Fast Start: Innovation for net zero and healthcare

Innovate UK is offering small and micro businesses a share of up to £30 million in grants alongside tailored business support delivered by Innovate UK EDGE. You can apply for up to £50,000 for highly innovative ideas that have a clear route to commercialisation through business growth.

Your project must lead to new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of others currently available, or propose an innovative use of existing products, processes or services. It can also involve a new or innovative business model.

Your idea must focus on either achieving net zero or self-driven healthcare, and how new technology can enable affordable, adoptable and investable innovations in these areas. We are particularly interested in proposals which will help you:

• develop both your idea and your business
• create a new revenue stream
• evidence and enable your market, funding and commercialisation plans
• show what’s feasible, helping you decide whether to pursue your idea further
• catalyse further innovation on your path to commercial success
• respond to changing market conditions

Your project must:

• have total project costs between £25,000 and £50,000
• start by 1 November 2022
• end by 30 April 2023
• last between 3 and 6 months in duration
• carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. If you exceed the total project costs of £50,000 you will be ineligible and your application will not be sent for assessment.

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered micro or small business
• not have previously been awarded funding from Innovate UK
• not have exceeded your £315,000 limit of de minimis or minimal financial assistance funding during the current and previous 2 fiscal years

You can only apply into this competition with 1 application. We will only award grant funding to 1 project per business. You can be a subcontractor in any number of applications.

The aim of this competition is to provide a package of targeted support to enable ambitious UK registered micro and small businesses to reach their potential.

Scope

Your proposal must demonstrate how one or more of the seven technology areas outlined in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy UK innovation Strategy will be applied to the specific challenge themes outlined below. The seven technologies are:

• advanced materials and manufacturing
• AI, digital and advanced computing
• bioinformatics and genomics
• engineering biology
• electronics, photonics and quantum
• energy and environment technologies
• robotics and smart machines

Your project must focus on how one or more of the seven technology areas outlined above, can enable affordable, adoptable, and investible solutions for either:

Achieving net zero and reducing environmental impact through:

• user-centric low carbon heating and cooling solutions
• energy generation, storage, management, and active user engagement approaches to energy efficiency
• zero emission powertrain system development, and digital solutions to optimise transport
• environmentally focused manufacturing, supply chains and circular economy solutions

Self-driven healthcare, de-centralised healthcare and mental wellbeing through:

• prevention and self-management of lifestyle diseases using personalised, intuitive, consumer focused and accessible innovations
• maximising the utility, safety and security of personal health records, including self-generated data
• assessing new business models and routes to market for products and services related to self-care and self-management
• developing innovations that support self-management of mental wellbeing

Innovate UK have pre-recorded a briefing for potential applicants, and there will also be Q&A sessions at 10am on 12th and 18th July. Click here to view the recorded briefing and access Zoom links for the Q&A sessions.