Advanced manufacturing supply chain innovation: Innovate UK

UK registered businesses and research and technology organisations (RTOs) can apply for a share of up to £5 million for feasibility studies. These will make supply chains more resource efficient and resilient through addressing cross cutting challenges.

Sectors in scope include life sciences and advanced manufacturing, which includes agri-tech, manufacturing and processing technologies for the agri-food value chain.

About

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £5 million into supply chain innovation projects. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

The aim of this competition is to support feasibility studies to explore new ways of making supply chains more resource efficient and resilient.This will be achieved by addressing cross cutting challenges faced by the six Industrial Strategy’s growth driving sectors and the Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries in scope.

Your proposal must be aligned to at least two of the following six high growth sectors defined in the Government’s Industrial Strategy. Alternatively, it must be aligned to at least two of the advanced manufacturing frontier industries identified in the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan.

High growth sectors in scope:

• advanced manufacturing
• clean energy industries
• creative industries
• defence
• digital and technologies
• life sciences

Advanced manufacturing frontier industries:

• automotive
• batteries and energy storage
• aerospace
• advanced materials including, composites, metals, polymers, ceramics, glass, and smart materials
• agri-tech, manufacturing and processing technologies for the agri-food value chain
• space

Your project must:

• be a feasibility study
• focus on solutions that are either new or not yet widely used
• address improvements in supply chain resilience and resource efficiency that are transferable across sectors or industries
• identify the growth-driving sectors or the advanced manufacturing frontier industries you are targeting
• clearly identify the critical cross-cutting challenges being addressed and demonstrate how your project addresses these critical challenges
• address supply chain validation through involvement of at least one end user in the project

The involvement of the end user can be in the form of, but is not limited to:

• being on a project advisory board
• being a non-funded project collaborator or a funded project collaborator

Within your application you must:

• demonstrate a clear route to scale in the UK
• assess commercial, technical and operational viability of your innovation
• explain how this project delivers growth to your company as part of future UK resource efficient and resilient supply chains in UK manufacturing

Who can apply?

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request between £50,000 and £100,000
• be up to nine months in duration
• start on 1 July 2026
• end by 31 March 2027

Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK. To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size or a UK registered RTO. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered business of any size claiming grant funding on this application.

Dates and how to apply

This competition will open on 2nd February 2026 and closes on 11 March 2026 at 11am. There is a live briefing event on the 2nd February; you can register to attend that here.

Full information about this call and how to apply can be found on the Government’s Funding Service website.

You can see more agri-tech funding calls in our Funding Finder.