Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships Round 1

Description Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £8 million in this Engineering Biology Investor Partnership competition. This competition is part of UKRI’s Engineering Biology Programme. The aim of this competition is to support: • the development and adoption of engineering biology technologies • commercialisation of late stage experimental development projects that are close to market, and ultimately market adoption To be offered grant funding your project must be assessed as eligible for grant funding and you must have secured aligned investment with a lead investor. In the investor pool you can view the areas of expertise and investment preferences for the investors. You can apply for this competition before you speak to an investor but initiating dialogue with investors is strongly encouraged. In addition to investment, the lead investors in the pool can provide you with commercial acumen in, for example: • leadership • market access • skills • resources Successful UK registered SME’s will receive: • grant funding from Innovate UK • aligned investment funding with one of the programme’s pool of investors acting as the lead investor In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it. Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 20% chance of success. We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny. We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions. This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information. Project size Your project’s total grant funding request must be between £250,000 and £2 million. Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance. We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline. You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Your proposal The aim of this competition is to support: • the development and adoption of engineering biology technologies • commercialisation of late stage experimental development projects that are close to market, and ultimately market adoption To be offered grant funding your project must be assessed as eligible for grant funding and you must have secured aligned investment with a lead investor. In the investor pool you can view the areas of expertise and investment preferences for the investors. You can apply for this competition before you speak to an investor but initiating dialogue with investors is strongly encouraged. In addition to investment, the lead investors in the pool can provide you with commercial acumen in, for example: • leadership • market access • skills • resources Successful UK registered SME’s will receive: • grant funding from Innovate UK • aligned investment funding with one of the programme’s pool of investors acting as the lead investor Your proposal must have a clear route to market, a clear link to innovation and evidence that you can create a team to deliver your proposal. You must be: • registered in the UK as an SME by the time the award is contracted • able to complete the aligned investment led by the investor partner needed to qualify for the award, through the issue of new shares or convertible debt You must also demonstrate that if your project is funded, it will: • have significant market impact • be scalable • be attractive to equity investors Innovation and ideas can come from anyone and anywhere. We want to see investments unlocked for the diverse and extraordinary talent in the UK. We encourage innovation involving communities that are typically under-represented, including: • from regions that have historically accessed lower levels of investment,

Who can apply Your project For experimental development projects: • your total grant funding request must be between £250,000 and £2 million • the project duration must be 24 months Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date. You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs . If your project’s total grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will then decide whether to approve your request. If your project does not meet our criteria and you have not requested justification approval, your application will be made ineligible and it will not be sent for assessment. Your organisation This competition is open to single applicants only. To apply your organisation must: • be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized business (SME) • carry out its project work in the UK • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules . Subcontractors Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process. You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK. You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor. All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs Number of applications An SME can only submit one application into this round of the competition. Sanctions This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions . For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups . Use of animals in research and innovation Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance. Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation . Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made. Previous applications You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition. If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal. If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies. We will not award you funding if you have: • failed to exploit a previously funded project • an overdue independent accountant’s report • failed to comply with award terms and conditions Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects. Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable) This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme. The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here:  SC10780 . This is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 . Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage. EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation. In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation. Further Information If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control

Before you start You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start. Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure: • that all the information provided in the application is correct • your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria • all sections of the application are marked as complete You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline. What we ask you The application is split into four sections: • Project details. • Application questions. • Finances. • Project Impact. Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance. We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline. You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). 1. Project details This section provides background for your application and is not scored. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers. Application team Decide which people from your organisation will work with you on the project and invite those people to help complete the application. Application details Give your project’s title, start date and duration. Research category Select the type of research you will undertake. Project summary Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application. Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Public description Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project. Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Scope Describe how your project: • fits the scope of the competition • can be considered engineering biology as defined in this brief If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why. Your answer can be up to 400 words long. 2. Application questions The assessors will score all your answers apart from question 1 to 8. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding . You must answer all questions. You must not include any website addresses or links