Innovation Loans EOI v3

Innovation Loans EOI v3 is sponsored by Innovate UK. Provides loans for projects lasting up to five years, including R&D and pre-commercialisation phases.

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Innovation Loans Expression of Interest UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprises can submit an Expression of Interest for loans for close to market innovative projects with strong commercial potential. They must significantly improve the UK economy and drive societal benefit. Competition opens: Saturday 6 June 2026 There is no submission deadline This is an Expression of Interest (EOI) for an Innovation Loan.

If your EOI is approved, you will be invited to submit a full application. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is offering loans to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Innovate UK innovation loans are for highly innovative late stage research and development (R&D) projects with the best potential for the future.

There must be a clear route to commercialisation and economic impact. Note: read all the instructions carefully as changes have been introduced to the Innovation Loans programme. This is to give businesses more flexibility to deliver both R&D and pre-commercial activities as well as increasing the maximum amount of the innovation loan and these are described further down in this section.

Your project must lead to innovative new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of others currently available, or propose an innovative use of existing products, processes or services. It can also involve a new or innovative business model.

Your project must focus on at least one of the following six Industrial Strategy Sectors : Note: Financial Services, and Professional and Business Services sectors are not in scope for Innovation Loans. You must be able to show that you: can cover interest payments will be able to repay the loan on time We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants.

This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny. We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions.

This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions. The deadline for each drawdown submission is 11am UK time on the dates stated in this Innovate UK competition brief . We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

Loans can be between £100,000 and £5 million. Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance. We recommend you contact us as soon as possible to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). If you are successful in this Expression of Interest competition you will be invited to apply to the full stage competition where you can apply for a loan of between £100,000 and £5 million to fund your project. Projects can last up to five years, including both the R&D and pre-commercialisation phases.

Projects are expected to start from 1 December 2026. Your exact project start date and first innovation loan drawdown will depend on the timing of the final credit committee decision and completion of loan documentation. Note: Businesses subject to State Aid Regulations under the Windsor Framework, including those registered in Northern Ireland, are eligible for different funding.

Details are provided later in this section. To receive an innovation loan for a new project you must: be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) carry out your project from or in the UK intend to exploit the results from or in the UK give evidence that your business is suitable to take on a loan We will evaluate whether your business is suitable to receive an offer of a loan for your project.

Individuals, large companies, not for profits, charities, academic institutions, and research organisations are not eligible for innovation loans. Only single businesses can receive loans, so collaboration with other organisations cannot be funded in this competition. Innovation Loans now allow you to include a pre-commercial work package within your project.

This will allow you to include some of the new eligible costs that will help you to take your project innovation to market and are over and above typical R&D costs. New eligible costs that can be included in the pre-commercialisation work package include labour, market testing, real world validation, initial tooling or production scale up, capital usage, and up to 20% working capital where it supports commercialisation.

Loans can cover up to 100% of eligible project costs. Note: businesses subject to State Aid Regulations under the Windsor Framework , which includes companies registered in Northern Ireland, will not be able to claim all of the new costs outlined. You must check the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

If it does, you will be restricted to the capital usage and material costs for the pre-commercialisation work package. There is no limit on the number of Expressions of Interest you may submit. If you are invited to submit full applications, we will assess your capacity to undertake multiple projects at the same time, including consideration of your existing financial commitments .

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions .

For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups . Use of animals in research and innovation Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation . Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process.

This information will be reviewed before an award is made. You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition. If you have previously submitted an application that reached our Innovation assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies. If this is a resubmission, we may compare your responses from previous submissions to determine whether your application is suitable to progress to the full stage.

We will not award you funding if you have: failed to exploit a previously funded project an overdue independent accountant’s report failed to comply with award terms and conditions Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects. Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable) This competition provides funding in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation. gov.uk) . Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty.

We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage. EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation. If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom. This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries. This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Innovate UK will offer loans of between £100,000 and £5 million, based on your project proposal and our judgement of the suitability and affordability of a loan for your business. The Innovate UK Loans Ltd credit committee will decide the final terms, amount and length of the loan offer. Innovation loans consist of two distinct phases: a project period of up to five years, and a repayment period of up to five years.

The total loan term must not exceed seven years, so you must structure the duration of each phase accordingly. You must ensure there is sufficient time after the R&D and pre-commercialisation phases to reach the initial stage of full commercial exploitation. The project period starts from the first loan drawdown and continues until the point of first commercial exploitation.

This period typically includes the R&D activities (which should be completed within the first three years) and may also include a pre-commercialisation work package. You must allow time after the R&D and pre-commercialisation to begin full commercial exploitation. Loan drawdowns are quarterly during the project period.

Interest will be charged at 3. 7% per annum on the drawn amounts. An additional 3.

7% per annum in deferred interest will also accrue on the principal but will not be payable until the repayment period begins. The repayment period begins immediately after the project period ends and can last for up to five years. During this time, you will be required to repay the full loan amount, including any deferred interest, on a quarterly basis.

Interest will be charged at 7. 4% per annum on the outstanding loan balance. The overall term of the loan must not exceed seven years and you must structure the duration of the project period and the repayment periods accordingly.

You must ensure you leave enough time from completion of the project and any pre-commercialisation activities to get to your first commercial sale. These periods must be based on the needs of your business. We will consider the suitability of your proposed timings in any loan offer that we make to you.

By way of an example, if the project requires three years of research and development and pre-commercialisation activity to get to market, then the maximum time available for the loan repayment would be four years. We expect to take security in the form of a debenture. We will not require personal guarantees.

More details of our approach, including a summary ‘heads of terms’ document setting out the main terms and conditions of the loan, is in the terms and conditions for this competition. You can get a loan of up to 100% of your eligible project costs. Since the loan will have favourable terms, particularly a below market rate of interest, the value of this benefit over the life of the loan will be the equivalent of a grant.

The gross grant equivalent will be the present value of the difference between the market cost of interest and fees of a similar loan, using reference rates for interest, and the cost of an innovation loan. The present value is determined at the date of commitment of the loan. For more information on company sizes, refer to the company accounts guidance .

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 . Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn. This is an Expression of Interest (EOI) for an Innovation Loan.

If your EOI is approved, you will be invited to submit a full application. Innovate UK innovation loans are for highly innovative late stage research and development (R&D) projects undertaking experimental development with the best potential for the future. There must be a clear route to commercialisation and economic impact.

Your project must lead to innovative new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of others currently available, or propose an innovative use of existing products, processes or services. It can also involve a new or innovative business model.

Your project must demonstrate: a clearly expressed and compelling innovative idea a robust and deliverable business plan that addresses and shows evidence of market potential and needs a team with the necessary skills and experience to run and complete the project successfully and on time, and take the outputs forward awareness of all the main risks the project and business will face, with realistic plans to manage, mitigate and minimise the impact of each of these sound, practical financial plans and timelines that represent good value for money and ability to repay the loan why you are unable to fund the project from your own resources or other forms of public or private sector funding a clear, evidence based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion Your project can include: These can be in environments that represent real life operating conditions.

We encourage innovation involving communities that are typically under represented including: from regions that have historically accessed lower levels of investment (outside London, Oxford and Cambridge) women and other marginalised genders people with non-traditional education backgrounds We particularly welcome applications from businesses from these communities.

Your application will be evaluated on: the quality of your project proposal the financial information you have submitted to us the suitability of your business to take on a loan Your project must primarily focus on at least one of the following sectors within the UK Government's Industrial Strategy: Advanced Manufacturing : Includes aerospace, advanced materials, agri-tech, automotive, batteries, and space industries Clean Energy Industries : Focuses on wind (onshore, offshore, and floating offshore), fusion energy, nuclear fission, hydrogen, carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS), and heat pumps Creative Industries : Encompasses advertising and marketing, film and TV, video games, music, performing and visual arts Digital and Technologies : Covers artificial intelligence, engineering biology, advanced connectivity technologies, quantum technologies, semiconductors, and cybersecurity Defence : Focuses on drones and autonomous systems, combat air, directed energy weapons, complex weapons, and maritime capabilities.

Encompasses dual-use and civil-applicable innovations that strengthen the UK’s advanced engineering and security capabilities while maintaining export compliance and ethical standards Life Sciences : Includes pharmaceuticals and medical technologies (MedTech) We will fund experimental development projects only, as defined in the guidance on categories of research .

Projects we will not fund We will decline applications for loans for businesses which: we consider unable to afford the interest and repayments on the loan have not demonstrated that they are unable to obtain finance from other sources on suitable terms do not align with the UK Government's Industrial Strategy, specifically in the six sectors listed in Specific themes We cannot fund projects that are: dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product This is open-ended competition and applications can be submitted at any time.

An application for an innovation loans competition, including this Expression of Interest, needs different information from one for a grant application. Even if you have applied for funding from Innovate UK before, you are strongly advised to read the innovation loans guidance before you start.

We encourage you to view our previously recorded webinars on creating a strong project application, and on the requirements for the business and financial submissions, which are available on the Innovate UK Business Connect website. Your application is confidential. Entering into a loan agreement with us is a financial commitment.

You need to confirm to us that the loan is for business purposes. You are wholly responsible for ensuring that it is the right approach to financing your business. You must make sure that your business is legally allowed to borrow and you will be able to fulfil the repayment obligations under the loan.

You should take expert advice before submitting an application. By submitting an application you are providing authority for Innovate UK, and any subsidiary or agency appointed to assess your application, to carry out checks on the financial standing of your business.

This might include, but will not be limited to, checks with credit reference agencies (this may be recorded on your credit record) to determine your credit standing, identity, beneficial ownership and control and source of existing funds. The principles that Innovate UK follows when we collect, hold or use your personal information and how you can check what details we hold are set out in Innovate UK’s personal information charter .

