Applying for an Innovate UK Smart Grant requires careful planning and attention to detail. Start by ensuring your business and project meet the eligibility criteria, including being UK-registered and focused on a game-changing, innovation-driven idea. Projects must fall within specific funding limits (£100,000–£1 million) and durations (6–24 months). Applications are submitted via the Innovation Funding Service, which provides guidance and structured questions to address your project’s innovation, market potential, impact, and feasibility. Preparing evidence-based responses and detailed financial plans is critical to success.

You can apply for an Innovate UK Smart Grant yourself. The questions are available on the Innovate UK Smart Grant web page published from time to time by the Innovation Funding Service. Here is an example from November 2024. However, the application process can be complex, but professional guidance can significantly improve your chances. 

Writing Your Innovate UK Smart Grant Application Yourself: Pros and Cons

Pros: Writing your application yourself gives you full control over how your project is presented. You are the expert on your innovation, so you can articulate its technical details, market potential, and impact with first-hand knowledge. Handling the process in-house can also save on upfront consultancy costs, especially if you have the time and resources to dedicate to the application. Additionally, completing the application yourself allows you to fully understand the process, which can be useful for future funding opportunities.

Cons: While writing your own application can seem cost-effective, it is often time-consuming and overwhelming. Innovate UK applications require concise, evidence-based responses that address strict scoring criteria, and without experience, it’s easy to miss crucial details. Many self-written applications fail due to vague answers, poor structure, or lack of alignment with Innovate UK’s priorities. Reading and digesting lengthy guidance documents and sourcing market data can quickly become a significant drain on your resources. Without expert insight or a strategic approach, your chances of success may be lower, potentially costing you both time and the opportunity to secure funding.

At Novigo Grant Funding, we specialise in simplifying the process, whether by writing your application, refining your draft, or scoring and providing suggestions to improve the application before submission. We have a tried and tested human process that uses a perfect blend of human experience, understanding and communication with technology to deliver your application much faster than you could do it yourself and with a controllable amount of your time that leaves you free to focus on running your business and raising investment for you innovation.  Leave us to do the legwork. All you need to do is provide information that you probably already have in business plans, pitch decks and market plans etc. and meet once a week to provide specific information that is needed to complete your application. 

Remember that we have three tiers of service depending on what you need. We can write it for you. We can assess and then improve your application for you. Or we can assess the application like an assessor would at Innovate and provide a score with some feedback before you submit it to Innovate so that you can fix any mistakes in advance and submit with confidence. 

By leveraging our expertise, you can confidently submit a high-quality application that stands out to Innovate UK assessors. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your success.