Funding competition

Next Wave: Breakthrough Wave 1

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £10 million for industrial research projects to explore industrial strategy aligned Createch innovation. This funding is from Innovate UK.

• Competition opens: Tuesday 23 June 2026
• Competition closes: Tuesday 11 August 2026 11:00am

This competition is now closed.

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Competition sections

• Summary
• Eligibility
• Scope
• Dates
• How to apply
• Supporting information

Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £10 million in successful applicants in this competition. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

The aim of this competition is to support early stage innovation in the intersection of high growth potential Createch and the Industrial Strategy Frontier industries. This funding is to develop innovations beyond proof of concept, de-risking future investment and supporting long term sector growth.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.

Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 10% chance of success.

We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny.

We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £100,000 and £500,000.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

• have total costs between £100,000 and £500,000
• last between 9 and 12 months
• start by 1 January 2027
• end by 31 December 2027

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs.

If your project’s total costs or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will then decide whether to approve your request.

If your project does not meet our criteria and you have not requested justification approval, your application will be made ineligible and it will not be sent for assessment.

Lead organisation

To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.

To work alone your organisation must be a UK registered SME.

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

Academic institutions and RTOs cannot lead or work alone.

Organisations that are not profit driven or do not have a commercial focus, including Community Interest Companies (CICs) and charities, are not allowed to lead in this competition.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

To be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must:

• apply for funding when entering their costs into the application
• include rationale for the collaboration and describe the structure in your application
• ensure any one partner does not account for more than 70% of the total eligible costs

Non-funded partners

Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Subcontractor costs must not be more than 50% of the total project costs.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Number of applications

A business can only lead on one application. Any further applications by the same business as lead will be made ineligible.

A business that is leading an application can be included as a collaborator in two further applications and if not leading, can collaborate in up to three applications.

An academic institution, research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit or public sector organisation can be collaborators on three applications.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You cannot use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, you cannot reapply with this proposal.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project
• an overdue independent accountant’s report
• failed to comply with award terms and conditions

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.

The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here: SC10780.

This is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £10 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

Under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route rules, no more than £3 million can be awarded in the form of a grant to any one enterprise in any one competition.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

For industrial research projects, you can get grant funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

For more information on company sizes, refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Research participation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 30% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation
• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you an academic institution

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

1. Research organisations must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method as the Je-S form has now been decommissioned.
2. We pay 100% of the 80% Full Economic Cost (FEC). On IFS only enter the 80% being claimed.

To find out more see our: Cost Guidance for Academics.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to support early stage innovation in the intersection of high growth potential Createch and the Industrial Strategy Frontier industries. This funding is to develop innovations beyond proof of concept, de-risking future investment and supporting long term sector growth.

Your project must:

• be from the frontier industries as set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan
• focus on innovation in high growth commercial digital platforms and services
• demonstrate a clearly innovative and ambitious idea, addressing an industry challenge and unlocking significant growth
• be a significant improvement on what is currently on offer in your existing business, with a demonstrable impact to your growth plan
• create a new revenue stream, for example, new products, services or IP
• be market ready within 12 months of project completion
• demonstrate value for money
• consider its potential positive social and environmental impacts

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies and frontier industries. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on commercial digital platforms and services in one of the following frontier industries:

• video games
• advertising and marketing
• film and TV
• music, performing and visual arts

We welcome cross sector applications that combine one or more of the frontier industries with other creative industries sectors. For example, podcasting draws on technologies, business models and creative practices from both the Music and Publishing sectors.

We welcome entries from design businesses with createch innovation contributing to any of the four frontier sectors.

If your project spans a frontier industry and another creative industry sector or design innovation, contact us before starting your application. We will be able to confirm whether your project is within scope and eligible for support under this competition.

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

• are not led by a UK registered micro, small or medium sized business
• have total project costs in excess of £500,000 or below £100,000
• attribute more than 50% of their costs to subcontractors
• are not within the frontier industries of the creative industries outlined in the Creative Sector Plan
• include sectors such as construction, education, tourism, manufacturing, healthcare or immersive, without clear links to a relevant frontier industry
• come from organisations that are not profit driven or do not have a commercial focus, including Community Interest Companies (CICs) and charities
• commission content, for example, a new festival, game, or film, that do not have an innovative edge to the way your company usually addresses new projects
• are commissioning business as usual (BAU) activities
• lack evidence that their proposed innovation is expected to lead to significant and positive economic impact, or that value for money will be achieved
• are content and not R&D, for example, podcasts, informational only websites, networking platforms, courses, retreats, training
• include physical construction or infrastructure, for example, studio, workspace, hub, deli
• are for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products
• create secondary funding, for example, grant programmes, accelerators, awards
• are developing internal workflow tools that do not benefit the wider ecosystem
• are developing social networking sites or community groups
• do not support the creative industries

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country
• dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product

Timeline

• 23 June 2026: Competition opens
• 3 July 2026: Online briefing event at 10am: watch the recording (The briefing slides are available to download from Supporting Information.)
• 11 August 2026 11:00am: Competition closes
• 1 October 2026: Applicants notified
• 1 January 2027: Project start by

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct
• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria
• all sections of the application are marked as complete
• if collaborative, that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1. Project details.
2. Application questions.
3. Finances.
4. Project Impact.

Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Application team Decide which organisations will work with you on your project and invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 7. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored) You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored) Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing? You must select one option:

• Yes
• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored) Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project? We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes
• No
• In the process of being applied for
• Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored) Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement? You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored) You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance. You must select one option:

• Yes
• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored) You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research
• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications
• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Question 7. Frontier industry (not scored) Select one main theme from the specific themes list in the ‘Scope’ section that your project is most closely aligned to. You cannot choose more than one.

• video games
• advertising and marketing
• film and TV