Innovation Loans
Administered by Department for Business and Trade
About this grant
Innovation loans are for UK-based SMEs only to carry out late-stage research and development projects.
Key facts
Eligibility requirements
All of the following criteria must be met:
- Business stage: Start-ups (1-2 years trading) and Established
- Number of employees: 0 to 9 employees, 10 to 249 employees, 250 to 500 employees and More than 500 employees
What the funding covers
- Late-stage research and development projects
How to apply
- 1Loan competitions are run through the Innovation Funding Service.
- 2To find a current loan competition, search for 'loan' using the Innovation Funding Service keywords search bar.
- 3Loan competitions may be open to any type of project or may be themed.
- 4For themed competitions, the innovation project must meet the specific scope criteria outlined in the competition brief.
- 5Projects that do not meet the scope criteria are not eligible to apply for that opportunity.
- 6Once a loan competition has closed, applications can no longer be submitted.
- 7Only one application is permitted from a business per loan competition.
- 8Applying for an innovation loan consists of three parts.
- 9The application submitted through the Innovation Funding Service is used to assess the project's level of innovation.
- 10A separate survey is used to evaluate the business as a whole and determine its suitability for an innovation loan.
Application tips
Grant details are sourced from official public databases and reviewed weekly. Eligibility criteria, funding amounts, and deadlines may change without notice. Always confirm details on the Department for Business and Trade website before applying.
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