UK-Singapore CRD 2026

Overview

Innovate UK is investing up to £3 million in business-led collaborative R&D projects between UK and Singapore organisations.

The competition supports industrial research with a clear commercial opportunity. Projects must bring together UK and Singapore businesses, with both countries making a meaningful technological contribution to the collaboration.

Projects must focus on advanced manufacturing, clean energy, life sciences, or selected digital and frontier technologies.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to fund business-led collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research.

Projects must focus on one of the following sectors:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Clean Energy
• Life Sciences
• Digital and Technologies, specifically frontier technologies including Semiconductors, Quantum, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Advanced Connectivity Technologies and Engineering Biology

Innovate UK intends to fund a variety of projects across different technologies through a portfolio approach.

The project must demonstrate a balanced technological contribution from participants in both countries and must be equally significant to all participants.

Proposals must demonstrate a clear intention to commercially exploit the project results domestically or globally.

Key themes and topics

Projects must focus on one of the following themes:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Clean Energy
• Life Sciences
• Digital and Technologies, specifically Semiconductors, Quantum, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Advanced Connectivity Technologies and Engineering Biology

Projects will not be funded if they:

• do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
• do not submit all mandatory documentation
• request less than £100,000 from Innovate UK
• request more than £900,000 from Innovate UK
• do not have an eligible Singapore partner
• pose a risk to the UK’s national security, economic security or strategic interests
• are dependent on export performance
• are dependent on using a set percentage of UK components in their product

Project duration

24 to 36 months

Must start on 1 May 2027

End by 30 April 2030

Award value

Grant funding request between £100,000 and £900,000

Funding rates

For industrial research projects, purposeful research that builds new knowledge and skills to improve or develop products, processes or services, often through prototypes or system components that validate ideas in realistic settings, funding is available for eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if the applicant is a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if the applicant is a medium-sized organisation
• up to 50% if the applicant is a large organisation

Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs.

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size
• Projects must include at least one Singapore registered business applying through the equivalent Enterprise Singapore programme. The Singapore business must be a separate legal entity and not linked to the UK partners
• UK collaborators can be a UK registered business of any size; an academic institution; or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Subcontractors must be UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs and cannot account for more than 20% of the total eligible costs of the UK participation
• The majority of project work must be carried out within the UK and Singapore
• UK partners must intend to exploit the results from or in the UK and spend most of the UK funding within the UK
• Subsidy control and state aid rules apply