Defence Innovation Loans (DASA)
DASA / Innovate UK Loans Ltd
Worth
up to £1,000,000
Deadline
Between rounds
What it is
The FY26/27 Cycle 3 window has closed. When open, this is a repayable loan, not a grant — £100,000 to £1 million at a below-market 7.4% a year for single UK SMEs commercialising a mature (TRL 6+) defence or security innovation.
Re-verified 2026-08-31 on GOV.UK Defence Innovation Loan FY26/27 Cycle 1 competition document: loans of £100k–£1m at 7.4% per annum, up to 100% of eligible project costs, for single UK-registered SMEs with defence-relevant innovations at TRL 6 and above. Schedule shows FY26/27 Cycle 3 opened 7 Jul 2026 and closes 12:00 midday BST on 1 Sep 2026, with stage-1 decisions by 20 Oct 2026. Funder-stated restrictions the engine cannot express: individuals, academic institutions, research organisations and large companies are ineligible; applicants must confirm they have spoken to UKDI/DASA about suitability before applying; repayment capacity is assessed.
Official sourceDoes your business qualify?
Eligibility rules are where schemes get fiddly. GovOwed checks your business against Defence Innovation Loans (DASA) — and every other UK scheme we track — in about 60 seconds, free. The £29 report then explains exactly why you qualify, drafts your answers and walks you through the real application step by step.
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