UK grants · AI, automation, data, cyber
UK grants for AI, automation and cyber projects
17 open grants and vouchers for UK small and mid-sized businesses with an AI, automation, data, software or cyber security project, each with its deadline, amount, match funding and who can apply. Next deadline: . Last checked .
Closing soonest
Competitions from Innovate UK and other government funders that close on a fixed date, nearest first, in UK time; most pay part of the eligible project costs and you fund the rest.
Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems
Innovate UK · Whole UK
One to three month projects for SMEs to prove a new core AI mechanism, such as a new learning method or adaptive architecture, that could underpin future products.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Projects of £50,000 to £150,000 total cost
- Grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- UK registered micro, small or medium firms applying alone; subcontractors are not allowed
Full ADOPT Grant: Round 10
Defra with Innovate UK · England
On-farm trials of new ideas or technology, such as automation or data tools, that could improve farm productivity, resilience or progress to net zero.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Projects of £50,000 to £200,000 total cost
- Grants cover up to 80% of costs for farm businesses and less for other partners
- Who can apply
- Collaborations led by a farming, growing or forestry business based in England
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Assurance and Compliance
Innovate UK · Whole UK
Funds an AI firm and a larger deployer to build the case for AI that monitors, tests or evidences compliance with rules and standards, ending in a live demonstration.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Grant request of £100,000 to £200,000
- Grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- Two or three organisations: a UK AI SME with a working product (TRL 5 to 6) as lead, plus a UK medium or large business or public body as deployer
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Decision Critical Systems
Innovate UK · Whole UK
Funds an AI firm and a larger deployer to build the case for AI that supports consequential judgements, recommendations or decisions, ending in a live demonstration.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Grant request of £100,000 to £200,000
- Grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- Two or three organisations: a UK AI SME with a working product (TRL 5 to 6) as lead, plus a UK medium or large business or public body as deployer
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Operational Systems
Innovate UK · Whole UK
Funds an AI firm and a larger deployer to build the case for AI that runs, controls or coordinates day-to-day operations, ending in a live demonstration.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Grant request of £100,000 to £200,000
- Grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- Two or three organisations: a UK AI SME with a working product (TRL 5 to 6) as lead, plus a UK medium or large business or public body as deployer
Unlocking Space for Business Grant Call: Environmental Intelligence and Emissions
UK Space Agency · Whole UK
Helps a business adopt satellite data or other space-enabled services to tackle environmental intelligence or emissions problems, working with a UK space supplier.
Official page (find-government-grants.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Up to £400,000 per project, from a £2 million pot
- Who can apply
- UK end-user businesses, including SMEs, leading a consortium with a UK space supplier
UK-Singapore CRD 2026
Innovate UK · Whole UK
Joint industrial research with a Singapore business partner in AI, cyber security or other frontier technology, advanced manufacturing, clean energy or life sciences.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Grant request of £100,000 to £900,000
- Grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- UK registered businesses working with at least one unlinked Singapore business funded by Enterprise Singapore
Eureka collaborative R&D: Globalstars Japan 2027
Innovate UK (Eureka) · Whole UK
Joint R&D with a partner in Japan on AI, cyber security, semiconductors, quantum or advanced connectivity; Innovate UK funds the UK partners.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Up to £600,000 grant for the UK partners in each project
- Grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- UK businesses collaborating with at least one partner in Japan
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2026 - 2027 Round 4
Innovate UK · Whole UK
Part-funds a graduate, recruited and supervised by a university, college or Catapult, who works inside your business on a strategic innovation project such as AI or data.
Official page (apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk) →- Amount
- Grant covers up to 67% of project costs for SMEs, 50% for large firms
- SMEs pay at least 33% (25% for SMEs in Wales); large firms pay 50%
- Who can apply
- UK registered businesses of any size, with a UK university, college, RTO or Catapult that submits the application
Nothing in this group matches those filters. Choose All to see every scheme.
Rolling and standing schemes
Standing schemes with no closing date, from Made Smarter in England, Scottish Enterprise and Interface in Scotland, Business Wales and Invest NI, where you usually start by registering or sending an enquiry to the funder.
Rolling
Made Smarter Adoption programme
Made Smarter · England
Free impartial advice and a digital transformation plan, then match-funded grants to buy and install industrial digital hardware and software such as automation, sensors and data systems.
Official page (madesmarter.uk) →- Amount
- Up to 50% match funding; the grant cap is set by each region
- You fund at least half of the technology cost
- Who can apply
- SME manufacturing or engineering firms based in England, with fewer than 250 staff and turnover under £36m or a balance sheet under £18m
Rolling
Advanced Innovation Voucher (Scotland)
Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Enterprise, through Interface · Scotland
Funds a larger joint project with a Scottish university or college to develop new products, services or processes; projects finish by 31 March.
Official page (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) →- Amount
- Up to £20,000
- A mix of cash and in-kind contribution from your business
- Who can apply
- SMEs, social enterprises and third sector organisations in Scotland with fewer than 250 staff
Rolling
Scottish Enterprise R&D grant
Scottish Enterprise · Scotland
Discretionary grant for large research and development projects that create a new or much improved product, process or service; aimed at projects of £1m or more.
