Innovate UK is offering UK SMEs grants of up to £900k, alongside private investment, to develop and commercialise new advanced materials.
The Investor Partnerships - National Materials Innovation Programme 1 competition has up to £5 million to share. It's for SMEs that already have strong investment traction with one of Innovate UK's approved investor partners, because your grant depends on that investment closing.
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 (SME). You must apply as a sole applicant, and you can only submit one application to this round.
You must build a relationship and strong investment traction with one of Innovate UK's approved investor partners before you apply. That traction could be:
- A term sheet from an interested investor partner
- An indicative offer from an investor partner, which could come from an angel investor in its group or network
- Due diligence under way with an investor partner
You must also:
- Agree your proposal with your investor partner before you apply
- Be able to complete the aligned investment through new shares or convertible debt
- Be invited to apply by your investor partner
- Have your investor partner submit an expression of interest directly to Innovate UK
Innovate UK will treat your application as ineligible if your named investor partner hasn't submitted that expression of interest.
You can use subcontractors. If you want to use one from overseas, you must show why UK subcontractors can't do the work, and a lower price won't count as a reason.
Your Project
Your project must meet the limits for its research category:
- Experimental development projects must cost between £250,000 and £2 million, and last between 12 and 24 months
- Feasibility studies must cost between £50,000 and £300,000, and last between 6 and 12 months
- Industrial research projects must cost between £100,000 and £1 million, and last between 6 and 24 months
- Projects must start on the first of a month, and by 1 June 2027
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:
- Be attractive to equity investors
- Be scalable
- Have a clear link to innovation
- Have a clear route to market
- Have significant market impact
- Show you can create a team to deliver it
Your project must focus on one of these seven themes, and at least one of its sub-themes:
- Advanced Surface Technologies and Materials Durability: surface protection and durability materials, tribological materials and surface technologies, surface technology materials for extreme environments, or materials for degradation monitoring and lifetime management
- Future Healthcare Materials: biocompatible and regenerative materials, or bioelectronic materials
- Metamaterials and Metasurfaces: future telecommunications and advanced connectivity, convergent electronic photonic technologies, thermal, acoustic and mechanical metamaterials, energy security and net zero, or healthcare
- Net Zero Energy Materials: next generation battery materials, electrochemical energy conversion materials, hydrogen materials, heat exchange, heat storage and waste heat recovery materials, energy harvesting materials, or advanced nuclear and fusion materials
- Next Generation Electronics, Telecommunications and Sensors: wide and ultra-wide bandgap materials, materials for quantum, or advanced connectivity and communication materials
- Structural Materials Innovation: sustainable structural materials in or outside the built environment, high performance structural materials, or bulk structural materials for extreme environments
- Sustainable Polymer, Packaging and Elastomeric Materials: sustainable polymer and packaging materials, or sustainable elastomeric materials
The structural theme only covers a set list of material classes, like advanced concretes, speciality steels and technical ceramics. The metamaterials theme only covers projects that meet the UK Metamaterials Network's definitions.
Innovate UK won't fund projects that:
- Are collaborative R&D projects
- Are focused on chemical or raw material synthesis rather than materials innovation for an end application
- Are focused on enabling areas, like behavioural science, educational resources, policy, regulations, relationships and skills
- Are large capital infrastructure
- Are mainly about developing, adapting or validating digital tools for materials innovation, like AI or machine learning software
- Aren't part of your company's growth plan
- Can't prove the potential for return on investment and growth
- Don't align with the themes and sub-themes above
You can still use AI, machine learning or large language model tools where they support the materials innovation at the heart of your project.
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 go up to £900,000, which is 45% of a £2 million experimental development project for a micro or small business.
You'll only receive a grant if you also secure aligned investment led by your investor partner. For feasibility studies and industrial research, the investment must at least equal your grant. For experimental development, it must be at least twice your grant.
Applying as a Company
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility Study* | 70% | 60% |
| Industrial Research** | 70% | 60% |
| Experimental Development*** | 45% | 35% |
*A feasibility study tests whether an idea could work, and what it would take to develop it.
**Industrial research refers to planned research aimed at acquiring new knowledge for developing new products, processes, or services.
***Experimental development is closer to market. It involves using existing knowledge to develop or improve products, processes, or services.
Funding Example
If you're a small business with £500,000 of eligible industrial research costs, you could claim up to £350,000 in grant funding. You will need to fund the remaining £150,000 from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans. Your investor partner must also lead an aligned investment of at least £350,000.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
This competition is only open to SMEs, so universities, research and technology organisations (RTOs) and other non-commercial organisations can't apply.
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 19 January 2027.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section isn't scored, and it covers:
- Application details
- Application team
- Project summary
- Public description
- Research category
- Scope
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 23 questions in total:
- Eight unscored questions covering topics like your theme, animal testing, export licences and your investor partner
- 15 scored questions covering your problem, idea, benefits, design, milestones, delivery plan, route to market, risks, skills, market size and growth, competitors, differentiation, intellectual property and the case for public funding
You must include a Gantt chart and a risk register as appendices, and you can add appendices for your idea and your team. Each appendix is a PDF of up to two A4 pages.
Finances
You must complete your project costs, organisation details and funding details.
Project Impact
This section isn't scored, but you must complete it before you can submit your application.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
Innovate UK then looks at additionality and traction, using information from your investor partner. That means how much the grant speeds up your innovation and draws in investment, and how likely your investment is to complete. You must score strongly on innovation, additionality and traction to win funding.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 1 March 2027. Innovate UK won't issue your grant unless your aligned investment closes.
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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