Smart is Innovate UK’s ‘open grant funding’ programme. It provides an opportunity for UK registered organisations to apply for a share of up to £25 million to deliver disruptive research and development (R&D) innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy.
All proposals must be business-focused. Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy, such as, but not exclusively:
- the arts, design and media
- creative industries
- science or engineering
Innovate UK welcomes projects that overlap with the Industrial Strategy grand challenge areas, but this is not a requirement.
The competition opened on Thursday 7 October 2021 and closes on Wednesday 5 January 2022 11:00am
For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
- up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
- up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
- up to 50% if you are a large organisation
For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
- up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation
- up to 35% if you are a medium-sized organisation
- up to 25% if you are a large organisation
Eligibility headlines
- Your project must include at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) as the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner.
- Your project must start by 1 July 2022 and end by 30 June 2025 and follow specific rules dependent on its duration.
- If your project’s duration is 6 to 18 months it: must have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £500,000. The project can be single or collaborative.
- If your project’s duration is 19 to 36 months, it must: have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £2 million and be collaborative. Projects with costs which are likely to be up to £3m can still qualify as a permitted exception if the Innovate UK provides prior approval prior to your application being submitted.
Innovation is a key driver for the UK Government’s R&D Tax Credit scheme and you can find out more from our expert Iain Robertson in our R&D Tax Credit Hub