Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26 by Innovate UK Grant Opportunity for Women Founders in the United Kingdom

 

Introduction and Background

The Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26, delivered by Innovate UK below UK Research and Innovation, is a serious nationwide funding alternative designed to assist ladies founders and co-founders in the United Kingdom who’re constructing modern, bold companies. This aggressive grant scheme supplies as much as 75,000 kilos in funding and twelve months of personalised enterprise assist to assist ladies entrepreneurs scale their late stage start-ups.

Innovate UK plans to award as much as sixty Women in Innovation Awards, topic to receiving a enough quantity of top of the range functions. A portion of extremely counseled candidates who aren’t awarded grant funding will nonetheless obtain tailor-made enterprise assist for a full yr. The program goals to handle the lengthy standing underrepresentation of girls in innovation by offering direct funding, abilities improvement, visibility, and position modelling alternatives.

Applicants should have a UK registered micro, small or medium enterprise, be resident in the UK, and be main a late stage start-up aligned with one among three excessive development sectors in the UK Government Industrial Strategy: Advanced Manufacturing, Digital and Technologies, and Life Sciences. The award is designed to uplift ladies innovators who’re making ready their ventures for main funding inside the subsequent 12 to 24 months.

The competitors opens on Wednesday 26 November 2025 and closes on Wednesday 4 February 2026 at 11:00am UK time.

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Eligibility Criteria

Who Can Apply

To be eligible for the Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26, candidates should:

• Be a lady founder or co-founder of a UK registered micro, small, or medium sized enterprise listed on Companies House.
• Be a resident in the UK.
• Have a late stage start-up that has developed at the least a fundamental model of a product, service, or resolution corresponding to a prototype or minimal viable product.
• Demonstrate early person or buyer curiosity, or early income.
• Show understanding of the market alternative and enterprise mannequin.
• Have begun constructing a workforce past the authentic founders.
• Request not more than 75,000 kilos in grant funding.
• Commit to 10 hours of coaching and improvement assist.
• Commit to at the least 4 hours of position modelling actions throughout the award yr.

Previous Funding Restrictions

Applicants are not eligible in the event that they or anybody in their enterprise has beforehand acquired any of the following from Innovate UK:

• Women in Innovation Awards
• Young Innovators Next Steps
• Innovate UK Award Build

Subcontracting Rules

• Subcontractor prices should not exceed 50 % of the grant quantity.
• Subcontractors could also be based mostly anyplace in the UK.
• Overseas subcontractors could also be used solely with correct justification and proof {that a} UK subcontractor can not fulfil the position.

Project Requirements

Projects should:

• Last for 12 months.
• Start on 1 July 2026 and finish on 30 June 2027.
• Be delivered inside the UK.
• Exploit outcomes from or in the UK.

Minimal Financial Assistance Requirement

Applicants should not exceed the Minimal Financial Assistance cap of 315,000 kilos inside the relevant monetary interval. A declaration kind have to be accomplished and submitted as part of the application.

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Program Details

Funding Amount and Structure

A complete of 4.5 million kilos has been allotted for the 2025/26 competitors. Each profitable undertaking will probably be funded as much as 75,000 kilos, with the chance of receiving one hundred pc of eligible undertaking prices below MFA guidelines.

Grant funds will probably be made in three instalments:

1. 50 % inside one month of the undertaking begin date
2. 40 % in arrears after approval of the 50 % declare
3. 10 % after last approval of the closing declare

Supported Growth Sectors

Innovations should align with one among the following:

Advanced Manufacturing
Includes applied sciences in aerospace, batteries, area, automotive, superior supplies, and agri-tech.

Digital and Technologies
Includes synthetic intelligence, cyber safety, quantum, engineering biology, semiconductors, and superior connectivity.

Life Sciences
Includes biotechnology, prescribed drugs, medtech, and well being information innovation.

What Will Not Be Funded

Projects is not going to be funded in the event that they:

• Are not led by a lady founder or co-founder.
• Are not late stage start-ups with scalable development ambitions.
• Are not aligned with the three designated excessive development sectors.
• Request greater than 75,000 kilos.
• Assign greater than 50 % of prices to subcontractors.
• Do not interact with the coaching and position modelling necessities.
• Have beforehand acquired the listed Innovate UK awards.
• Present adverse environmental or social influence.

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How to Apply

All functions have to be submitted via the Innovate UK Innovation Funding Service portal.

Before making use of, candidates should:

1. Complete the Suitability Checker (necessary).
2. Read all tips on making use of for a contest.
3. Ensure all sections of the application are full and meet eligibility and scope necessities.

The application accommodates 4 foremost sections:

1. Project particulars
2. Application questions
3. Finances
4. Project influence

Applicants should not embody web site URLs in their solutions, besides the place required in attachments. Required declarations, corresponding to the Minimal Financial Assistance kind, have to be uploaded in PDF format.

Application Portal

Start New Application or Sign In:
Here

Competition Information Page

Full steerage and competitors transient:

Here

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Important Dates

• Competition Opens: Wednesday 26 November 2025
• Competition Closes: Wednesday 4 February 2026 at 11:00am UK time
• Project Start Date: 1 July 2026
• Project End Date: 30 June 2027

Applicants are inspired to contact Innovate UK for accessibility or cheap changes at the least 15 working days earlier than the deadline.

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The Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26 by Innovate UK is a major nationwide alternative designed to advance ladies led companies in Advanced Manufacturing, Digital and Technologies, and Life Sciences. With as much as 75,000 kilos in grant funding, tailor-made assist, and excessive visibility, this program empowers ladies innovators to scale impactful options, appeal to main funding, and contribute to the UK innovation panorama. Women founders who meet the eligibility standards and are able to develop a late stage start-up are extremely inspired to apply earlier than the February 2026 deadline.

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