SBRI Contracts for Innovation plus other UK grants, all with one application
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Eligibility check after you sign up
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Grants, family offices, angel investors & VCs
SBRI funds 100% of contracted R&D costs with no equity taken, you keep the IP you generate, and typical contract value runs £60K to £2.5M+ across Phase 1 and Phase 2.
The founder's guide
What Is SBRI / Contracts for Innovation?
SBRI (the Small Business Research Initiative), now run by Innovate UK as Contracts for Innovation, is not a conventional grant. It's a government procurement model: a public-sector body publishes a specific R&D challenge, and pays companies to solve it. Your costs are 100% funded under contract, there's no equity and no repayment, and, crucially, you keep the intellectual property you generate.
Because each competition is tied to a named challenge (NHS, MOD, DESNZ and others), the winning move is to match your technology precisely to an open brief, then write for the people who score it. Our free eligibility check surfaces the SBRI competitions, and every other UK grant, you qualify for.
How it works
The Two Phases of SBRI
SBRI runs in two competitive phases. Phase 1 proves feasibility; Phase 2 builds the prototype. Exact budgets vary by competition.
Phase 1 – Feasibility
A short feasibility study to prove your approach can solve the published challenge. Typically a few months, with a smaller contract per supplier. Successful Phase 1 suppliers are usually eligible for Phase 2.
Typically £60K–£100K per supplier
Around 3–6 months
100% funded, IP retained
Contract£60K–£100K
Phase 2 – Development
Build and demonstrate a working prototype, based on your Phase 1 results. The major funding stage, over a longer period, with substantially larger contracts.
Often £250K to £2.5M+ per supplier
Around 12–24 months
Usually requires Phase 1 completion
Contract£250K–£2.5M+
Is there an open SBRI challenge that fits your technology?Complete the application form and we'll automatically match you with the most relevant grants, including the SBRI competitions you qualify for. It's 100% free.
SBRI is unusually open on company size, but ruthless on relevance: your proposal has to answer the published challenge precisely.
Any UK company, any size. Unlike most grants, SBRI has no age or turnover cap. Startups compete alongside larger firms on the strength of the solution.
A precise fit to the challenge. Each competition is themed around a specific public-sector problem. Relevance to the published brief is scored first, before technical quality.
A genuine R&D challenge. SBRI funds development of new solutions, not off-the-shelf products or routine consultancy.
Phase 2 usually follows Phase 1. Phase 2 contracts are typically awarded to companies that completed Phase 1 in the same competition.
A founder's guide
How to Win an SBRI Contract
SBRI rewards a precise answer to a specific question. Here's the path from open competition to awarded contract.
Step 1
Find an Open Challenge
Browse the Innovation Funding Service for open Contracts for Innovation competitions and match your technology to a specific published challenge. Run the free eligibility checker to shortlist the SBRI competitions, and other UK grants, you qualify for.
Step 2
Answer the Brief Precisely
Read the problem statement closely and answer it directly. SBRI assessors are often the end-users, clinicians, defence officers, procurement leads, so write in plain English and lead with how your solution solves their exact problem.
Step 3
Deliver Phase 1, Then Phase 2
Deliver your Phase 1 feasibility cleanly to position for the much larger Phase 2 development contract. You invoice against deliverables, keep your IP, and can commercialise the result freely afterwards.
Done-for-you service
Don't want to write it yourself? We build the application for you.
The steps above are the do-it-yourself route. If you would rather hand it off, our grant specialists write, package and manage the whole application for you, working alongside you so the technical detail stays yours while we handle the process.
1ApplyTell us about your startup and the grant you are targeting. It takes a few minutes.
2Chat with a specialistA grant specialist checks your fit, confirms the right programme, and scopes the work with you.
3We build your applicationWe write the narrative, budget and supporting documents to the funder's exact scoring criteria.
4We guide every stageMany grants run in several rounds (assessment, interviews, sometimes multiple phases, then reporting). We handle each step and explain everything as we go.
Transparent, mostly success-based pricingA modest upfront fee to scope and start the work (not always tied to your metrics), plus a success fee based on the grant, the amount awarded, and your business. Every engagement is quoted individually.
Apply and we'll come back with a tailored budget for your specific grant.
Interactive Tool
Check Your UK Grant Eligibility in 30 Seconds
Every UK grant is listed below by default. Tell us your stage and sector to narrow them to the Innovate UK grants, R&D credits, and SEIS/EIS routes that match your startup. Getting matched is 100% free - no fee, no commission, no credit card.
Choose your stage and sector below to see which UK grants you may be eligible for
Want a definitive eligibility report? It's free.
This is a first-pass match based on stage, sector, and geography. Complete the application form and we'll automatically match you with the most relevant grants - including the one you're researching - cross-referencing your technology, IP, team, and traction against every active UK programme. This matching service is completely free: no fee, no commission, no credit card required.
The strongest raises stack multiple non-dilutive programmes. Here are the other UK grants you can apply for, all matched in one free eligibility check.
Technically a contract, not a grant. The government procures your R&D to solve a specific challenge and pays 100% of the agreed costs. There's no equity, no repayment, and no match funding, but you do deliver against a contract and invoice for the work.
Yes, this is SBRI's biggest advantage over standard government procurement. You retain the IP you generate, with the contracting authority keeping certain rights of use. That means you can commercialise the technology freely afterwards, including selling it back to the public sector.
Yes. SBRI has no company size or age limit, and small companies win regularly because the assessment is about how well you solve the published challenge, not your balance sheet. A focused startup with the right technology can beat a much larger firm.
An Innovate UK grant funds your own R&D roadmap (usually 50–70% of costs); SBRI pays you 100% to solve someone else's defined problem. Many founders run both. Our free check shows everything you qualify for at once.
The Full Capital Stack
Grants Are Only Part of the Stack
Innovate UK grants and R&D tax credits cover early-stage R&D, but most UK startups need equity capital to scale. The strongest raises combine grants with SEIS/EIS-qualifying angel or VC investment.
AngelsPartners is the only platform where a founder can access all three capital pathways in one place: grants (this page), debt financing, and 120,000+ equity investors.
Equity funding
UK Angels & VCs
Search a database of SEIS/EIS-active angels, micro-VCs, and funds investing in UK startups. Filter by sector, geography, ticket size, and stage. Direct contact details included - no gatekeepers, no pay-to-pitch.
Venture debt, revenue-based financing, and startup loan programmes - without diluting your cap table. Our AI matches you to a curated lender network based on your revenue, traction, and geography.
