Innovate UK AI Champions: Frontier AI Phase 1
Innovate UK·United Kingdom
SME-led frontier AI projects of £150,000 to £250,000 total eligible costs over 3 to 6 months; the Phase 1 round has closed.
What you get
“Your project's total eligible costs must be between £150,000 and £250,000. You can get funding for your project costs of up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation, up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation, or up to 50% if you are a large organisation.”
Can you apply
UK-registered SMEs may apply as lead organisations. Subcontractors are not allowed in this competition. A business can lead only one application.
When
Not open right now, and no next round has been announced.
Past rounds
- AI Champions: Frontier AI Phase 1closed 29 Apr 2026
What Innovate UK funds
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, funds UK-registered businesses to bring high-impact innovations to market through competitive, time-boxed grant competitions, including a recent series of frontier AI and sovereign AI competitions run with DSIT.
Everything Innovate UK funds →Details
Phase 1 of the Frontier AI R&D Consortia programme, which targets AI-enabled health and life sciences and advanced materials with AI. Projects must start by 1 August 2026 and end by 31 January 2027. Subcontractors are not allowed and a business can lead only one application. Innovate UK has stated it intends to invest a minimum of £50 million in Phase 2 demonstrator projects delivered by collaborative consortia, subject to business case approvals; no Phase 2 competition dates were published at the time of capture. Amounts shown are total eligible project costs, not the grant itself.