Welsh Government Innovation Vouchers + R&D grants

This Welsh Government route sits inside the SMART Flexible Innovation Support, or SMART FIS, umbrella and brings together advisory support, innovation vouchers, collaborative partnerships, and cash RD&I funding for Wales-based businesses. The aim is to help firms research or significantly improve a product, process, or service while building the capability to compete in new markets. The award range runs from £25,000 to £500,000, with a median actual award of about £75,000, on a rolling basis. It is aimed at Wales-based SMEs and requires a 30% match contribution. Projects should fall in the TRL 2 to 7 range and show a real technical step up, while keeping the same project from being funded twice. The wider SMART FIS umbrella also supports specialist advice and collaborative work with research partners. The strongest applicants are businesses that can explain how the funding will lift R&D capacity, improve productivity, or open new sales channels, and that can show the project is tied to Welsh Government innovation missions. Because the route combines different support strands, it works best when the company can match the right tool to the right stage of development rather than treating it as a generic grant pot. It is most convincing when the commercial plan, the technical plan, and the business case all move together.

No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Rolling.