UK companies are being urged to keep abreast of UKRI’s (UK Research and Innovation) programs and funding, as the national funding agency for science and research actively looks to boost the UK’s innovation surge.
UKRI is a precious instrument that allows innovators to have more creative freedom while undertaking their research combined with an impeccable financial support to promote the highest level of growth.
UKRI has the main objective to increase public financial support for Research & Development (R&D).
Indeed, it has the ambition to help companies grow through innovation and has a clear commitment to increase the total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
It recognises that companies depending on their level of growth need different levels of financial support.
Hence, there is a pending offer to include an Innovation Loans Programme granting £50 million for 10 competitions in 2022-2023.
In addition to the Loans Programme, technologies and innovations aiming to solve the challenge of Net Zero will be rewarded by another set of grants.
This will include grants up to £50,000 as part of a total of £30 million commitment for Fast Start: Innovation grants 2022-2023 for small and micro-businesses that have not previously received Innovate UK’s grants.
Also, UKRI is determined to keep expanding its Smart Competitions which provides grants to early-stage companies with a very high innovation ideas potential and on the right path to commercialisation.
As well as growing its partnership with equity investors to give companies the capital they need to tackle their innovation process over the period of 2022-2025.
The need to strengthen the impact of innovation is strong and UKRI puts a lot of emphasis on responding intelligently to emerging technologies and innovation trends in three major ways.
First, by tightening its collaboration with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), to better grasp the current innovation trends and focus on the emerging technological opportunities and participate in their adoption and diffusion.
Second, by increasing its investment in leading research through the new UKRI Innovation and Research Caucus, co-founded with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UKRI will undeniably strengthen its impact on influencing innovation trends.
Lastly, by influencing policy through Local Policy Innovation Partnerships with ESRC and equally investing to establish the Diet and Health Open Innovation Research Club with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
All these elements combined offer a huge incentive for companies to catch the innovation process opportunities supported by UKRI.