What is Innovate UK?

Innovation is essential to build a thriving economy and help address societal and environmental challenges. 

It is however, not without its challenges, and smaller businesses across the UK can often find themselves looking for support to help make their ambitions a reality, which is the role that Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, can play.

In this article, we’ve collaborated with Innovate UK to outline how the organisation can support smaller businesses across the UK.

What is Innovate UK?

Innovate UK is at the forefront of the effort to drive sustainable business growth through technological advancement in the UK. 

Offering business support, community building, and finance and funding, Innovate UK enables and derisks pioneering research and development. 

Whether a start-up, spin-out, or a growing company, Innovate UK exists to support business innovation and streamline the journey to growth and scale.

What does Innovate UK offer?

Innovate UK sits at the centre of a system that works in sync. 

The offer takes in access to infrastructure, for example through the Catapult centres, expertise, and an ability to connect innovators to the UK’s first-class science base and capital, through Investor Partners and direct funding offers. 

Getting the right help, from the right place, at the right time, can be the difference between having an idea, and turning that idea into a successful UK business. 

Innovate UK’s job is to make sure its communities are informed, connected, and supported to take full advantage of the opportunities it offers.

Business-led innovation

While Innovate UK has an established reputation in providing grants, its influence and services are far more diverse and far more wide-reaching. 

A challenge for many innovators is making the leap from academia to business leadership. 

To help those looking to make that shift and learn how to build an innovation-led business, Innovate UK offers its ICURe programme, designed to assist in refining and validating business potential. 

The grants made available by Innovate UK often also help innovators find further value in private-led investment. 

Innovate UK’s Investor Partnerships combines the power of public funding with the strategic and financial value of private investment to help businesses grow and scale. 

So far, £1.25 billion in private finance has been leveraged against just over £100 million of public investment. 

Even businesses making the transition from later stage research and development to early commercialisation can benefit, with Innovate UK’s Innovation Loans offering debt finance of up to £2 million to take on innovation and early market risk. 

By encouraging business-led innovation, public funding investments are made to work harder, whilst derisking the projects and increasing the chance of successful outcomes.

Global ambition

As well as investing and supporting innovative ideas in the UK, Innovate UK also works with UK-based businesses seeking to expand and grow internationally. 

One key offering is access and help to unlock funding through Horizon Europe; the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme, of which the UK is an associate member. 

Eureka is another international programme and a network of 47 countries who share similar goals and provide funding to organisations with innovative projects, with a strong focus on inter-country collaboration.

For companies looking to do business with a specific country, or gain market insight, Innovate UK’s Global Expert Missions provide the opportunity to meet with potential partners. 

Typically, these missions involve sending a small cohort of UK companies to a strategically chosen country to engage with local stakeholders and find new markets and partners to do business with. 

These missions help companies to refine their value propositions and develop actionable plans to expand internationally.

Building a skills pipeline

Investment is essential for growth, but there is also an urgent need to transform our skills and talent pipeline in the UK to fuel our future productivity and prosperity. 

There are many opportunities out there, offered not only by Innovate UK, but from hundreds of partner organisations. 

However, finding the right one can be challenging. 

With this in mind, Innovate UK and its partners created the No Limits platform, an easily accessible hub that provides customised opportunities based on the unique user, helping people make informed decisions about where to go next.

Of course, it is equally crucial to equip people with the skills necessary, not only for today’s jobs but also for those of the future. 

Innovate UK’s Skills Foresighting Hub is a new initiative which brings together technologists, businesses, and education leaders to coalesce around upcoming innovation challenges and set out the skills systems needed for the UK in years to come.

What products are services are available to help SMEs?

Innovate UK offers a broad portfolio of products and services, each designed to meet a specific business need, and strategically deployed at various stages of the lifecycle of a business. 

Some examples of how Innovate UK helps are through the following:

Innovate UK Innovation Loans 

Flexible and patient capital to support business growth and late-stage R&D. 

Successful applicants must demonstrate a clear route to commercial success and economic impact.

Since 2017, Innovate UK has committed £206 million leading to £346 million in added turnover and 4,000 new jobs created.

Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Three-way partnerships to connect UK businesses with academic institutions, enabling graduates to work on projects which drive innovation and competitiveness. 

Partly funded by Innovate UK, KTP’s bridge academia and business while providing real-world experience for emerging talent. 

The programme turns 50 next year! 

Learn more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with our guide.

Innovate UK Business Growth

A fully funded, sector-agnostic business growth and scaling service, providing one-to-one advisory support from over 400 growth specialists located across the whole of the UK. 

Examples of support provided includes clarifying growth objectives and strategy, and focussing on areas such as intellectual property, funding, finance, and international markets and partnerships.

Innovate UK Catapult Network

Bricks and mortar innovation centres to bridge the gap between research and business. 

Catapults remove barriers to commercialisation and support innovative businesses to grow and scale in the UK and internationally. 

The nine Catapults are: 

• High-Value Manufacturing
• Energy Systems
• Offshore Renewable Energy
• Digital
• Cell and Gene Therapy
• Compound Semiconductors
• Satellite Applications
• Medicines Discovery
• Connected Places.

Further support available for businesses from Innovate UK

These products and services only scratch the surface of the potential opportunities to engage. 

There are so many other ways including:

• Commercial and Investment readiness programmes
• Cybersecurity accelerators
• Public sector procurement
• Innovation networks
• Building supply chains
• EDI programmes
• Innovation matchmaking 
• Analysis for innovators
• Innovation strategy tools.

How can businesses get involved? 

A good starting point is Innovate UK Business Connect, Innovate UK’s network partner. 

Its role within the system is to connect innovators with new partners and new opportunities beyond their existing thinking – accelerating ambitious ideas into real-world solutions. 

One of the many ways Innovate UK Business Connect engages with businesses is through its comprehensive events programme, recognising the need to bring people together to network, make introductions and facilitate new business opportunities. 

Many events are available in-person, or online, giving flexibility for participation. 

Find out what’s coming up via the Innovate UK Business Connect website. 

You can also get in touch with Innovate UK’s team of regional managers, whose role is to build local networks, promote regional innovation and support business growth. 

They can help you find local help in your area and provide access to other parts of the Innovate UK system of support.

What impact is Innovate UK having? 

Since 2007, Innovate UK has invested in over 24,600 projects involving over 20,500 unique organisations.

Annually it connects around 300,000 people, businesses, and organisations. 

This influence is making a difference with a typical Innovate UK backed business raising 30% more money from the private sector than similar businesses.

For every £1 invested, the UK economy sees a direct benefit of £3.61 according to the most recent independent evaluation. 

Since 2007, more than 150,000 jobs have been created with the support of Innovate UK. 

Innovate UK works across all technology sectors and whether you are a sole entrepreneur, pre-seed, early stage, growth stage, or established innovator scaling up your business, Innovate UK Business Connect expertise is uniquely placed to help you identify the right support and services for your innovation journey.

You can find out more by visiting the Innovate Uk Business Connect website.