Innovate UK is investing up to £17 million to help UK businesses build and test the next generation of quantum networking technology, with individual grants of up to £4 million on offer.
This competition is all about testbeds. Innovate UK wants you to develop an innovative component, system, architecture or process that tackles a barrier to scaling quantum networks, then build a testbed to evaluate it in a realistic setting. Think quantum repeaters, ways to plug quantum technologies into existing telecommunications infrastructure, or the integration of quantum networking with today’s digital networks.
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.
Find Out if You're Eligible Now
To find out if you and your project are suitable for this grant, book in a free Competitiveness and Eligibility Assessment. In just 25 minutes, I’ll tell you:
- Whether you’re a strong candidate for this competition
- Other grants you may be eligible for
- What other sources of funding we can help you secure
Never Miss a Funding Opportunity
New grant competitions are opening all the time. Make sure you don’t miss out by subscribing to GrantTree’s newsletter.
Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To lead the project you must be a UK registered business of any size. Academic institutions can’t lead.
This is a collaborative competition, so you’ll apply as part of a consortium, and that consortium must include at least one UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). The lead and at least one other organisation must both apply for funding.
You can bring in the following UK registered organisations as collaborators:
- Academic institution
- Business of any size
- Charity
- Not for profit
- Public sector organisation
- Research and technology organisation (RTO)
Your Project
Your project must:
- Have a total grant funding request between £2.5 million and £4 million
- Last between 18 and 24 months
- Start by 1 January 2027
- End by 31 December 2028
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:
- Develop an innovative component, system, architecture or process that supports this need or capability
- Establish a testbed to evaluate your innovation for use in a quantum network, representing a step change in capability
- Identify a need or capability required to address a barrier to scalable quantum networking
Innovate UK won’t fund projects that:
- Are directly duplicating or exploiting existing testbeds or testing facilities, without extending them for new or significantly improved capability
- Are wholly focused on the incremental development of existing components, systems or processes
- Don’t include a testbed
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 range from £2.5 million to £4 million.
Funding Example
For example, if you’re a small business with eligible project costs of £5 million, you could claim 70% of those costs, giving you a grant of £3.5 million.
You will need to fund the remaining £1.5 million from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Non-economic organisations can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs and are funded at higher rates:
- Up to 100% of eligible costs if you are a charity, not-for-profit, public sector organisation, research organisation, or RTO
- 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 Monday 3 August 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK’s Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section gives the background to your application and isn’t scored. 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 16 questions in total:
- 6 unscored administrative questions covering topics like animal testing, international collaboration, and trusted research and innovation
- 10 scored questions covering your business need, technical approach, team, market, route to market, wider impacts, project management, risks, added value, and value for money
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the approach, team, project management, and risk questions.
Finances
Each organisation in your project enters its own project costs, organisation details and funding details, with academic institutions using the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method.
Project Impact
Each partner completes a set of unscored Project Impact questions, which provide background on the wider impact of your project.
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 5 October 2026. Applications that pass the initial assessment can be invited to an interview between 24 September and 29 September 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.
Maximise Your Chances of Securing Funding
GrantTree has 15 years of experience helping startups, scaleups and established businesses secure over £500 million in innovation funding.
We offer Full Service Write, Grant Review and Grant Matching, plus our bespoke Elevate package, which combines writing, review, coaching and matching to maximise your chances of success.
We work closely with active grant assessors to understand exactly what it takes to prepare a compelling application.
To find out how we can help, just get in touch.
