Hello and welcome to the November 2019 edition of my funding opportunities blog.
In this funding blog you will find £millions of Government investment into research and development (R&D).
The modern Industrial Strategy is now in place and funding of up to £4.7 billion from the challenge fund for R&D is starting to be pumped into UK organisations via these highly competitive competitions. For this reason, Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has a fully funded Bid Writing Support Service to help Dorset organisations to win some of this money.
In the past month we have supported six companies: one company intending to submit into the Business Basics Round (closing December); four companies looking to bid into Innovate UK (IUK) competitions closing in January 2020; and one company applying for one of our Growing Places Fund business loans (guidance and signposting only).
Last month, it was announced that we had supported a client to win £220K of grant funding. More on this next month. If you are a Dorset-based organisation looking to lead or partner on a challenge fund / IUK competition then you can apply for one-to-one support with our fully-funded specialist bid writing service by clicking here.
Here are some of the latest competitions from Innovate UK:
- Funding opportunities new to the blog:
December expression of interest: ATI programme
The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme provides funding for industrial research and capital projects to encourage innovation in UK civil aerospace.
Closes: 18 December 2019
Bilateral UK and US offshore wind R&D programme, EoI
Express an interest in applying for a share of up to £1.5 million from the bilateral Innovate UK and US national offshore wind programme to tackle nine challenge areas.
Closes: 15 January 2020
SBRI: innovation in automated survey processing for railway structure gauging, phase 1
Businesses can apply for a share of £720,000, plus VAT, to develop a demonstrator for automated railway structure gauging processing.
Closes: 29 January 2020
SBRI: innovation in railway platform end and edge technology
Opportunity for businesses to apply for a share of £1.08 million, plus VAT, to develop solutions to detect and deter trespass at railway platform ends and edges.
Closes: 29 January 2020
ISCF transforming foundation industries: fast start projects
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of £5 million for fast start projects to improve the resource and energy efficiency of foundation industries. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).
Closes: 5 February 2020
There are two rounds of ISCF Transforming Food Production:
ISCF TFP science and technology into practice: feasibility studies
Apply for between £75,000 and £250,000 to test the feasibility of solutions that can transform food production and help the industry move towards net zero emissions by 2040. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
ISCF TFP science and technology into practice: demonstration
Apply for between £400,000 and £4 million to demonstrate solutions that can transform food production and help the industry move towards net zero emissions by 2040. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Both close: 26 February 2020
UK-Israel open collaborative R&D competition 2019
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.5 million to develop innovative technologies targeting global markets in partnership with Israeli companies.
Closes: 19 February 2020
- Other funding opportunities:
NATEP: helping SMEs innovate in aerospace, autumn 2019
UK micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can apply for a share of up to £2.5 million for industry led civil aerospace research projects.
Closes: 4 December 2019
CELTIC-NEXT autumn 2019: innovative 5G infrastructure and applications
UK organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for 5G collaborative R&D projects in the EUREKA CELTIC programme.
Closes: 11 December 2019
SME support to evaluate innovative medical technologies: round 5
UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of £1.5 million to support the evaluation of innovative medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital health products.
Closes: 11 December 2019
Innovate UK Smart Grants: October 2019
Opportunity to apply for a share of up to £25 million to deliver ambitious or disruptive R&D innovations that can make a significant impact on the UK economy.
Closes: 8 January 2020
SBRI: modernising energy data access and information, phase 1
In this first phase applicants can apply for a share of up to £480,000 for modernising energy data access. This is being funded by Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, in collaboration with BEIS and Ofgem.
Closes: 2 January 2020
Agri-tech catalyst round 9: agriculture and food systems innovation
UK organisations can apply for a share of up to £15 million across three competitions to work on agri-tech and food chain innovations in Africa. The competitions are:
Agri-tech catalyst round 9: agriculture and food systems innovation, early stage
Agri-tech catalyst round 9: agriculture and food systems innovation, mid stage
Agri-tech catalyst round 9: agriculture and food systems innovation, late stage
All three close: 8 January 2020
ISCF Future food production systems
Apply for a share of up to £20 million to transform food production systems, improve productivity and sustainability, and help the industry move towards net zero emissions by 2040. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Closes: 22 January 2020
UK-China: precision for enhancing agricultural productivity
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million to work with Chinese partners to develop new integrated precision farming technology and help achieve net-zero emissions. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Closes: 15 January 2020
For all Innovate UK applications click here.
One Health: Aquaculture Expo:
Date: 4th March 2020. Venue: Kingston Maurward, Dorchester
One Health (OH) is the globally understood umbrella term for the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health. Following our successful OH19 conference, we are delighted to announce OH20: Aquaculture Expo on 4th March 2020. Early bird booking for exhibitors and delegates is now live. This event will bring together Aquaculture companies with buyers, investors, Government and other support organisations. To register, please click here.
In the meantime, if you want to know why Dorset is a good place for companies in the agri-tech, food and drink business and all about our designation from the UK Government as a High Potential Opportunity (HPO) area in Aquaculture, please click here.
One Health Accelerator (OHA):
The OHA aims to support the development of commercial solutions to global ‘one health’ problems. We will work with the national agri-centres and other key organisations to provide support for funding bids and consortium development, as well as showcasing and highlighting business innovations through conferences, expos and across social media.
Fully-funded support is available now. Visit our website for more information and follow us on twitter @accelerator_one.
The Maritime and Fisheries Fund (MFF):
The Government will be holding panels on a quarterly basis to consider MFF applications for projects costing £100,000 and over. Applications of less than £100,000 will continue to be assessed on a regular basis and are not affected by the panel meetings. For more information click here.
The SETsquared Partnership:
One Health Campaign
SETsquared will be investing up to £100k from its Stimulus Fund into R&D project proposal development for major, upcoming One Health funding calls.
Applications of up to £35k per project will be welcomed from companies (including UK Scale-Ups, Primes/OEMs and their supply chains), researchers from the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey and consortia (comprised of companies & researchers). The funds can be used for:
- consortia building
- securing grant funding & private investment
- proposal development for business-led collaborative R&D.
Closes: 13 January 2020
Have you heard of the British Business Bank (BBB)?
The BBB are a government-owned business development bank dedicated to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses. Whether you are looking for finance to start a business, grow to the next level, or stay ahead of the competition, they say that they can deliver greater volume and choice of finance. Click here for further details.