New UKRI Fund to Support the Commercialisation of Research
Key info:
- The full economic cost (FEC) can be up to £250,000 for 12 months duration with a minimum of £100,000 for 6 months. UKRI will fund 80% FEC.
- Open to any discipline and does not require previous UKRI funding.
- Commercialisation of outputs can take any route; licensing, spin-out, social enterprise etc.
- SHAPE proposals are encouraged
Deadlines: 3rd March for intention to submit; 23rd May for full applications.
Please let jonny.gray@ncl.ac.uk know in advance if you intend to submit.
New UKRI Fund to Support the Commercialisation of Research
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has launched a new opportunity to support early-to-mid stage commercialisation activities that validate the development of concepts that arose from research to enable spinouts or social ventures, licencing or other commercialisation pathways. The fund aims to support and accelerate the development of new or improved technologies, products, processes, and services arising from research activities at eligible UK research organisations.
Applications are welcomed from across all research disciplines and research councils’ remit (AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC and STFC) including cross and multi-disciplinary approaches. The mechanism will support projects that are not eligible for funding applications via existing UKRI funding opportunities or those projects that have been funded by other mechanisms and that now require further de-risking at a larger scale.
The opportunity aims to de-risk the commercialisation of research. This will allow research organisations and their partners to deliver better commercialisation outcomes via the establishment of successful university spinouts or social ventures, as well as developing applicable solutions through other commercialisation routes to deliver societal and economic impacts and benefits from research.
The intended outputs of funded projects should include the development of an appropriate commercialisation proposition and strategy. This might include increasing readiness towards an investable or licensable proposition (or any other applicable commercialisation routes, for example social ventures) after completion of the proof-of-concept project.
Collaborations between research organisations across the R&D system and notably access to specialised facilities or infrastructures required to further the development of research toward its commercialisation goals are welcomed including with those facilities supported by UKRI (catapults, research institutes, campuses and clusters, facilities and centres) but not exclusively.
Applicants must be based at an eligible UK research organisation. Applicants are strongly encouraged to engage with their research organisation’s technology transfer office, research office, knowledge exchange, innovation or contract office or equivalent at the earliest opportunity, to ensure the support required and the appropriate management of your intellectual property or knowledge assets.
A total of £9 million is available. The full economic cost (FEC) of a project can be up to £250,000 for 12 months duration with a minimum of £100,000 for 6 months. UKRI will fund 80% FEC. UKRI aims to fund a range of applications across both the cost and duration permitted.
Applicants should submit a mandatory intent to submit in the first instance by the 3 March 2025 (16:00) deadline. This will be checked for initial eligibility.
Eligible candidates will then be invited to apply for the full opportunity between 12 March and 29 May 2025 (16:00). Projects must start by 1 September 2025.