Smart Grants & Business Funding

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Smart Grants are so important to UK Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) that they get their own page in our Grants section.

Smart grant competitions are run quarterly and allow any UK registered organisation to apply for a share of up to £25 million for game-changing and commercially viable research and development (R&D) innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy.

They are open to single applicants and collaborations. However, to lead a project your organisation must:

be a UK registered business or a UK registered research and technology organization
be or involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprisec
carry out all your R&D project activity in the UK
intend to commercially exploit the project results from the UK

The closing date for entries are generally the middle of January, April, July and October, so even if you’ve just missed a deadline, you won’t have long to wait.

A significant number of our R&D Tax Relief customers are already benefitting from SMART grant funding that they have received. If you are interested in a funding opportunity, contact us to discuss your project.

Smart Grants FAQs

How do I win with my Smart Grant application?: Every application is scored by a panel of judges, not every application is scored by the same panel. The winners are those with the best scores. It is a competition so the chances of success are dependent upon the number and quality of other applicants. To have the best chance of having one of the highest score you need to ensure that you application is as comprehensive and well written and researched.
How much funding can I apply for in my Smart Grant?: It depends on the size and the length of your project. The current guidelines state that if your project runs for 6 to 18 months then your total project costs will have to be between £100k and £500k and can be from a single applicant or be collaborative. If your project is going to run between 18 months and 3 years then your total project costs will have to be between £100k and £2m and must be collaborative.
Will my Smart Grant cover all of my costs?: Put simply, no! It depends on your company’s size and how far advanced your project is.

Business Size Feasibility and Industrial Research Experimental Development close to “go to market”

Micro/Small (1-50 employees) 70% 45%

Medium (50 – 250 employees) 60% 35%

Large (>250 employees) 50% 25%
When should we apply for a Smart Grant?: We’ve worked with companies who have applied for a Smart Grant to fund their first project and some who have seen their project evolve from a Feasibility project through an Industrial Research project and are now on a final Experimental Development project prior to go to market. The only thing to bear in mind is that you shouldn’t start a particular element of your project until the funding is secured.
I know it’s a competition but what happens if we don’t win?: You can apply for the same project twice. Most applications fail as it is a very competitive process and only the highest scoring projects win. However, many grants succeed on their second application. All bids receive feedback, so if your initial application narrowly missed out, then we can use that feedback to improve the quality of the application and cover any areas considered weak by the original assessors. The success of the second submission will depend on the quality of the other applicants in the next round of funding, it may be weaker, it may be stronger.
Who are Innovate UK?: In essence they are the UK Governments quasi funding body for research and development. You can find out more about them here!

Book a FREE 15 Minute Call

We’ve found that an initial 15-minute phone call is normally sufficient for us to determine whether there is some potential in a project. Choose a date and time to schedule in your free, no obligation call with our experts.

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Client Testimonials

We saved £64k with R&D tax relief. Simon is brilliant. He scores 10 out of 10!

Louise Smith

Director, OSET Bikes UK Limited

You really need a specialist for R&D tax relief. Simon saved us £140k+

Stephen Bull

Finance Director, Barth-Haas UK Ltd

You really need a specialist for R&D tax relief. Simon saved us £140k+

Max Windheuser

Director, Evinox Energy Ltd

As a start-up with a unique mobile app, saving £8k+ in tax is a big deal.

Joel Burgess

Founder & CEO, Nutrifix

Does my Business Qualify?

The simplest definition of R&D is when a company looks for an advance in science or technology. This is deliberately broad and it means it can be interpreted to include the development of physical technologies as well as software.

In order to get R&D tax relief for a technology project, you will need to show in your claim that your company looked for an advance, had to overcome an uncertainty, took steps to overcome this uncertainty, and that this work couldn’t have been achieved easily by someone in your industry.

It only takes 15 minutes to find out if you are eligible for R&D Tax Credits – why not book in a call today?

Smart Grants & Business Funding

Smart Grants FAQs

Book a FREE 15 Minute Call

Client Testimonials

Does my Business Qualify?

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Business Size	Feasibility and Industrial Research	Experimental Development close to “go to market”
Micro/Small (1-50 employees)	70%	45%
Medium (50 – 250 employees)	60%	35%
Large (>250 employees)	50%	25%