Innovate UK grants for startups: how they work in 2026

What Innovate UK is

Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency and part of UK Research and Innovation. It funds innovative businesses through grants and loans, mostly awarded in competitions that open and close on set dates.

A grant is money you do not give equity for, which is why founders like it. The price is a detailed application, tight rules on what you can spend and a long wait for a decision.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check the competition brief and UKRI guidance, and speak to a qualified adviser on subsidy rules, before you apply.

What is open and what has closed

Smart grants were a well-known route for startups. UKRI's Smart grants page now says they are closed for new applications while funding is aligned to Innovate UK's new strategic direction. I would not plan around them coming back.

Check the Innovation Funding Service for live competitions before you plan around any grant. Competitions differ in sector, size and rules, so read each brief rather than relying on summaries elsewhere, including this one.

Who can apply

For Innovate UK funding, UK businesses need a Companies House registration number. Businesses registered in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Crown Dependencies are not eligible.

Collaborative projects need at least two grant-claiming partners, and no single partner can account for more than 70% of eligible costs. Each competition brief adds its own eligibility rules, so read them before you start writing.

How an application works

You apply through the Innovation Funding Service. You create an account, and UKRI recommends a professional email address from your organisation because you cannot change it later. The lead applicant starts the application, invites colleagues, assigns questions and submits before the deadline.

Invited partners have 48 hours to accept the invitation. Late submissions only progress if Innovate UK decides the fault was on its side. Poor internet or an incomplete consortium does not count.

Each competition publishes its own scope and assessment criteria in the brief.

Subsidy control limits

Innovate UK funding counts as a subsidy. Its funding rules cap Minimal Financial Assistance awards at £315,000 per organisation over a rolling three financial years, and de minimis aid at €300,000 over a rolling three years. Ask which regime your award falls under and count everything you have already received.

Check any grant you have already received. Under SEIS, your £250,000 company limit includes de minimis state aid from the last three years, so a grant can reduce what you can raise from angels under that scheme.

Innovation loans

Innovation loans are for R&D projects only. You apply as a single UK-registered SME, and you can subcontract work if you can justify why it is critical to delivering the project.

You can borrow up to 100% of eligible project costs. The minimum and maximum amounts, the interest rate and the repayment periods are set in each competition brief. Loans move through an availability period when you draw down, an extension period for commercialisation and a repayment period.

Loans do not suit very early work. UKRI says they are not for fundamental research or feasibility studies.

Should you spend the time on it

In my view a grant application takes real hours from the founder, and it only pays off if the project would be on your roadmap anyway. If you would have to bend the product to fit a competition, think twice.

Grants can also help your equity story. A funded project shows that independent assessors rated your technology. I would not claim more than that to investors.

Combining grants with investment

Many companies use grants and equity together. Investors often see grant income as extra runway, and a lead investor may help you write a stronger application.

If you are building a list of funds and angels for the equity side, InvestorUniverse ranks UK investors on stage, sector and cheque size so you can start that work while a grant application is in review.