The Biggest Innovate UK Funding Grants
Lily Ruaah, Updated 28 November 2024
Innovate UK grants play a pivotal role in the UK’s startup and scaleup ecosystem, often serving as a strong indicator of future success. These grants have a proven track record of supporting some of the nation’s fastest-growing companies during their early stages, including prominent unicorns such as Arrival, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Improbable, and the challenger bank Monzo.
In this article, we break down what Innovate UK funding is, explore its vital role in driving UK growth, and highlight the companies that have secured the most significant grants over the past 12 months.
What is Innovate UK funding?
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the UK Government’s national innovation agency. Established in 2007, Innovate UK drives business growth by funding and supporting the development of transformative products, services, and processes.
Since the formation of UKRI in 2018, Innovate UK has worked alongside other research organisations and higher education institutions to create a cohesive ecosystem for innovation and research funding.
What Innovate UK does
From competitive grant funding to accelerator programs and ecosystem support, Innovate UK is dedicated to driving economic growth and positioning the UK at the forefront of global innovation. Let’s take a closer look at what it does on a practical level.
Grant funding competitions
Innovate UK offers sector-specific and open innovation grant opportunities, designed to fund projects with the potential for significant economic and societal impact. The process is highly competitive, requiring businesses to demonstrate clear innovation, feasibility, and market potential.
Business collaboration and support
Beyond funding, Innovate UK fosters partnerships by connecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with collaborators, research organisations, and investors. These networks help businesses scale, secure funding, and bring innovations to market.
Accelerator and ecosystem support
Innovate UK backs leading accelerator programmes and initiatives that provide mentorship, investment opportunities, and access to cutting-edge facilities.
Why is Innovate UK important for research and development?
Why do SMEs need Innovate UK?
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face unique challenges in accessing the resources necessary for successful research and development. While innovation is often at the core of their growth strategies, many SMEs struggle with limited budgets, insufficient access to expert networks, and a lack of visibility into broader industry or market trends. So, what does Innovate UK offer that SMEs can’t achieve alone?
Access to financial resources
R&D projects are inherently high-risk, requiring significant upfront investment without guaranteed returns. Many SMEs lack the internal capital or struggle to secure private funding. Innovate UK’s grants and competitions provide crucial financial support, allowing these businesses to pursue ambitious projects that might otherwise remain out of reach.
Strategic guidance
Innovation isn’t just about creating new products or services—it’s about strategically positioning them in the market. IUK offers expert advice, coaching, and connections to help SMEs navigate the complexities of R&D, from refining ideas to crafting commercialisation strategies.
Collaborative opportunities
Innovate UK fosters collaboration across universities, industry, and government, creating networks SMEs might struggle to access independently. These partnerships provide exposure to cutting-edge research, access to top talent, and opportunities to scale through joint ventures or co-development projects.
Overcoming systemic barriers
Many SMEs operate with limited knowledge of available resources, policy incentives, or best practices for R&D. Innovate UK bridges this gap by offering a centralised platform for innovation support, simplifying processes, and reducing administrative burdens.
Driving global competitiveness
On their own, SMEs may not have the bandwidth to identify or seize global market opportunities. Through its international funding schemes and partnerships, IUK empowers SMEs to scale beyond national borders, helping them compete on a global stage.
Top 15 Tech Startups in the UK
Regional analysis of Innovate UK funding
Innovate UK grant recipients in the past 12 months (since November 2023) have predominantly been registered in the country’s southern regions, namely London (529), the South East (253), the South West (155) and the East of England (175). Scotland has 137 companies that gained Innovate UK grants.
In contrast, Wales has had just 65 Innovate UK grant recipients, and Northern Ireland had the fewest with 58.
Overall since 2011, nearly 17k private UK companies have secured funding as part of Innovate UK innovation projects.
The biggest Innovate UK grants
Below, we’ve ranked the 10 ambitious businesses that have secured the biggest Innovate UK grants in the past 12 months.
Data for this ranking was collated on 25 November 2024.
10.
Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace
Date of grant: 1 January 2024
Amount received: £4.80m
Industry: Aircraft
Marshall Aerospace provides support services for mature military aircraft, from maintenance, repair, and overhaul to complex modifications and upgrades. The company partners with customers globally to ensure their fleets are mission-ready and mission-capable.
The grant was part of the HyFIVE Project (Hydrogen Storage, Conveyance, Fuelling, Indication and Venting). HyFIVE is a strategic industrial research programme to develop and test a smart, connected liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel system for the next generation of zero emission aircraft, led by a UK based consortium of major aerospace suppliers. The 4-year programme aims to grow the UK aerospace industry while responding to the government’s Net Zero Strategy carbon emission target for commercial aircraft by 2050
The company was incorporated in 1930 and has received four grants totalling £5.80m.
09.
ReFuels
Date of grant: 1 February 2024
Amount received: £5.27m
Industry: Freight and haulage, Renewable energy
ReFuels supplies renewable fuel for transport. This company is also trading as CNG Services Limited and CNG Fuels. It exited through an IPO in May 2023, and has since received a grant for £5.27m in February 2024.
This grant was awarded on behalf of the Hydrogen Aggregated UK Logistics (HyHAUL) project which included four other recipient companies.
In total the company has received two grants and gone through six funding rounds. It also hit our ESG signal for clean & renewable energy.
08.
