Defence Innovation Fund
Supports United Kingdom defence startups with rapid MoD contract opportunities in autonomy, robotics, and control systems.
The Defence Innovation Fund is a £20 million procurement programme run by the UK Ministry of Defence, announced in January 2026, designed to accelerate contracts with small British startups that have little or no prior MoD business. It sits within the broader MoD commitment to spend £7.5 billion with SMEs and is administered through UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) — the successor body to DASA, which …
Defence and security innovation spanning artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomy, enhanced precision weapons, biosecurity, and other UKDI-designated capability priority areas.
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Guides for this application
All guides →Grants for Robotics Startups: SBIR, Defense, NSF, and Pilot Funding
A practical guide to grants for robotics startups, including SBIR/STTR, NSF, DoD, NASA, field validation, TRL, pilot evidence, budgets, and commercialization strategy.
DocumentsGrant Work Plan Template: Work Packages, Gantt, Milestones, and Risks
Use this grant work plan template to structure work packages, tasks, owners, deliverables, Gantt timing, dependencies, and risk registers.
BudgetGrant Budget Justification: How to Write the Budget Narrative
Learn how to write a grant budget justification, explain R&D costs, avoid weak budget narratives, and connect each cost to your work plan.
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