OpenGrant

Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1[E8]

United KingdomInnovate UK[E1]

In plain English

What it funds: UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £3.1 million to deliver feasibility studies for frontier artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) technologies with a clear route to defensible scale-up. Location: National. Award: £150,000 to £250,000. Total fund: £3,100,000.
Who can apply: private sector.
Open to: Small and medium firms
Open to: Startups
Stage: Idea and proof of concept
Stage: Growth and scale-up
Dates: Opens 1 Oct 2026.Closes:
Funder's deadline: 11 Nov 2026, 11:00 UK time (UTC). UTC: 11 Nov 2026, 11:00 UTC.
Funding: GBP 3,100,000 in totalUp to GBP 250,000 for one applicant.Kind of money: Grant.
Funder: Innovate UKSee what else this funder offers.
How to apply: Apply to the funder directly. Open the funder's page on UK Find a grant (government grants, all UK nations) (opens in a new tab) ↗
Guidance and application: The funder's guidance, rules and application form are on its own page. Read them before you apply.

Opens[E6]: 1 Oct 2026
Closes[E3]: 11 Nov 2026, 11:00 UK time (UTC)
Total funding[E9]: GBP 3,100,000
Per applicant[E10]: GBP 250,000
Source: UK Find a grant (government grants, all UK nations) (opens in a new tab)
Last checked: 5 hours ago

Who can apply

EligibilityWho can apply: private sector.[E4]
Open toSmall and medium firms, Startups. Tagged by SLETOR from the listing's own words.

Risks and unknowns

RiskThis is a grant, not a contract. Grants usually need a proposal against the funder's criteria, may need partners and often need co-funding.[E5]
UnknownWe read the funder's listing, not the full guidance or application forms.

Updates

First seen · 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC
The funder published the call with a future closing date.
Source record: Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm)

Evidence

10 facts

Every fact on this page comes from the funder's listing. Each entry shows the record and the field it was read from.

E1
The funder is Innovate UK.
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantFunder, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E2
The grant is listed on the UK government's Find a grant service.
“GB”
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantLocation, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E3
Applications close on 11 Nov 2026, 11:00 UK time (UTC).
“2026-11-11T11:00”
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantApplicationCloseDate, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E4
Who can apply: private sector.
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantApplicantType, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E5
This is a UK government grant. Applicants apply to the funder.
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), the whole record, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E6
Applications open on 1 Oct 2026, 10:00 UK time (UTC+1).
“2026-10-01T10:00”
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantApplicationOpenDate, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E7
When we read it, the call was open, going by the open and close dates on Find a grant.
“2026-11-11T11:00”
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantApplicationCloseDate, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E8
The notice is titled "Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1".
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantName, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E9
The stated value is GBP 3,100,000 (the total fund, shared between applicants).
“3100000 GBP”
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantTotalAwardAmount, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E10
The most one applicant can get is GBP 250,000.
“250000 GBP”
From Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1 (ID 6N8eTgB18xPVmOqZOUl9mm), field /grantMaximumAward, read 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

Contains public sector information from Find a grant, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (opens in a new tab). Personal contact details in notices are not stored or shown.