Knowledge Assets Grant Fund: Explore, Expand, Extend

The Knowledge Asset Grant Fund (KAGF) programme is run by the Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOTT) and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The programme has £13 million funding available over 3 years with £2.9 million allocated to this financial year.

Innovate UK are administering this competition using their online competition platform on behalf of GOTT.

The aim of this competition is to support the identification and development of public sector knowledge assets, including their repurposing, commercialisation or expanded use. These assets may include intellectual property, data, innovation, software and knowhow. This competition is split into 3 strands:

• Knowledge Assets Grant Fund: Explore – for projects with costs of up to £25,000
• Knowledge Assets Grant Fund: Expand – for projects with costs of between £25,001 to £100,000
• Knowledge Assets Grant Fund: Extend – for projects with costs of between £100,001 to £250,000

It is your responsibility to ensure you are applying to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application and it will not be sent for assessment if it does not meet the eligibility criteria.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. We strongly recommend watching the video explaining the eligibility and scope criteria, submitting your application, your finances, assessment and what happens if you are successful.

You can submit your application for assessment at any time before 11am UK time on the final submission date stated. Applications submitted before 18th August or 13th October will be notified of the results as follows:

• 18 August 2022 – First submission (notifications on 26 September)
• 13 October 2022 – Second submission (notifications on 28 November)
• 15 December 2022 – Final submission date (notifications on 30 January 2023)

An online Q&A event will be held on 20th July at 3pm: click here for the joining link.

Eligibility

Projects can start from 1st October 2022 and can last 2-18 months (all 3 strands).

To lead a project your organisation must be:

• a UK public sector organisation
• headed by an Accounting Officer responsible for upholding Managing Public Money (MPM)
• the primary beneficiary of any revenue-generating potential created by the funded activities

This includes but is not limited to:

• central UK government departments,
• non-departmental public bodies (NDPB)
• arm’s length bodies
• public sector research establishments (PSREs)
• NHS trusts

Your organisation must have approval from a Senior Civil Servant or equivalent, with the appropriate budget delegation from their accounting officer, up to and including the value of the grant being sought.

A public sector organisation can lead on any number of applications for different projects. Academic institutions cannot lead.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support the identification and development of public sector knowledge assets which includes their repurposing, commercialisation or expanded use. These assets may include, intellectual property, data, innovation, software and knowhow.

Your proposal must test your Knowledge Asset’s potential for expanded or alternative use and, where relevant, provide the foundation for further investment.

The Knowledge Asset Grant Fund will support projects which are not suitable to secure investment from private sources. For example, this could be where funding is required to develop an asset to be used across different organisations within government which usually do not collaborate.

The funding can be used for discrete projects or may contribute to a specific stage in asset development.

You must have a clear output evidenced at the end of the funded activities, such as the progression to a new development stage, a report, or prototype

If you are unsure if your project is eligible, email GrantFund.GOTT@beis.gov.uk and the team can advise.