Contracts for Innovation: cyber scale in critical sectors

Overview

Innovate UK is investing up to £3.5 million through a Contracts for Innovation competition to support cyber security solutions in critical sectors.

This programme is designed for organisations with technologies at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 that are ready to demonstrate real-world impact. Unlike traditional grants, funding is provided as a procurement contract, meaning projects must deliver defined R&D services and outcomes.

Projects will focus on deploying and testing solutions within live operational environments. The goal is to validate market fit, refine solutions through user feedback, and build a strong commercialisation case. By the end of the project, organisations are expected to have demonstrated real-world value and developed a clear route to scale.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support cyber security organisations in their growth efforts by demonstrating the operation and value of innovative solutions in real world environments within critical sector organisations.

Funding is targeted at organisations with solutions at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 and strong potential to commercialise and scale.

Projects must:

• work closely with potential end users and customers in critical sectors
• deploy and operate solutions in a real operational environment
• progress solutions to Technology Readiness Level 8 or above
• demonstrate user acceptability and market fit
• improve solutions based on end user feedback
• complete a business plan and commercialisation case study

Projects must also:

• address cyber security challenges within critical sector organisations
• establish a credible route to market
• capture success metrics and develop use cases for future commercialisation
• understand applicable standards and regulatory requirements

Key themes and topics

Projects must focus on one or more of the following challenges:

• proactive cyber security defence of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) systems, including operation and incident response
• advanced solutions for detecting and removing sophisticated cyber threats from CNI networks
• innovative threat hunting solutions for critical sector organisations
• solutions addressing vulnerabilities in legacy CNI systems

Projects must target one or more of the following critical sectors:

• chemicals
• communications
• emergency services
• energy
• food
• health
• space
• transport
• water

Projects will not be funded if they:

• are not original or duplicate existing work
• cannot be demonstrated in a real or operational environment
• focus on frameworks, methodologies or consultancy services
• do not have a clear cyber security application within critical sectors

Project duration

12 months

Must start on 1 September 2026

End by 31 August 2027

Award value

Contract value of up to £300,000 (inclusive of VAT)

Funding rates

100% funded

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be led by an organisation of any size
• Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only
• Subcontractors must be UK-based and can be used only for specialist skills. All core project work and key deliverables must be delivered by the lead organisation
• All project work must be carried out within the UK
• You must confirm whether you are VAT registered before entering project costs
• If VAT registered, enter costs excluding VAT. Total project costs including VAT must not exceed £300,000
• If not VAT registered, enter costs excluding VAT and total project costs must not exceed £300,000

Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration, prototyping and field testing