Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chains: Potential High Growth SMEs

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request of between £50,000 and £100,000

• last between three months and nine months

• start by 1 August 2026

• end by 30 April 2027

Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs.

Lead organisation

To work alone your organisation must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME).

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but they are limited to no more than 50% of the total grant claimed. All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Number of applications

An SME can only lead on one application.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project

• an overdue independent accountant’s report

• failed to comply with award terms and conditions

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.

The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here: SC10780.

This is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £2 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

Category 2: Industrial research projects

Funding available 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

For more information on company sizes, refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to enable micro, small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to unlock barriers to commercialisation and scaling in the UK.

Your proposal must focus on delivering an improvement in the resource efficiency or resilience of the Advanced Manufacturing Sector plan frontier industries supply chains.

We want to fund projects that deliver cross-cutting technologies that can be applied across the six frontier industries defined in the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan.

You must have built a basic version of the product or service, for example, a prototype or Minimum Viable Product (MVP) at TRL6 or higher. Your prototype or MVP must focus on delivering an improvement in the resource efficiency or resilience of the supply chain.

This should be expressed in terms of the potential for your product or service to:

• increase the output quantity or quality of the supply chain per unit of primary resource input; or

• maintain or increase the output quantity or quality of the supply chain per unit, whilst decreasing the resource input from outside the UK

While you may currently operate within a single frontier industry, your product or service must be capable of scaling into adjacent advanced manufacturing frontier industries.

To support SMEs progress towards commercialisation and increasing the number of investable, scalable innovations, up to 50% of your grant can be used to access support in one or more of the following areas:

• commercialisation plan development and implementation, for example, licencing, manufacturing readiness

• financing strategy development and implementation, in line with your commercialisation plan

• revenue model analysis and development

• sales strategy development

• marketing plan development

• carbon plan development

• environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy development

• impact strategy development, including environmental impact

• impact management

• validated market research

• customer validation and testing

• assessing and achieving minimum required volumes for offtake

• risk analysis and forecasting

• risk management controls including sensors and data for real time risk monitoring

• investigate insurance

• intellectual property development and protection

• data, including best practice principles and requirements for energy performance certificate (EPC) assessment to determine scaling risk

• standards compliance and validation, including, for example, the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) and Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2035/30 accreditation

• regulatory support and insights

• operational costs of commercial pilot

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different themes. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on one or more of the supply chains in the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan frontier industries, as follows.:

• automotive

• aerospace

• advanced materials

• batteries

• agri-tech

• space

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

• do not outline how your product or service solution could be used in the supply chain of one additional Advanced Manufacturing supply chain

• focus on technologies to directly reduce industrial energy consumption

We are not able to fund projects that focus on enabling areas such as:

• energy

• regulations

• educational resources

• procurement

• behavioural science

• policy

• skills and relationships to support incremental improvement in resource efficiency

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country

• dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

23 March 2026

Online briefing event: register to attend

Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event

27 May 2026

Applicants notified

1 August 2026

Project start from

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct

• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria

• all sections of the application are marked as complete

• you have accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

4. Project Impact.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Application team

Decide which people from your organisation will work with you on the project and invite those people to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 6. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. If you do, your application will be made ineligible.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In the process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement.

You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in.

You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 7. Need or challenge

What is the business need or market opportunity behind your innovation that requires pre-commercialisation support?

Explain:

• the main motivation for the project, and why pre-commercialisation support is needed

• the business need or market opportunity

• any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example, if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one

• the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations

• where your business is in its commercialisation journey and how you have identified the pre-commercialisation needs to be supported by this funding

• any analysis you have undertaken, either by yourself or by an external organisation which has identified the need for pre-commercialisation support

In terms of your business's commercialisation journey, you can include the following details:

• do you know what team capability is needed and if there are any gaps

• do you own your IP

• do you know how you will access the market, for example, licence, manufacture

• have you undertaken any fund raising or have any planned

• do you have, for example, demonstrations with customers, pilot facilities, a scale up plan, or offtake agreements in place or being negotiated

• do you understand the market you are looking to enter and any barriers that are in place to prevent you from entering this market

• do you have access to the data needed on your innovation to get insurance or meet customer requests

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 8. Approach and innovation

Where will the focus of the innovation be and what pre-commercialisation support is required to scale your innovation?

Explain:

• how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified

• how you will improve on any similar innovation that you have identified

• whether the innovation will focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas, or a totally disruptive approach

• the freedom you have to operate

• how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings

• how it will make you more competitive and commercially ready

• the nature of the outputs you expect from the project, for example, reports, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design, and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 9. Team and resources

How do you propose to access and resource the required pre-commercialisation support, and what form will this support take?

Explain:

• the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking

• the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them

• the details of any vital external parties, including subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully obtain the support

• any roles you will need to recruit for

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix, with a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Market awareness

What does the market or markets you are targeting look like?

Describe:

• the target markets for the project outcomes and any other potential markets, either domestic, international or both

• the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available

• the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes

• the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist

• the current UK position in targeting these markets

• the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

• what the market’s size might be

• how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 11. Outcomes and outputs

What would the pre-commercialisation support enable your business to achieve?

Explain:

• your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position

• what will you be able to achieve as a result of the project, for example, fund raising, offtake agreement, manufacturing partner

• how you will grow your business and increase long term productivity as a result of the project

• how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction

• how the innovation and pre-commercialisation support will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term

• how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model

• your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 12. Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside the project team?

Describe and, where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:

• external parties

• customers

• others in the supply chain

• broader industry

• the UK economy

Describe and, where possible, measure:

• any expected impact on government priorities

• any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative

• any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative, on, for example:

• quality of life

• social inclusion or exclusion

• jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them

• education

• public empowerment

• health and safety

• regulations

• diversity

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 13. Project management

How will you manage your project effectively?

Explain:

• the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one

• your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome

• the management reporting lines

• your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 14. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Explain:

• the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks

• how you will mitigate these risks

• any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, and data sets

• any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and other requirements identified, and how you will manage this

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 15. Added value

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation?

Explain:

• what advantages public funding would offer your project, for example: appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market

• what other routes of investment or means of support you have already engaged with and why they were not suitable

• how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding

• what your project would look like without public funding

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 16. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

You must include specifications for any subcontracted elements you expect to procure.

In terms of your project goals, explain:

• your total eligible project costs

• the grant you are requesting

• how you have identified the project costs, for example, supplier quotes

• how any proposed suppliers of the pre-commercialisation support have the required capability to meet your needs

• how you will ensure you get quality outputs from any subcontractors

• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

• how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise

• any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

3. Finances

You must complete your own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance see the eligibility section in this competition. You can also view our application finances video.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

You must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

AM supply chains - Potential High Growth SMEs - Assessor guidance for applicants .pdf (opens in a new window)

Background and further information

In the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, Advanced Manufacturing was recognised as one of the growth driving sectors.

You should familiarise yourself with the following:

• National Security and Investment Act’s :17 sensitive sectors including advanced materials

• Science and Technology Framework: 5 critical technologies

• Strategic Export Control - consolidated list

There may be specific information in these links to support your application, your project and beyond.

Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme Information

This award is being offered under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme in accordance with section 10(4) of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Projects funded must meet the following definition:

Category 2: Industrial research​

​The planned research or critical investigation that is aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services. It can also be for projects that are aimed at bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services. ​

This would include digital products, processes or services, in any technology, industry or sector (including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as super-computing, quantum technologies, block chain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud technologies). ​

Industrial research comprises the creation of component parts of complex systems. It may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines. Where necessary, this would be for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation.​

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project, for example your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is operated by Innovate UK.

Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with our own policies.

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.