SMART Partnerships

SMART Partnerships

Funds Welsh business and research institution collaborations for short-term joint innovation and commercialization projects.

SMART Partnerships is a rolling grant programme delivered by the Welsh Government under the £20 million SMART Flexible Innovation Support (SMART FIS) envelope, which replaced the legacy SMART Cymru and SMART Expertise schemes following the end of EU Structural Fund co-funding post-Brexit. The programme funds collaborative knowledge-transfer and research, development, and innovation (RD&I) projects between Welsh businesses and Welsh knowledge-base partners — a category that includes higher education institutions, further education colleges, research and technology organisations, and Catapults. Its stated purpose is to increase the capability and capacity of Welsh businesses to undertake RD&I through structured knowledge transfer rather than standalone commercial contracting.

The Welsh Government grant covers 100% of the knowledge-base partner's eligible project costs, while the participating business must match at least 50% of total project costs from its own resources. Projects run 6–12 months; applications for longer engagements are out of scope. Eligible businesses must be based in Wales; non-Welsh businesses may participate only in exceptional circumstances. Contract research — where the academic institution simply executes a client specification — is explicitly excluded; the programme requires a genuine collaborative partnership. Teams must also demonstrate positive impacts under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, not only commercial benefit. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; the entry point is email contact to smart.fis@gov.wales.

Applications should include a clear description of the collaborative innovation activities, the specific RD&I challenge being addressed, the respective contributions of the business and knowledge-base partner, and the Well-being of Future Generations Act impacts. Welsh businesses with an established relationship with a Welsh HEI, FE college, or Catapult, a defined innovation challenge, and at least 50% of project costs matched from their own resources are the target applicant profile. Scoring places weight on the genuine collaborative nature of the partnership, the economic benefit to Wales, and the technical ambition of the RD&I work.