Innovate UK’s Contracts for Innovation: Cyber Scale in Critical Sectors competition is awarding up to £300,000 to UK cybersecurity innovators to demonstrate and commercialise their solutions in real operational environments across critical sectors.
Closing on 10 June 2026, this is a single-phase Contracts for Innovation competition with a total budget of up to £3.5 million, expected to fund up to 20 projects. Successful applicants will receive a contract that covers 100% of their eligible project costs, rather than a grant with a match funding requirement.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is available, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
You can lead a project regardless of your organisation’s size. However, Innovate will prioritise applications from start-ups and small or medium-sized enterprises in the early stages of growth.
Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity, so you can’t apply as a consortium. You can use subcontractors, but only for specialist skills not available within your own organisation. Both you and any subcontractors must be UK-based, and all project work and key deliverables must be completed in the UK.
Your Project
Your project must:
- End by 31 August 2027
- Have total costs of no more than £300,000, inclusive of VAT
- Last 12 months
- Start by 1 September 2026
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:
- Achieve Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 8 or above by the end of the project
- Address cyber security challenges of organisations in one of the named critical sectors
- Complete a comprehensive business model and plan for commercialisation
- Deploy and operate your solution in a real operational environment of a critical sector organisation
- Establish and evidence acceptability by critical sector organisations
Your solution must focus on one of the following critical sectors:
- Chemicals
- Communications
- Emergency Services
- Energy
- Food
- Health
- Space
- Transport
- Water
It must also focus on one or more of the following challenges:
- Advanced and innovative cybersecurity solutions for legacy system vulnerabilities in Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
- Advanced and innovative cybersecurity solutions for the detection and eviction of sophisticated actors from CNI networks
- Innovative threat hunting solutions for CNI organisations
- Proactive cyber security defence of CNI systems, including operation and incident response
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your project’s eligible costs.
Individual contracts are worth up to £300,000, inclusive of VAT.
This competition is a Contracts for Innovation procurement, not a grant. That means you’ll receive a contract covering 100% of your eligible project costs (inclusive of VAT) rather than a percentage-based grant.
So – good news – you don’t need to provide match funding.
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 10 June 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK’s Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section provides background for your application and is not scored. It covers:
- Applicant location
- Application details, including project title, start date and duration
- How long your organisation has been established for
- Project and scope summary
- Public description of your project
- Source of competition awareness
- Your organisation’s primary focus area
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 14 questions in total:
- 7 unscored administrative questions covering critical sector selection, challenge selection, animal testing, permits and licences, international collaboration, export licences, and Trusted Research and Innovation
- 7 scored questions covering your proposed idea or technology, technical project summary, current state of the art, intellectual property, project plan and methodology, technical team and expertise, costs and value for money, and commercial potential
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the proposed idea, project plan, and cost questions.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
Finances
Enter your project costs, organisation details and funding details, including your VAT registration status, and make sure your milestones and payment schedule match those described in your project plan.
Project Impact
This section is not scored but provides background to the wider impact of your project.
If you’re successful, you’ll be notified by 15 July 2026, and contracts will be awarded by 31 August 2026.
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.
Get Help With Your Application
With 15 years of experience and over £500 million secured for UK innovators, GrantTree can significantly increase your chances of winning a Contracts for Innovation competition.
Our services include a Full Service Write, where our grant writers build your application from scratch with you; a Grant Review by an active Innovate UK assessor; Grant Matching; and our bespoke Elevate package, tailored to your individual needs and budget.
To find out how we can help, just get in touch.
