Smart is Innovate UK’s responsive grant funding programme. It has focused eligibility criteria and scope to support SMEs and their partners to develop disruptive innovations with significant potential for rapid economic return to the UK.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £25 million in the best game-changing and world-leading ideas, designed for swift, successful commercialisation. Ideas need to be genuinely new and novel, not just disruptive within their sector.

Your proposal must be business focused, with deliverable, realistic, adequately resourced plans to achieve return on investment, growth and market share following project completion.

Questions for this round of Smart reflect the importance of obtaining economic benefits from public funding, and the potential for successful commercialisation, growth and exports.

Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy, such as, but not exclusively, net zero, the arts, design and media.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a highly competitive process where your chance of success in securing funding will depend on the number and quality of applications submitted.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated.

If your application does not meet the eligibility criteria for this competition it will not be sent for assessment.

Your project

Your project must:

• start by 1 October 2023
• end by 30 September 2026
• include at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) as the lead or a collaborative grant claiming partner
• follow specific rules dependent on its duration
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

The end by date is the date by which all funding for this round of the competition must end. Your contracted project end date will not be extended.

If your project’s duration is 6 to 18 months, it must:

• have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £500,000
• be single or collaborative

If your project’s duration is 19 to 36 months, it must:

• have total eligible project costs between £100,000 and £2 million
• be collaborative

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian and Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian and Belarusian source.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered SME if you want to work alone
• be a UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO) if collaborative
• include at least one grant claiming SME if you are a large business or RTO and wish to collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, academic organisations, public sector organisations or charities
• claim grant funding

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

Funding