Innovate UK Catapult Network
Connects Innovate United Kingdom Catapult Network, technology centres turning applied science into industrial solutions and market-ready demonstrations.
The Innovate UK Catapult Network is a group of nine independent technology and innovation centres supported by Innovate UK and industry. It sits inside the UK innovation system rather than acting as a single grant programme, and the network spans sectors including transport, energy, digital, manufacturing, life sciences, semiconductors, and satellite applications.
Most Catapults are service and delivery organisations rather than grant makers. They provide specialist facilities, testing, validation, and commercialisation support, while a smaller number handle external competitions on behalf of other public funders. Connected Places Catapult and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult are the clearest examples, with transport calls such as TRIG and freight innovation work on one side and offshore wind and related competitions on the other.
The network is best read as an applied innovation layer between research and market uptake. Innovate UK provides core support, industry contributes to delivery, and individual centres may administer competitions, coaching, or technical de-risking for companies. That model gives the Catapults reach across several sectors while keeping the actual funding source with the relevant department or partner body in many cases.