research category.
Individual grants are a fixed £80,420.
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Funding Example
Say your eligible costs come to £75,000. Because the grant covers 100% of eligible costs, you would receive the full £75,000 and there is no match funding to find. That makes this competition unusual. On most Innovate UK grants you would need to fund the remaining share from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
You can't. This pilot is only open to UK registered micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations, research organisations, RTOs and universities can't apply and can't take part as collaborators. If you need specialist input from one of them, bring them in as a subcontractor instead.
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 7 October 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section captures background information about your business and your application. It isn't scored.
Application Questions
There are 19 questions in total:
- Eleven unscored administrative questions covering topics like animal testing, export licences, international collaboration, trusted research principles, and where your business sits on technology maturity, business stage and financing stage
- Eight scored questions covering the problem you are solving, your innovation, sustainability, your milestones, your route to market, your customers, the size of your market, and why you need public funding
Each scored answer is limited to 400 words.
Project Impact
This section gives background context on the difference your business expects to make. It isn't scored.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 18 December 2026. Applications that pass the initial assessment will be invited to an interview between 30 November and 7 December 2026.
Interview invitations go out on 6 November 2026. You pitch for up to 10 minutes using no more than five PowerPoint slides, with up to two people from your business in the room, and then take 15 minutes of questions. The panel's average score replaces your initial assessment score, so the interview is where the decision really gets made.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a 'portfolio approach' by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won't necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
