Presenting the September 2024 edition of Grants Watch, GrantTree’s monthly roundup of the latest and greatest funding opportunities open to UK organisations.
In this issue, we’re looking at competitions for:
- SMEs in the life sciences space
- Marine and maritime innovators in the southwest of England
- Grants and loans for innovative SMEs from any sector
- Organisations working on mental health technologies
Have a gander!
And if you want a free, expert assessment of whether you’re eligible for any of the competitions below, just get in touch!
My colleagues and I in GrantTree’s grants team would be happy to:
- Give you a candid assessment of your eligibility
- Tell you how strong your project is
- Suggest alternative sources of funding if you’re not suitable for the grants below.
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Biomedical Catalyst 2024: Round 1: Industry-led R&D
Funding available: £2 million
Deadline: 16 October 2024, 11 am
The Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) offers grants of up to £2 million to help UK SMEs and their partners develop “innovative solutions to address health and healthcare challenges.”
This is the industry-led stream of BMC, which funds pre-market R&D projects.
Projects must be led by a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). Read more about the government’s definition of an SME for grant purposes.
To qualify for this £15 million scheme…
- You must have total project costs of £150,000 – £4 million
- At least 50% of the total project costs must be shared by SMEs
- Your project must last 6 to 36 months
- Your project must start by 1 May 2025 and end by 30 September 2028
Find out if you’re eligible. Request your free eligibility assessment.
Innovate UK Innovation Loans Future Economy: Round 17
Funding available: Up to £2 million
Deadline: 30 October 2024, 11 am
Innovate UK’s Innovation Loans scheme isn’t a grant competition. However, it is an excellent source of financing for late-stage R&D projects.
The competition offers loans of between £100,000 and £2 million with attractive terms such as a deferred, below-market interest rate of 3.7% during project execution.
In addition, unlike many grant competitions, you can acquire an Innovation Loan covering up to 100% of your project costs.
To apply, you must be a UK-registered SME who’s in a position to take out a loan.
Find out if you’re eligible. Request your free eligibility assessment.
Innovate UK’s Smart grants: July 2024
Funding available: Up to £700,000
Deadline: 23 October 2024, 11 am
The July 2024 round of Innovate UK’s Smart grant is now open.
This £25 million Innovate UK competition helps UK SMEs develop “world-leading ideas designed for swift, successful commercialisation.”
One key benefit of Smart is that it is open to organisations from all sectors, not just more traditionally innovative areas like biotechnology.
However, its inclusive scope also makes Smart extremely competitive, with just 3-7% of applicants receiving funding.
Qualifying projects must:
- Have between £100,000 and £1 million in qualifying costs
- Start by 1 April 2025
- End by 31 March 2027
Find out if you’re eligible. Request your free eligibility assessment.
Launchpad: marine and maritime in the Great South West – R2 CR&D
Funding available: Up to £750,000
Deadline: 16 October 2024, 11 am
Innovate UK, in partnership with Cornwall Council, Plymouth City Council and Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership, is investing up to £3 million in innovative marine and maritime projects in the Great South West.
For the purposes of this competition, the Great South West encompasses Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.
The competition’s £3 million kitty comes from Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme, which supports “clusters of SMEs and the most innovative businesses to progress their ideas toward commercialisation, contributing to local economic growth.”
The competition is split into two strands:
Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D) offers grants of up to £150,000-£700,000, covering up to 70% of the project’s qualifying costs. Projects must involve more than one organisation.
Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA), which offers grants of £25,000 – £100,000 covering 100% of projects’ qualifying costs.
Eligible projects must:
- Last 6 to 18 months
- Start on or after 1 April 2025
- End by 30 December 2026
Mental Health Award: Accelerating scalable digital mental health interventions
Funding available: Up to £7 million
Deadline: 5 December 2024, 5 pm
Financed and run by the Wellcome Trust, this international competition is offering sizable grants to “fund research to evaluate and further develop scalable digital interventions to advance early intervention in depression, anxiety and psychosis.”
This call is open to the following types of organisations, which can be based anywhere in the world except mainland China.
- Higher education institutions
- Research institutes
- Non-academic healthcare organisations
- Not-for-profit or non-governmental research organisations
- Company or not-for-profit organisation
This competition is focused on “proposals that target symptoms of anxiety, depression and psychotic disorders”. This includes:
- All types of anxiety and depressive disorders (including obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder)
- All forms of psychotic disorders (including schizophrenia, postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder)
Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing: Expression of interest
Funding available: Up to £100,000 (up to £10 million in phase two)
Deadline: 16 October 2024, 11 am
This competition offers funding for companies working on sustainable medicine manufacturing through any of the following three pillars:
- Green chemistry
- Circularity
- Productivity and resource
Qualifying projects must:
- Start by 1 January 2025
- End by 30 June 2025
- Last three to six months
This competition is the first of two phases. This ‘expression of interest’ (EoI) competition is phase one. It is designed to help companies establish a consortium and prepare a case for a Grant Challenge award (phase two).
The Grant Challenge award will launch next year and offer grants of up to £10 million to large-scale collaborative R&D projects involving at least three partners from across the medicines manufacturing supply chain.
Only projects that succeed in phase one can apply for the Grand Challenge in phase two.
Let's Find You Funding
If you’re looking for funding, you’ve come to the right place.
GrantTree’s grants experts can tell you exactly what competitions you’re eligible for, both now and in the future.
If you’re not eligible for grants, we can help you explore other forms of non-equity funding, including tax relief and debt financing, to help you develop your innovation and accelerate your success.
For a free, no-commitment consultation of your funding options, just get in touch.