TREAT-NMD
Date of grant: 1 January 2024
Amount received: £5.83m
Industry: Pharmaceuticals
TREAT-NMD is a global network of experts that accelerates the development of effective treatments and establishes best practices in diagnosis and care for people with neuromuscular diseases.
The grant for TREAT-NMD was awarded as part of the Patient Lifestyle and Disease Data Interactium project (PaLaDIn). Neuromuscular disease is at the forefront of collecting real-world demographic and clinically-relevant data from patients. PaLaDIn, a public private partnership, will leverage TREAT-NMD’s Global Registry Platform. This uses patient data to support clinical trial planning.
The company was established in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2019, and has received one grant for £5.83m at the beginning of 2024.
07.
Kuehne + Nagel
Date of grant: 1 January 2024
Amount received: £6.21m
Industry: Freight logistics
Kuehne + Nagel is a parent company that manages freight forwarding and logistics companies.
The grant came through the eFREIGHT 2030 project which includes 14 other participant companies. The project is set to create up to 200 new jobs by 2030 and provide Birmingham with one of the UK’s first electric vehicle charging hubs dedicated to HGVs.
This London-based company received a grant for £6.21m in January 2024— the fifth grant that the business has received.
06.
Goodrich Controls Holding
Date of grant: 1 March 2024
Amount received: £6.91m
Industry: Investment holding
Goodrich Controls Holding is an investment holding company for component manufacturing businesses within the aerospace industry. It has only received one grant, for £6.91m in March 2024. The company is based in the West Midlands.
The grant was awarded as part of Project IMPETuS, which will be a collaborative research programme, leading to TRL 6 demonstration of a scalable, modular, power-dense electric propulsion motor drive system (MDS) —which is aimed at hybrid/electric aircraft propulsion applications.
05.
ZeroAvia
Date of grant: 1 February 2024
Amount received: £7.84m
Industry: Aircraft
ZeroAvia develops and supplies hydrogen-electric engines for zero-emission flight, offering a range of powertrains and fueling solutions for the aviation industry.
The grant was awarded as part of the Advanced Fuel Cells for Aviation Decarbonisation project. The AFCAD (Advanced Fuel Cells for Aviation Decarbonisation) Project will deliver a critical technology for scaling zero-emission propulsion for the multi-billion dollar global regional aviation market.
This aerospace company was established in Wiltshire in 2018. In total the company has received 11 grants totalling £20.3m. It’s hit two of our ESG signals, one for clean & renewable energy and the other for environmental accolades.
04.
Voltempo
Date of grant: 1 January 2024
Amount received: £10.5m
Industry: Cars, motorcycles and other road vehicles
Voltempo develops chargers for electric vehicles. The company is based in Birmingham and was incorporated in 2019. It attended the Climate Innovation Platform accelerator programme in 2021.
The grant came through the eFREIGHT 2030 project.
In total the company has received seven grants and secured £60k in equity funding. It has also hit two of our ESG signals: environmental accolades and green transport.
03.
Maritime
Date of grant: 1 January 2024
Amount received: £10.7m
Industry: Automotive dealerships
Maritime offers a logistics service which includes the provision of container transport, freight management and warehousing.
The grant also came through the eFREIGHT 2030 project.
The company has featured on the Fast Track Top Track 250 twice, as well as the Fast Track Profit Track 100 in 2016. It also hit our 20% scaleup growth signal.
02.
Nova Innovation
Date of grant: 1 December 2023
Amount received: £11.2m
Industry: Manufacturing, Renewable energy
Nova Innovation designs, develops and manufactures tidal turbines used to convert tidal energy into power for the grid.
The grant was awarded to Nova Innovation through the SEASTAR project. Through the SEASTAR project, Nova Innovation will lead a world-class team to deliver a 4MW array of 16 tidal stream turbines at the EMEC Fall of Warness tidal site in Orkney. It’s the world’s first large tidal farm and it will contain more tidal turbines than are currently deployed worldwide.
The company is based in Edinburgh and was established in 2009. It’s received 16 grants in total and hit two of our ESG signals: clean & renewable energy and environmental accolades.
01.
GKN Aerospace
Date of grant: 1 July 2024
Amount received: £17.2m
Industry: Aircraft
GKN Aerospace creates and distributes a range of components and systems for the aerospace industry, including engines, fuel tanks and landing gear.
The grant they received was part of the Hybrid Hydrogen Flying cryoGenic tecHnology demonstraTor aka H2FlyGHT. The H2FlyGHT programme is led by a UK based consortium of major aerospace suppliers. The five year programme aims to grow the UK aerospace industry while responding to the government’s Net Zero Strategy carbon emission target for commercial aircraft by 2050.
This UK aircraft company was established as far back as 1759 but was officially incorporated in 1939. Since then the company has received a grand total of 75 grants. It has also been granted a patent, and hit our 20% scaleup high-growth signal.
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FAQs
Innovate UK is primarily funded by the UK Government through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), its parent organisation. UKRI is a non-departmental public body that receives its funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which is responsible for overseeing science and research policy in the UK.
The success rate for applying for an Innovate UK grant can vary depending on the specific funding competition, the sector, and the quality of applications in a given round. On average, success rates typically range between 10% and 30%, but these rates are influenced by the competitiveness of the program and the total number of applicants.
Innovate UK welcomes applications from a wide range of industries, particularly those that demonstrate potential for innovation, economic growth, and societal impact. While many funding competitions are open to all industries, others target specific industries or focus areas aligned with the UK Government’s innovation priorities.
