Investor Partnerships – Digital Technologies, North East: Rd 2

Overview

The aim of this competition is to provide you with support for research and development and access to the capital investment you need to develop and commercialise your innovations. 
You must have gained a level of traction with one of Innovate UK’s investor partners. They will be contacted by Innovate UK to confirm they are likely to make an offer of investment if you have a successful application to Innovate UK. 
Your proposal must have a clear route to market, a clear link to innovation and evidence that you can create a team to deliver your proposal.

You must demonstrate that if your project is funded, it will: 

• have significant market impact
• be scalable
• be attractive to equity investors

Scope

Your project must help to grow your innovation activities in the digital technology cluster in North East England, both during and after the project. 
For this competition, North East of England is defined by the geography of the North East Combined Authority which includes Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

This could be demonstrated by:

• your local innovation activities
• the value that your innovation activities create in the cluster
• your engagement with other innovation active organisations in the cluster, such as with Innovation SuperNetwork, this Launchpad’s cluster management organisation

Your application may be considered ineligible if you do not describe clearly how your main project activities and work packages meet the scope of this competition. This includes the main project activities of any subcontractors. If you do not describe how your activities in the cluster will continue after your project then you are unlikely to be offered funding in this competition. 
 
Your project must focus on digital technologies that can be applied in growing and emerging markets.

Growing or emerging markets, include but are not limited to: 

• advanced manufacturing
• agriculture and forestry
• automotive and transportation
• creative industries
• culture, tourism, leisure and sport
• green industries
• health
• offshore industries
• retail and town centre

You must be:

• registered in the UK as an SME by the time the award is contracted
• able to complete the aligned investment led by the investor partner needed to qualify for the award, through the issue of new shares or convertible debt

Key themes and topics

Projects can focus on one or more of the following:

Immersive technologies:

• extended reality
• digital twins
• games engines
• virtual production

Artificial intelligence: 

• data science
• machine learning
• neural networks
• computer vision
• robotics
• large language models
• quantum computing

This list is not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this competition you can focus on other themes.

Project duration

• last between 6 – 18 months
• not start before 1 September 2025
• end by 31 March 2026

Award value

For feasibility studies projects:

• your total project costs must be between £50,000 and £300,000 
• your project duration must be between 6 and 12 months 
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For industrial research projects: 

• your total project costs must be between £100,000 and £1 million
• your project duration must be between 6 and 12 months 

For experimental development projects:

• your total project costs must be between £250,000 and £2 million
• your project duration must be between 12 and 18 months.

Funding rates

You will receive Innovate UK grant funding only if you also receive a minimum level of aligned investment, led or catalysed by your investor partner. The minimum level of investment depends on your project’s research category. 
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Feasibility studies and industrial research projects:

For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, Innovate UK will fund: 

• up to 70% of eligible project costs for micro or small organisations
• up to 60% for medium sized organisations 

The aligned investment must always be at least equal to your grant funding request. 
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Experimental development projects

For experimental development projects Innovate UK will fund: 

• up to 45% of eligible project costs for micro or small organisations
• up to 35% for medium sized organisations 
  The aligned investment must always be at least twice as much as your grant funding request.

Eligibility criteria

• For SME applicants only
• Subcontractors must be UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs.