Women in Innovation Awards is sponsored by Innovate UK. Awards supporting women innovators in the UK with funding and business development resources.

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Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26 Women founders or co-founders with UK registered businesses at the late stage start-up phase can apply for a grant of up to £75,000 and bespoke business support, to further their ambitious growth plans. Competition opens: Wednesday 26 November 2025 Wednesday 4 February 2026 11:00am This competition is now closed.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is offering up to 60 Women in Innovation Awards to women founders and co-founders of micro, small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received. Successful projects will receive up to £75,000 of grant funding and bespoke business support for 12 months.

A proportion of highly commended applicants who have not been awarded grant funding in this competition will be offered bespoke business support for 12 months.

The aims of this competition are to support Women in Innovation Award winners: whose innovation is aligned to one of the following three high growth sectors defined in the Government’s Industrial Strategy ; Advanced Manufacturing , Digital and Technologies and Life Sciences who have a late stage start-up with ambitions to grow a scalable business which will involve raising considerable investment in the next 12 to 24 months As a late stage start-up we would expect you to: have built a basic version of the idea or product, service, solution, for example a prototype or Minimal Viable Product have received early interest from users, customers, or made some money know who the product is for and have started testing how the business will work have an understanding of realistic market opportunity have started forming a team, going beyond original founders In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process.

This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it. In the Women in Innovation Awards 2024/25, 3.

4% of applicants were successful. Following feedback from the community we have ensured the scope for this competition is more defined and we have included a suitability checker as an initial step in the application process. This is to ensure women founders and co-founders at the right business stage, in specific growth sectors, are applying.

You must complete the suitability checker before starting an application. 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.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information. Your project’s grant funding request must not exceed £75,000.

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 at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline. 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). Innovate UK Customer Support Service and Reasonable Adjustments Service are unavailable during the holiday period. To accommodate this, applicants have 10 weeks to apply instead of the usual 8 weeks.

have a grant funding request of up to £75,000 All projects must commence and finish on the dates stated. Any funded business needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK. Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day.

You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date. You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

See our overview of eligible project costs . For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition. You will be made ineligible if you exceed the Minimal Financial Assistance limit.

You must submit a complete declaration as part of your application.

To lead a project you must: be a woman founder or co-founder within a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) that is registered on Companies House engage in a minimum of 10 hours of training and development support commit to a minimum of four hours of role modelling activity to inspire future generations of women innovators You are not eligible to apply for Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26 if you or anyone else from your business have previously received Innovate UK funding from: Women in Innovation Awards Young Innovators Next Steps follow on funding More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules .

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Subcontracting costs must not exceed 50% of the grant funding amount. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK. You must also provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We expect all subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor. You can only make one application for yourself. Only one woman working within an organisation can apply.

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 that 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 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.

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 grant terms and conditions Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to Innovate UK in relation to other projects.

Minimal Financial Assistance (and de minimis where applicable) Grant funding in this competition is awarded as Minimal Financial assistance (MFA). This allows public bodies to award up to £315,000 to an enterprise in a three year rolling financial period. In your application, you will be asked to declare previous funding received by you.

This will form part of the financial checks ahead of Innovate UK making a formal grant offer. To establish your eligibility, we need to check that our support added to the amount you have previously received does not exceed the limit of £315,000 in the ‘applicable period’.

The applicable period is made up of: (a) the elapsed part of the current financial year, and (b) the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year You must include any funding which you have received during the applicable period under: Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights ) You do not need to include aid or subsidies which have been granted on a different basis, for example, an aid award granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation.

Further information about the Subsidy Control Act 2022 requirements can be found in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation. gov.uk) . EU Commission 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, you should take independent legal advice.

We cannot advise on individual eligibility or your legal obligations. A maximum of £4. 5 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition.

This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant. We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

Your total project costs will be eligible for up to 100% funding subject to MFA subsidy rules. Your total grant funding request must not exceed £75,000.

If successful, the grant funding will be paid in three instalments:​ 50% of grant request within a month of project start date a further 40% in arrears, after approval of 50% claim and the evidence of spend made, submitted with the claim the remaining 10% of the grant up to 30 days after Innovate UK receive and approve the final claim If you are applying for an award funded under European Commission 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.

The aims of this competition are to support Women in Innovation Award winners: whose innovation is aligned to one of the following three high growth sectors defined in the Government’s Industrial Strategy ; Advanced Manufacturing , Digital and Technologies and Life Sciences who have a late stage start-up with ambitions to grow a scalable business which will involve raising considerable investment in the next 12 to 24 months As a late stage start-up we would expect you to: have built a basic version of the idea or product, service, solution, for example a prototype or Minimal Viable Product have received early interest from users, customers, or made some money know who the product is for and have started testing how the business will work have an understanding of realistic market opportunity have started forming a team, going beyond original founders Your business must be developing a new or significantly improved product, service, or business model that addresses a specific market need.

Your solution must be one of the following: new to the market, for example, not currently available a significant improvement over existing solutions in terms of performance, efficiency, accessibility, cost or impact As an award holder you will receive bespoke business support to enable you to significantly grow your business.

Award holders will be required to commit to a minimum of four hours of role modelling activity to inspire future generations of women innovators over the 12 month duration of the award. See more details about being a role model in supporting information . We want to support a diverse cohort of women innovators from a wide range of different backgrounds, from across the UK.

We want to fund a variety of projects across Advanced Manufacturing , Digital and Technologies and Life Sciences , and different regions. We call this a portfolio approach . The Women in Innovation Awards focus on innovations that support three of the UK’s eight high growth sectors: For information about each of these high growth sectors we strongly encourage you to look through the sector plan for your respective growth sector.

Your innovation needs to align with one of the following growth sectors and associated priority areas: Automotive: the UK aims to lead in Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) and Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) Batteries: will power the transition to net zero and are central to the UK’s clean energy and decarbonisation goals Aerospace: central to the UK’s ambition to lead in low carbon aircraft technologies, advanced propulsion systems, and next generation aviation innovation Space: space technologies are part of the UK's ambition to lead in Industry 4.

0, including, in-orbit satellite assembly, advanced manufacturing tools for space applications and integration with AI and automation Advanced materials: UK manufacturers are leading the charge in developing next generation components that are more sustainable and resilient and better suited for low carbon applications Agri-tech: pioneering revolutionary approaches to agricultural productivity and sustainable food production, supporting both domestic and global supply chains Artificial Intelligence (AI): supporting the development of foundation models and applied AI across sectors including health, finance, and manufacturing Cyber Security: strengthening national cyber resilience and promoting UK leadership in secure digital infrastructure Quantum Technologies: investing in quantum computing, sensing, and communications to unlock transformative capabilities Semiconductors: building strategic supply chains and domestic manufacturing capacity for critical semiconductor components Engineering Biology: advancing synthetic biology and bio-manufacturing for applications in health, agriculture, and materials Advanced Connectivity: expanding 5G and preparing for 6G networks, alongside satellite based communications for remote areas Biotechnology: supporting breakthroughs in areas such as genomics, nucleic acid based medicines, cell and gene therapies MedTech: accelerating development of AI enabled diagnostics, wearable devices, and minimally invasive technologies Pharmaceuticals: driving innovation across medicines discovery and development, and scaling sustainable manufacturing technologies.

Utilising frontier technologies of AI, engineering biology and quantum Health Data and AI: integrating NHS data with AI tools to improve patient outcomes and enable personalised medicine Projects we will not fund We are not funding projects: that are not led by a woman founder or co-founder within a UK registered SME that are not a late stage start-up and does not have ambitions to grow a scalable business which will involve raising considerable investment in the next 12 to 24 months whose innovation is not aligned to the Advanced Manufacturing , Digital and Technologies or Life Sciences growth sectors that do not align with our definition of innovation; a solution that is either new to the market (not currently available) or a significant improvement over existing solutions in terms of performance, efficiency, accessibility, cost or impact that have a grant funding request that exceeds £75,000 that attribute more than 50% of their costs to subcontractors that do not intend to use the full award package, for example, requesting just the funding and not the wider support package that have a negative impact on the environment or society that have a detrimental effect on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) that are unable to engage in a minimum of 10 hours of training and development support that are unable to commit to a minimum of four hours of role modelling activity to inspire future generations of women innovators that have previously received Innovate UK funding from Women in Innovation Awards, Young Innovators Next Steps follow on funding, or Innovate UK Award: Build We cannot fund projects that: involve primary production in fishery and aquaculture involve primary production in agriculture are not allowed under de minimis regulation restrictions are not eligible to receive Minimal Financial Assistance are dependent on export performance, for example, giving an award to a baker on the condition that they export a certain quantity of bread to another country are dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, if we give an award to a baker on the condition that they use 50% UK flour in their product Pre-recorded briefing event: watch the recording Pre-recorded Question Set Support session: watch the recording Pre-recorded Business Stage Support Session: watch the recording Live Questions and Answer session: review the slides You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is your 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 you have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs) You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline.

You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline. The application is split into four sections: 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 at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

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). Innovate UK Customer Support Service and Reasonable Adjustments Service are unavailable during the holiday period.

To accommodate this, applicants have 10 weeks to apply instead of the usual 8 weeks. This section provides background for your application and is not scored. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Give your project’s title, start date and duration. Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information.

If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be eligible for funding. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 11, and questions 13, 15 and 18. You will receive feedback on your application. Find out more about how our assessors assess .

The Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26 is piloting questions from Innovate UK's new standardised question bank. For more information, watch the pre-recording of the question set applicant support session . We may ask you for feedback following your application.

You must answer all questions. You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. If you do, your application will be made ineligible.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored) You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any subcontractors working on your project, and the work location for your project if different to the registered addresses. We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Your answer can be up to 150 words long. Question 2. Minimal Financial Assistance declaration (not scored) You must download the declaration template.

You must complete this, declaring any funding received under Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) or de minimis awards (from any source of public funding) in the applicable period. You must complete all the fields on your form before uploading. You must write ‘declaration attached’ in the question text box.

You must upload the completed declaration as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It must be legible at 100% zoom.

You must keep all documentation relating to Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) and other de minimis awards for a period of six years. You must be prepared to release it to any public funding body which requests it. Your answer can be up to 50 words long.

Question 3. Animal testing (not scored) Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing? You must select one option: We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance . Question 4. Permits and licences (not scored) Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date. You must select one option: In the process of being applied for Question 5. International collaboration (not scored) Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries any subcontractors, service providers, visiting researchers or other collaborators are based in. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Question 6. Export licence (not scored) You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance .

You must select one option: Question 7.

Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored) You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles , including: a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions. Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Question 8.

Suitability checker (not scored) Have you completed the suitability checker ? You must select one option: If No, ensure you have completed it before starting an application. Question 9.

Industrial strategy priority sector (not scored) Which Industrial Strategy priority sector is the idea being applied to? You must select one option: Question 10. Business founder or co-founder (not scored) Are you a woman founder or co-founder of your business?

You must select one option: If you select No to this question you will be made ineligible. Question 11. Role model commitment (not scored) Can you commit to a minimum of four hours of role modelling activity over the duration of the award?

If you select No to this question you will be made ineligible. What is the problem that your idea looks to address? Discuss the potential scale of the problem.

How widespread is the issue? What are the consequences if it remains unaddressed? Highlight any research or evidence that supports your response.

Your answer can be up to 300 words. Question 13. The benefit (not scored) Who benefits most from addressing this problem?

You must select one option: those who use the product or service, such as through lower costs or better outcomes wider society or individuals who don’t use the product or service, such as by improving productivity or reducing access inequalities the environment, such as reducing emissions or waste government or public services, such as through cost savings or improved efficiency your industry or sector, such as through innovation leadership or competitive advantage Question 14.

Benefit detail Outline the benefits for who you have selected in question 13, The benefit . In your explanation, include specific metrics or indicators that you intend to use to measure these benefits. Do not consider market sizing or customer characteristics.

These will be covered in more detail in later sections of the application. Your answer can be up to 300 words. Question 15.

Nature of the idea (not scored) Which of the following, if any, best represents the nature of the idea? new product, service or business model improved product, service or business model Provide a detailed description of your idea. This must refer to the problem you identified in question 12, The problem, and how this idea intends to address it.

Do not consider market sizing, project management or risks. These will be covered in more detail in later sections of the application. Your answer can be up to 300 words.

How will you ensure that your idea is designed with care and attention to its use, and is developed inclusively? Discuss user needs, experience, what they value and what testing you will carry out. You could also consider any unintended negative impacts and how they can be avoided.

Your answer can be up to 300 words. Question 18. Customers (not scored) Which of the following is your main customer?

charities or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) government or public sector Question 19. Customer detail What are the key characteristics or needs of your main customer? Do not consider market sizing, this will be covered in more detail in a later section of the application.

Your answer can be up to 300 words. Estimate the realistic market opportunity for your idea. Provide an evidence based assessment through: The Total Addressable Market (TAM): This is the total market demand for a product or service.

It's the maximum revenue opportunity available if 100% market share was achieved. The Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): The portion of the addressable market that can realistically be captured by your idea. It factors in constraints like competition, geography, pricing, and how easily you can go to market.

Your answer can be up to 300 words. What are the key milestones that will you be aiming to achieve through this award? You must focus on what the support (financial and non-financial) from this award will enable you to do.

You must ensure these milestones fit within your anticipated timeline for project delivery. You do not need to provide a detailed project plan at this stage. Your answer can be up to 300 words.

What steps will you be taking to ensure successful delivery? Discuss your overall approach to deliver what you set out to achieve through the financial and non-financial support, to time and cost. Your answer can be up to 300 words.

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application. Consider these risk types and outline the three main risks which are applicable to your idea.

Include the reasons why you have chosen them and how you will mitigate impact: technical risks; risks related to product development, functionality of performance commercial or financial risks; such as those related to market adoption, competition or profitability environmental or social risks; risks related to environmental impact, regulations, social acceptance regulatory risks; risks related to obtaining necessary regulatory approvals project management risks; risks related to timelines, team or resources Your answer can be up to 300 words.

Why have you chosen to apply for this award and what is your vision for the future of your business? When you enter Pitchtape to record your video, you will be asked to respond to these three question prompts: outline your business growth ambitions explain why this award is right for you Ensure you address the question prompts in your video. To be eligible, you must submit a Pitchtape video in response to this question.

Maximum length: 3 minutes, if your video is longer than this only the first 3 minutes will be assessed. Create and submit using Pitchtape via this application. Check the link works before submitting.

For information about how to record and submit a video using Pitchtape visit - https://www. youtube. com/watch?

v=XvEauVJoKv0 . We will not be assessing