Tapping into the Potential: Scope of the Proposal

Your proposal should address one or more of the following areas: legal services, accountancy and audit, insurance, open finance innovation, financial planning and support for consumers and SMEs, financial regulatory compliance and financial crime prevention, and payments and transactions.

Funding: Fuelling Your Innovative Endeavours

A generous sum of £5 million is available across both competition strands. Depending on the nature of your project (feasibility studies, industrial research, or experimental development) and your organisation's size, you could receive funding for up to 25-70% of your eligible project costs.

Your Proposal: Showcasing the Future of Professional and Financial Services

Your project should aim to elevate the Professional and Financial Services sectors by enabling the creation and adoption of new digitally supported services. They are particularly encouraging applications that increase service accessibility to underserved communities, span more than one sector, address sector-wide needs, involve collaborations with non-grant funded service providers, and encompass multidisciplinary perspectives.

Innovation in Professional and Financial Services – Collaborations: Criteria and Guidelines

Projects eligible for funding must adhere to the following criteria:

• The grant funding request should be between £50,000 and £500,000.
• Projects should commence by 1st April 2024.

• Projects should last between 6 and 18 months.
• All project work must be carried out in the UK.
• The results should be intended for exploitation in or from the UK.

Innovation in Professional and Financial Services - Single Applicants: Criteria and Guidelines

Eligible projects for funding must comply with the following guidelines:

• Grant funding request should range between £50,000 and £200,000.
• Projects should start by 1st April 2024.
• Projects should last between 6 and 18 months.
• All project work must be conducted in the UK.
• The results should be exploited in or from the UK.

Lead Organisation:

To lead a project, your organisation must be a UK-registered business of any size. You must collaborate with other eligible UK-registered organisations. If you're a large organisation, you must include at least one grant-claiming micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise (SME).

Project Team - Collaboration Strand

Your project team can include UK registered businesses of any size, academic institutions, charities, non-profits, public sector organisations, and research and technology organisations (RTOs).

Non-Grant Claiming Partners & Subcontractors: Key Project Participants

Non-grant claiming partners, including non-UK businesses, are allowed to participate in the project. Additionally, subcontractors from the UK or overseas can be included following a justified rationale and regular procurement processes.

Note: What They Will Not Fund

Projects involving quantum technology development, climate finance, the development of new cryptocurrencies, and green finance are not within the scope of this competition. Other ineligible projects include those that do not meet the competition's eligibility or scope and those for which other Innovate UK funding support is more suitable or appropriate.