The new year is just around the corner but grant funding deadlines don’t freeze for winter.
This is our first Catax Grant Tour for 2023, covering the first three months of the year.
This time there are nine grant competitions to consider, covering fashion, aviation, self-driving cars and much more.
If any of these grant calls stand out to you, then get in touch with us — winning grant applications can take months to prepare but can be transformative for businesses.
Maximum grant value: £22,000
Deadline: 11th January 2023
This competition aims to accelerate the shift to a net zero economy by reducing energy demands and carbon emissions from buildings. Projects must take a data-driven approach to finding ways of decarbonising buildings and improving heat efficiency. For this phase of the competition, applicants must outline their approach, identify supply chain and building portfolio partners, and outline how the service could eventually be commercialised.
2. Grant: UKRI Circular fashion programme: recycling and sorting demonstrator
Maximum grant value: £4 million
Deadline: 11th January 2023
Collaborative projects are wanted to develop and demonstrate a way to reduce the proportion of post-consumer fashion and textiles sent to landfill, destroyed or exported. Projects should also aim to increase the market value of processed post-consumer fashion and textiles. UK businesses of any size can apply, but they must collaborate with other UK organisations, including one SME, an academic institution and one relevant trade association.
3. Grant: Helping SMEs innovate in aerospace
Maximum grant value: £300,000
Deadline: 11th January 2023
Funding will help SMEs to develop innovative aerospace technologies that align with the UK Aerospace Technology Strategy, ‘Destination Zero’. Projects must focus on either zero-carbon tailpipe emissions, improving energy efficiency in aircraft technologies or finding ways to extend the aircraft lifecycle from design, through manufacture and assembly, operation, and end of life. SMEs must collaborate with other UK registered organisations to be eligible.
4. Grant: Innovation Loans Future Economy Competition
Maximum value: £2 million
Deadline: 11th January 2023
UK-registered businesses can apply for loans for late-stage R&D projects that have commercial potential and could significantly improve the UK economy. Projects should focus on one or more themes, including net zero, health and wellbeing, next generation digital technologies or other technologies including AI, genomics, robotics and many more.
5. Grant: Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility: Supply Chain
Maximum grant value: £2 million
Deadline: 11th January 2023
This competition focuses on the development of commercial self-driving vehicles, helping the UK supply chain grow and filling the technological gaps necessary to their deployment. Projects should look to improve the safety and security of these vehicles, improve performance and reliability, and consider scale-up opportunities both in the UK and globally. Businesses of any size can apply, but they must work with at least one other UK-registered organisation.
6. Grant: Innovate UK Smart Grants
Maximum grant value: £2 million
Deadline: 18th January 2023
Applicants developing disruptive innovations that have the potential to generate rapid economic returns for the UK and can be quickly taken to market can apply for Smart Grants. Applications can relate to any area of technology, and any part of the economy, such as net zero, health and wellbeing, the arts, design and media. SME applicants are allowed to work on projects alone. UK businesses of any size or RTOs can also apply but they must collaborate with an SME.
7. Grant: Future flight: closing the skills gaps
Maximum grant value: £50,000
Deadline: 1st February 2023
The future flight challenge wants to develop initiatives that tackle skill gaps in the UK aviation industry. The purpose is to build awareness of emerging markets in flight and fill gaps in the UK workforce’s talent and training capabilities. Projects can focus on school engagement, apprenticeships and internships, upskilling the current workforce, vocational training or undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development.
8. Grant: DCMS Create Growth Fund: Competition 1
Maximum grant value: £30,000
Deadline: 8th February 2023
Grants are available to SMEs and micro businesses in the creative sector in Greater Manchester, the West of England, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, Essex, East, West Sussex and the North East of England. The funding is designed to help creative businesses explore new innovation projects that have a route to commercialisation.
9. Grant: Creative Catalyst 2023
Maximum grant value: £50,000
Deadline: 15th February 2023
This competition is open to SMEs and micro businesses in the creative industries, with the aim of helping them grow. Applicants should have a clearly innovative and ambitious idea that could create a new revenue stream. Proposals that are particularly encouraged are those that support the fashion industry’s transition to a circular model, improve transparency and accountability in online advertising, or create new revenue streams and fan engagement activities in the music sector. Projects that demonstrate how advanced digital technologies, including Metaverse, blockchain and AI, can transform the publishing sector are also encouraged.