UK businesses developing new technology with a Japanese SME can apply for grants of up to £600k through Eureka Globalstars Japan 2027.
Innovate UK is investing £2 million in collaborative industrial research projects between the UK, Japan and a group of other Eureka countries. Projects must focus on semiconductors, quantum, artificial intelligence, cyber security, advanced connectivity, biotechnology (including engineering biology) or space. Innovate UK funds the UK partners only, so your Japanese partner applies for its own funding through Japan's national funding body.
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 lead the UK side of the project, you must be a UK registered business of any size. The overall Eureka project can be led from the UK or from another participating country, but one UK business must always start and submit the Innovate UK application.
Your project must include at least one SME from Japan. It must be a separate legal entity with no links to any of the UK partners.
You can also bring in these organisations as collaborators:
- Other UK registered businesses of any size
- Partners from the other participating Eureka countries
- UK research organisations
UK research organisations can't lead a project or work alone. The other participating Eureka countries are Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Türkiye.
A business can lead one application and join two more as a collaborator.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Last no longer than three years
- Request no more than £600k in total grant across the UK partners
- Start by 1 August 2027
Each partner must carry out most of its funded work in the country funding it, so the UK partners must do their funded work in the UK.
Your project must also:
- Be a business-led collaboration focused on industrial research
- Focus on at least one of the seven technology themes
- Have a clear route to market within two to three years of the project ending
- Keep any single partner, or all partners from one country combined, to no more than 70% of the total eligible project costs
- Keep subcontractor costs to no more than 20% of the UK partners' total eligible costs
- Lead to an innovative product, technology-based application or technology-based service
- Show a genuine collaboration between the UK and Japanese partners, including a clear plan for how intellectual property is used and shared
Innovate UK won't fund projects that work on non-civilian technologies or pose a risk to the UK's national security, economic security or strategic interests.
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your organisation's type and size and the sort of research your project involves.
Individual grants are worth up to £600k per project, shared between the UK partners.
Applying as a Company
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Costs Covered* | 70% | 60% | 50% |
*Industrial research refers to planned research aimed at acquiring new knowledge for developing new products, processes, or services.
Funding Example
If you're a small business with £500,000 of eligible project costs, you could receive a grant of up to £350,000. You will need to fund the remaining £150,000 from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
UK research organisations in your consortium can share up to 30% of the UK partners' total eligible project costs and are funded at higher rates:
- Up to 100% of eligible costs if you're an RTO or research organisation
- Up to 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you're an academic institution, like a university
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 20 January 2027.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
Your consortium must also complete the Eureka project application form on the Eureka website by the end of 19 January 2027, UK time, and upload a copy to your Innovate UK application.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section gives the assessors background on your project and isn't scored. It covers your:
- Application details, like your project title, start date and duration
- Application team
- Project summary
- Public description
- Scope
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 18 questions in total:
- Eight unscored questions covering topics like your chosen theme, animal testing, international collaboration, export licences and trusted research
- Ten scored questions covering your business need, approach and innovation, team, market, route to market, wider impacts, project management, risks, added value, and costs and value for money
You must upload your completed Eureka application, along with appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the approach, project management and risk questions. You can also add an appendix for the team question.
Finances
Each UK organisation completes its own project costs, organisation details and funding details.
Project Impact
Each UK partner answers a short set of unscored questions about the project's expected impact before the application can be submitted.
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 26 April 2027.
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.
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