Innovate UK Venture Builder Pilot

Innovate UK Venture Builder Pilot

Supports United Kingdom university spin-outs in frontier AI, engineering biology, and advanced materials manufacturing.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Innovate UK Venture Builder Pilot is a £3.75 million programme launched April 22, 2026 that provides up to £150,000 in grant funding plus nine months of structured programme support to deep-tech university spin-outs working in three UK Industrial Strategy priority areas: Frontier AI, Engineering Biology, and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. The pilot is designed to close the gap between early-stage market validation and first external investment, funding activities such as customer discovery, technical de-risking, and investor preparation during the period October 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.

Eligibility is tightly defined. Applicants must be UK-registered micro, small, or medium enterprises (SMEs) incorporated within the previous 24 months — or formally incorporated by August 20, 2026 if not yet registered at application. Spin-outs must have received no more than £100,000 in prior investor funding, must originate from a UK university, Public Sector Research Establishment, or Research Institute, and must provide a signed supporting statement from their Technology Transfer Office or ICURe Delivery Partner. ICURe Exploit graduates are the primary target cohort — ICURe Exploit is the 12-week Innovate UK pre-accelerator programme focused on spin-out preparation. Nonprofits, universities, and research organisations are not eligible as lead applicants; the lead must be a commercial entity.

The application process is two-stage: an Expression of Interest stage (closed May 22, 2026 for the first cycle) followed by full applications for invited organisations, with the Stage 2 deadline announced separately. The programme supports approximately 25 projects from the £3.75 million budget, implying awards averaging close to the £150,000 maximum. Teams most likely to succeed will have completed structured market validation, have a credible technology commercialisation plan, and hold explicit TTO endorsement confirming the spin-out's institutional origin.