The aim of this competition is to support collaborative industrial research projects to explore innovative ways of making supply chains more productive, resource efficient and resilient.
Your project must apply one of the competition themes to at least two of the Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries [one of which is agri-tech]. While you may currently operate within a single frontier industry, your product or service must be capable of scaling into adjacent advanced manufacturing frontier industries.
Your project’s total eligible grant funding request must be between £250,000 and £1 million.
Scope
The aim of this competition is to support collaborative industrial research projects to explore innovative ways of making supply chains more productive, resource efficient and resilient.
Your project must apply one of the competition themes to at least two of the Advanced Manufacturing Frontier Industries. While you may currently operate within a single frontier industry, your product or service must be capable of scaling into adjacent advanced manufacturing frontier industries.
You must clearly describe how your project will improve productivity, resource efficiency, resilience, or a combination of these outcomes, within the targeted industries’ supply chain.
Your project must:
- be collaborative industrial research
- focus on solutions that are either new or not yet widely used
- address improvements in supply chain productivity, resource efficiency, resilience, or a combination of these
- identify one theme and at least two Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries you are targeting
- address supply chain validation through involvement of at least one named end user in the project, for example, an OEM, Tier 1, or other organisation further downstream in the supply chain
The involvement of the end user can be in the form of, but is not limited to:
- being on a project advisory board
- being a non-funded project collaborator or a funded project collaborator
Specific Themes
Your project must focus on one of the following themes:
- measurement, sensing and instrumentation
- additive manufacturing
- digital manufacturing and industrial AI
- robotics and intelligent automation
- power electronics
Your project must focus on at least two of the following Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries:
- automotive
- aerospace
- advanced materials
- batteries
- agri-tech
- space
Details and How to Apply
- Competition opens: Monday 27 April 2026
- Competition closes: Wednesday 10 June 2026 11:00am
You can see full information and apply on the Government’s funding service. Innovate UK Business Connect will also be holding online briefings in May.