Official page (scottish-enterprise.com) →- Amount
- Minimum grant £250,000; 35% to 50% of eligible costs for SMEs
- You fund the rest of the project; some or all of the grant can be repayable in certain cases
- Who can apply
- Companies in the Scottish Enterprise area (Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland firms go to their own agency); not sole traders or charities
Rolling
Standard Innovation Voucher (Scotland)
Scottish Funding Council, through Interface · Scotland
Pays a Scottish university or college to work with you on a new product, process or service, for firms collaborating with academia for the first time.
Official page (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) →- Amount
- £1,000 to £7,500, paid to the university or college
- Match the voucher value in cash, in kind (staff time, materials) or both
- Who can apply
- SMEs and social enterprises operating in Scotland that have never done R&D with a university or college
Rolling
SMART Innovation Funding (Wales)
Welsh Government, Business Wales · Wales
Discretionary grant for research, development and innovation on a new or much improved product, process or service; digital transformation is a priority sector.
Official page (businesswales.gov.wales) →- Amount
- Set case by case; ask Business Wales
- Part funding; the grant rate depends on the project
- Who can apply
- Businesses of any size and social enterprises with an operational base in Wales
Rolling
Grant for R&D (Northern Ireland)
Invest Northern Ireland · Northern Ireland
Advice and grant funding to take a new product, process or service from idea to commercial launch, covering labour, consultancy, subcontracting and equipment.
Official page (investni.com) →- Amount
- Set case by case; agree the project with Invest NI first
- Part funding of eligible costs; you fund the rest
- Who can apply
- Northern Ireland businesses that are Invest NI clients
Rolling
Project Definition grant
Invest Northern Ireland · Northern Ireland
Funds feasibility studies, prototypes and planning for a technically ambitious R&D project, including preparing a bid to Innovate UK.
Official page (investni.com) →- Amount
- Up to £100,000
- Covers up to 70% of eligible costs for small firms, 60% for medium and 50% for large
- Who can apply
- Northern Ireland businesses that are Invest NI clients
Rolling
Technical Development Incentive (TDI)
Invest Northern Ireland · Northern Ireland
Pays half the cost of an external technical provider to develop or improve a product, service or process, or to protect intellectual property.
Official page (investni.com) →- Amount
- Up to £25,000 (50% of provider costs)
- You pay the other 50% of the provider's costs; internal costs are not eligible
- Who can apply
- Northern Ireland SMEs that are Invest NI clients; projects of £1,000 to £60,000
Nothing in this group matches those filters. Choose All to see every scheme.
Questions about UK AI grants
Are there grants for AI projects at UK small businesses?
Yes. Most come from Innovate UK competitions on the Innovation Funding Service, which open and close on fixed dates and pay part of a project's eligible costs: in Frontier AI: SME Champions, up to 70% for a micro or small firm and 60% for a medium one. Each nation also runs standing schemes with no deadline, listed above.
How do I apply for an Innovate UK grant?
Pick an open competition on the Innovation Funding Service, read its brief, then register and apply before the deadline, usually 11am UK time. A UK registered business leads, and the funded work must happen in the UK, with most of the money spent there. Innovate UK put the chance of success in Frontier AI: SME Champions at 2%.
What is the Made Smarter grant, and who can get it?
Made Smarter Adoption helps manufacturing and engineering SMEs in England adopt technology such as automation, AI and sensors, with free advice, a digital transformation plan and match-funded grants of up to 50% for hardware and software. You need fewer than 250 staff, turnover under £36m or a balance sheet under £18m, and a significant part of your operations in one of nine English regions.
Is there funding for Cyber Essentials?
Yes, as a discount rather than a grant, so it is not in the list above. The Cyber Essentials First Step Fund, opened on 3 November 2026, takes 75% off a new certification for UK SMEs not certified in the last four years: £80 to £125 plus VAT, until March 2027 or until the £2.4m runs out.
What R&D grants can a small business get in Scotland?
Interface innovation vouchers pay a Scottish university or college to work with you on something new: £1,000 to £7,500 for a first collaboration, or up to £20,000 for an Advanced voucher, matched by you. Scottish Enterprise's R&D grant covers 35% to 50% of an SME's eligible costs, with a £250,000 minimum grant. SMART: SCOTLAND is on hold until a new fund launches.
Before you apply
Whether your business and project qualify is the funder's decision, and rules, rates and dates change between rounds, so read the official page before you plan around any grant. Urbano DX is not a grants adviser and is not connected to any funder listed here.
Loans (such as the British Business Bank or the Development Bank of Wales), R&D tax relief and advice-only services are not grants, so they are not on this list.
From grant to project: a grant pays only part of the cost, and our fixed-price AI pilot automates one workflow in two weeks for £9,500 to £13,500, a price you know before you apply. We work from Poland and Innovate UK asks you to justify any subcontractor outside the UK, so check the scheme's supplier rules first.
How this list is made
Dated competitions come from GOV.UK Find a grant and Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service and are refreshed when this site is rebuilt. Standing schemes with no feed are read by hand on each funder's own site. We keep schemes a business can lead or join that could pay for AI, automation, data, software, digital adoption or cyber security work, and leave out academic-only research calls. Closed schemes drop off automatically.
- Find a grant (GOV.UK) checked 11 November 2026
- Innovation Funding Service (Innovate UK) checked 11 November 2026
- Funder websites for standing schemes, checked 5 November 2026
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Summaries are our own words.