Dates:
Competition opens: 2 May 2025
Competition closes: 2 July 2025, 11:00 am
Applicants notified: 31 July 2025
Project start date: From 1 November 2025 (must start on the 1st of the month)
Project duration: Feasibility study: 6–12 months; Industrial research: 6–24 months; Experimental development: 12–24 months
Scope & Specific Themes
This pilot under the Innovate UK Growth Catalyst aims to support late-stage start-ups (seed to Series A) developing innovative clean energy and climate technologies. Projects must:
- Demonstrate a clear route to market and team capability
- Include aligned private investment from an approved investor partner (full investor partners list here)
- Deliver scalable, high-impact innovations attractive to equity investors
- Align to the UK’s net zero goals, addressing emissions in:
- Clean energy (e.g. offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear, fusion, system flexibility, energy storage)
- Mobility (e.g. electrification and alternative fuels, smart logistics, connected and automated transport, decarbonising freight)
- Manufacturing & materials (e.g. circularity, energy/resource efficiency, industrial biotech, sustainable materials, carbon capture)
- Agriculture & food systems (e.g. methane reduction, precision or regenerative agriculture, low-emission fertilisers, alternative proteins, cultivated meat)
Projects that will not be funded
- Projects without confirmed engagement and investment traction from an approved investor partner
- Projects not aligned with clean energy or climate tech priorities
- Projects involving any sanctioned entity or country
- Projects that have previously failed to exploit Innovate UK funding or breached grant terms.
Eligibility
- The project total cost must be: Feasibility study £50,000 – £300,000; Industrial research £100,000 – £1 million; Experimental development £250,000 – £2 million.
- Lead applicant must be a UK-registered SME only (single applicant, no consortium)
- Must secure aligned investment from an Innovate UK-approved investor partner before applying:
- Feasibility/Industrial research: Investment must match grant
- Experimental development: Investment must be at least twice the grant
- Only one application per SME in this round and work and exploitation must take place in the UK
- Subcontractors are allowed from the UK; overseas subcontractors permitted with strong justification
Funding Rates
| Project Type | Organisation Size | Funding rate |
| Feasibility studies / Industrial research | Micro/small | <70% |
| Medium | <60% | |
| Experimental development | Micro/small | <45% |
| Medium | <35% |
How PNO can support you
The UK team has a strong track record in securing some of the most competitive national and European grants on behalf of its clients, with a full understanding of how a project should be presented to stand the highest chance of success. Each year in the UK alone, we are responsible for the submission of more than 100 funding applications across all sectors and priority areas. Based on this extensive experience, through careful project selection and using key insight into how a project should be best positioned, we consistently achieve success rates that are more than 5 times the typical success rates for UK national schemes and EU programmes.
For further information or to discuss a project idea please contact PNO Consultants
0161 488 3488 | info.uk@pnoconsultants.com | https://www.pnoconsultants.com/uk/
