Innovation Funding Round-up – April 2020
8 April 2020
In an effort to support business product development, and business collaborations with public, academic and charitable organisations, a significant amount of grant funding is currently available. Here are links to funding specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as additional innovation funding calls.
Coronavirus Funding
£20m for Business-led innovation in response to global disruption (de minimis)
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £20 million to respond to new and urgent needs in UK and global communities during and following the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Competition opens: Friday 3 April 2020
- Competition closes: Friday 17 April 2020 12:00pm
Click here for more information.
Business-led innovation in response to global disruption Zoom Briefing
Click here to listen to the 30-minute webinar.
LifeArc: £10m fund for the development and testing of COVID-19 therapeutics
Applications are welcomed from academics, NHS employees or companies that have therapeutics that could be repurposed or repositioned for use in COVID-19 patients. This fund is focusing on the identification and rapid deployment of drugs that are generic, already licensed, or are in late stage development.
Click here for more information.
Defence and Security Accelerator Open Call: COVID-19 Rapid Sanitising Technology
Proposals are currently welcomed for technologies able to develop and demonstrate rapid sanitising, for use in ambulances. Products which are already available on the market will not be considered. Projects typically range from £50,000-£100,000 and last up to 3 months. The deadline for application is 28 May.
Click here for more information.
IBM Call for Code Challenge
Call for Code asks innovators to create practical, effective and high-quality applications that can have immediate and lasting impact on humanitarian issues (including mitigating the impact of COVID-19). The call is open until 31 July and the Grand Prize winner will receive $200,000 cash alongside a range of other prizes.
Additional funding for COVID-19 R&D projects can be found here:
- The University of Oxford COVID-19 research and funding opportunities
- The Institute for Manufacturing round-up of ways companies can help
Last Minute Funding: Top Three Calls
- The latest round of Innovate UK Smart Grant funding is still open for bids, with grants available for projects ranging from £25,000 to £2,000,000. The Smart Grant funding is an open call, supporting disruptive R&D innovations that can make a significant impact on the UK economy. The closing date for applications is 22 April and more information can be found here.
- Digital security funding is currently available for demonstrator projects looking to radically update the foundation of the UK’s insecure digital computing infrastructure. UK businesses can apply for up to £5.8 million to collaborate with other organisations. The funding is open until 15 April and more information can be found here.
- UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £4 million for collaborative R&D projects addressing major cyber security challenges in the Internet of Things. The closing date for applications is 15 April, and more information can be found here.
Information of further funding available via Innovate UK can be found here.