In the application process and as part of the loan agreement, we will require you, or the person appointed by your company to act for it, to enter into a legally binding declaration. You should take independent advice on the content of this declaration.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure: that all the information provided in the application is correct your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria all sections of the application are marked as complete There is no deadline for the submission of your Expression of Interest. You will be not be able to reopen and edit your application once submitted.

The application is split into two sections: Suitability of your business to receive a loan This will be evaluated by Innovate UK’s credit team based on your answers to the business and financial details questions, along with your pitch deck, and management accounts. Your application will be considered based on the assessment of the quality of your project and an initial review of the suitability of your business to receive a loan.

If your application progresses, we may contact you for further information to reach our next decision. We may decide against offering a loan at any point if the information you provide does not make an adequate case for your suitability. You must complete and submit all parts of the application.

Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us as soon as possible to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

This section provides background for your application and is not scored. Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We will not score this summary, but it will give the Innovation Loans team a useful introduction to your project.

It should provide a clear overview of the whole project, including: your vision for the project details of how it is innovative why you are unable to fund the project from your own resources or other forms of public or private sector funding how you will commercialise your idea as soon as possible after project completion Your answer can be up to 1000 words long.

Industrial strategy alignment State which one of the six themes of the UK’s Industrial Strategy your project most closely aligns with. You must select one option: The Innovation Loans team will assess your answers apart from questions 2, 3, and 9. You may not receive feedback for each assessed question.

You must answer all questions. You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened.

Question 1. Research and Development stage Is your project, or product, currently at the Experimental Development stage? You must select one option: Note: Innovation Loans are only suitable for Experimental Development, if you select no for this question you will be made ineligible.

Question 2. Commercial maturity Choose what stage commercial maturity your business is at, as of today. You must select one option: Pre-revenue and too early to set targets Pre-revenue, unpaid trials First users, paid trials, or customers Turnover of more than £250,000 annual recurring revenues with early customer base Turnover of more than £1.

2 million annual recurring revenues with established customer base Turnover of more than £5 million per annum and globally deployed Question 3. Cash position Choose a statement that best describes your current cash position, expressed as either positive (cash exceeds costs), neutral (cash matches costs) or negative (costs exceeds cash) You must select one option: Choose the timeframe when you expect profits to cover losses.

You must select one option: Question 5. Professional investors List the key professional investors with investment in the business. If you don't have any, please state "none".

Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Question 6. Funding strategy Choose where you are with your current funding strategy, as of today.

You should exclude your application for an Innovation Loan as part of this answer. You must select one option: Mainly non-dilutive or self-funding (grants, revenue, founders capital) Mainly commercial debt or asset based finance Question 7. Innovation loan size Choose the range of size of loan you would like to apply for.

You must select one option: Enter how much you intend to raise through non-grant means (for example, pre-seed, seed, Series A, B and C, debt) that does not include the Innovation Loan amount, and when you expect the capital to be available to you. Also specify what type of fundraising you'll be doing in the next two years if different from the previous questions. Your answer can be up to 500 words long.

Question 9. Previous Innovate UK support Specify whether you have received Innovate UK support before. Funding also includes financial support and subsidies such as the Global Business Innovation Programme.

You must select one option: Question 10. Pitch deck, management accounts, team You must upload your most recent pitch deck, management accounts, and team structure.

the most recent pitch deck used, this does not need to be tailored for an Innovation Loan your most recent management accounts, these will be treated with confidentiality if not already publicly available an overview of your team structure, including any roles that are currently vacant, and planned recruitment, including timeframes If you have an existing data room, you can provide us with the link within an attachment if relevant.

You must upload at least one attachment that covers what is being asked for. They must be a PDF no larger than 20MB. It can be up to thirty A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

You must select one option: I have provided the information requested I am unable to provide the information requested Question 11. Confirmation of application Company authorisation and approval is required.

The Company confirms that it, together with all required directors, shareholders and any guarantors, has duly authorised and approved the submission of the EOI in accordance with its constitutional and corporate approval requirements.

You must select one option: Yes, I have authorisation and approval No, I do not have authorisation and approval Your application will be reviewed by up to three internal assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance . Background and further information Innovation loans will be made through Innovate UK Loans Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The innovation loans scheme aims to provide finance that is affordable, patient and flexible for late stage innovation projects that have a clear route to commercial success.

They are aimed at innovative micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who will be able to manage a loan, but who struggle to access finance or who need to raise funds alongside offers from commercial lenders or schemes backed by the British Business Bank. If your application is unsuccessful If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, a member of the Innovation Loans team will contact you with the reason why.

Protecting your innovation A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation. This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). This competition is operated by Innovate UK.

Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with our own policies. Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you.

For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data . Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application. Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 , and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles. If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk. ukri.

org or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Need help with this service?