Northern Ireland · research and development

Grants and funding for research and development in Northern Ireland.

Innovation grants, R&D tax reliefs and partnerships for businesses developing a new product, process or technology.

A business in Northern Ireland can use 37 schemes for research and development, and 22 are taking applications today. 5 are specific to Northern Ireland, from InterTradeIreland, Techstart Ventures / Invest Northern Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland / Innovate NI, NI Councils and Invest Northern Ireland; the other 32 are UK-wide.

Specific to Northern Ireland (5)

Innovation Boost (InterTradeIreland)

InterTradeIreland (cross-border trade and business development body) · Open now · Part-funded support

up to £56,000

Techstart Concept Plus Grant — Northern Ireland

Techstart Ventures / Invest Northern Ireland · Between rounds

up to £30,000

Business Innovation Grant (BIG) — Northern Ireland

Invest Northern Ireland / Innovate NI · Between rounds

up to £20,000

Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF) — Northern Ireland

NI Councils (Newry, Mourne & Down lead) / UKSPF · Closed

up to £20,000

Innovation Vouchers (Northern Ireland)

Invest Northern Ireland, with Innovate NI · Between rounds

up to £10,000

UK-wide, open to businesses in Northern Ireland (32)

Battery Innovation: Concept Development Round 3 (Innovate UK)

Innovate UK (UKRI), delivering the Battery Innovation Programme for the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade · Closing soon · Closes 2 Dec 2026

up to £4,000,000

Testing and validating underground hydrogen storage components (UKRI)

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) · Open now · Closes 13 Jan 2027

up to £3,000,000

Horizon Europe — EIC Accelerator

European Commission (European Innovation Council) · Open now

up to £2,100,000

Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships Round 1

Innovate UK (UKRI Engineering Biology Programme) · Closing soon · Closes 2 Dec 2026

up to £2,000,000

Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: Collaborative R&D Round 2 (Innovate UK)

Innovate UK (UKRI) with the Department of Health and Social Care · Closing soon · Closes 2 Dec 2026

up to £1,000,000

Investor Partnerships: National Materials Innovation Programme 1 (Innovate UK)

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) · Open now · Closes 19 Jan 2027

up to £900,000

Investor Partnerships – Battery Innovation Programme

Innovate UK, delivering the Battery Innovation Programme for the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade · Closing soon · Closes 25 Nov 2026

up to £900,000

Underground hydrogen storage demonstrator: DEVEX support (UKRI)

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) · Open now · Closes 13 Jan 2027

up to £750,000

Battery Innovation: Feasibility Studies Round 3 (Innovate UK)

Innovate UK (UKRI), delivering the Battery Innovation Programme for the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade · Closing soon · Closes 2 Dec 2026

up to £500,000

Google for Startups Cloud Program

Google Cloud · Open now · Credits, not cash

up to £276,500

UK Games Fund — Content Fund

UK Games Fund (UK Games Talent and Finance CIC, DCMS-backed) · Open now · Closes 31 Mar 2029

up to £250,000

BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst Phase 1 (Innovate UK)

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) · Closing soon · Closes 8 Dec 2026

up to £200,000

Microsoft for Startups

Microsoft · Open now · Credits, not cash

up to £118,500

Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems (Innovate UK)

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) · Closing soon · Closes 18 Nov 2026

up to £105,000

Growth Cohorts: Next-gen low carbon concrete (cohort entry Round 2)

Innovate UK (UKRI) / Innovate UK Business Connect · Closing soon · Closes 2 Dec 2026

up to £50,000

R&D Tax Relief (merged RDEC scheme)

HM Revenue & Customs · Open now · Tax relief

Enhanced R&D Intensive Support (ERIS)

HM Revenue & Customs · Open now · Tax relief

Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)

Innovate UK (UKRI) · Open now · Closes 27 Jan 2027 · Part-funded support

NVIDIA Inception

NVIDIA · Open now · Discount, not cash

Patent Box

HM Revenue & Customs · Open now · Tax relief

Research and Development Allowance (RDA)

HM Revenue and Customs · Open now · Tax relief

Innovate UK Innovation Loans

Innovate UK (Innovate UK Loans Ltd) · Paused · Loan (repayable)

up to £5,000,000

Healthy Soils and Water for a Sustainable Environment (Defra Farming Innovation Programme)

Defra Farming Innovation Programme, delivered by Innovate UK · Opening soon

up to £3,500,000

Defence Innovation Loans (DASA)

DASA / Innovate UK Loans Ltd · Paused · Loan (repayable)

up to £1,000,000

Innovation Support to Operations — UKDI themed competition (Cycle 8)

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), Ministry of Defence · Closed

up to £350,000

Eurostars (Call 12)

Innovate UK (Eureka / Eurostars) · Opening soon

up to £300,000

UK Games Fund — Prototype Fund

UK Games Fund (UK Games Talent and Finance CIC) · Paused

up to £100,000

Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards

Innovate UK (UKRI) · Closed

up to £75,000

UK Games Fund — Starter Fund

UK Games Fund (UK Games Talent and Finance CIC, DCMS-backed) · Closed

up to £20,000

Innovate UK Smart Grants

Innovate UK / UKRI · Closed

Google.org Impact Grants (Impact Challenges)

Google.org · Between rounds

UK Space Agency — National GSTP (ESA) Funding

UK Space Agency · Between rounds

Which of these is your business owed?

Check your business in about two minutes: your top three matches are shown free, by name. The £19.95 report names every match, explains every rule and drafts the applications.

Find my funding

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 · schemes change, so every scheme page shows the date it was last checked.