Innovate UK

A year on from joining Innovate UK, our Executive Chair, Tom Adeyoola, sat down with The Form Playbook to reflect on his first year in the role and the shift Innovate UK is making − moving beyond funding individual projects to supporting companies from breakthrough idea to becoming an industry giant. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ervsfntw Form Ventures | Leo Ringer

This month's Innovation Insights is now live. In our latest issue, we spotlight the opportunities currently open on the Innovation Funding Service giving you a clear view of where support is available right now. You’ll also find inspiring stories from Innovate UK funded organisations, from breakthroughs in electric aviation to advances in brain cancer research. Read the full issue 👇

It’s World Quantum Day, the perfect time to revisit our feature on Nu Quantum and its exciting work at the forefront of quantum innovation in the UK. Read more about its journey and impact: https://lnkd.in/gviM3v_6   If you’re developing quantum computing solutions, don’t miss our Contracts for Innovation opportunity to develop, build and validate integrated quantum computer hardware and software: https://lnkd.in/gGnA4FmY Photo: Dr Carmen Palacios-Berraquero

1 week on from the launch of our new prospectus. Last week, we set out our vision for a UK where breakthrough ideas become industry giants. Our 60-second highlights video captures our Executive Chair, Tom Adeyoola, sharing how we’re here to help innovators start, scale and stay in the UK. Share your thoughts in our prospectus feedback survey – it takes less than 5 minutes: https://ow.ly/AC4450Yz4YJ Explore more in our full prospectus: https://ow.ly/3ax250Yz50p

Quantum momentum across the UK Last week’s £2 billion Department for Science, Innovation and Technology investment package set out a bold vision for the UK to lead the world in deploying quantum technologies at scale, accelerating progress in quantum computing, sensing, networking and commercialisation. Want to know more about quantum and the opportunity for businesses? See our round-up below. - Tom Adeyoola in City AM. Innovate UK’s Executive Chair highlights why Britain is poised not just to join the quantum revolution, but to lead it. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eHbjJjHm - Nu Quantum advances next‑gen quantum networking. Features writer Sophia Epstein ☁️interviewed Nu Quantum’s Dr Carmen Palacios-Berraquero following Nu Quantum’s record breaking $60 million Series A investment in December. The company continues to push the frontier of secure quantum communications - a strong example of how Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation backing accelerates commercial‑ready innovation. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e77xnGjN - Cambridge becomes home to the UK’s most powerful quantum computer. A major partnership between the University of Cambridge and IonQ marks a step‑change in national capability. Watch Roger McKinlay, Challenge Director, Quantum Technologies, at Innovate UK, share more, together with a backstory on Innovate UK’s support: https://lnkd.in/eRDHNviD     These stories reflect a UK quantum sector that is scaling fast - exactly the momentum highlighted in last week’s DSIT announcements, reaffirming the UK’s commitment to becoming the first nation to deploy quantum computers at scale by the early 2030s. Learn more on Innovate UK’s vision for a UK where breakthrough ideas can become industry giants: https://lnkd.in/eQ4uZBB3 Photo: Dr Carmen Palacios-Berraquero Photo credit: Jim Johnston

Today, Innovate UK sets out its plan for the future. Dive into the details in our latest Innovation Insights, and don’t miss Sifted’s interview with Tom Adeyoola, Executive Chair at Innovate UK > https://lnkd.in/epaidfZa

A new chapter begins for Innovate UK – and for UK innovation. Today, we recalibrate. We’re launching our new prospectus, a refreshed direction that sets out how we’ll better support the UK’s most ambitious businesses to scale, commercialise and compete globally. This marks a significant moment for Innovate UK. Explore what’s changing and why it matters. If you're an ambitious, deep tech business ready to scale, we're ready to back you. Read the prospectus: https://lnkd.in/eQ4uZBB3 #IUKProspectus #InnovationForGrowth #UKInnovation

Innovate UK is delighted to support the partnership between the University of Cambridge and IonQ. The IonQ Quantum Innovation Centre - set to house the UK's most powerful quantum computer - will be a fantastic addition alongside the National Quantum Computing Centre in strengthening the UK's quantum infrastructure. And it's a facility that won't just serve Cambridge: researchers and early-stage companies from across the UK will be able to access this world-class technology. In 2020, Innovate UK awarded an early collaborative grant to Oxford Ionics (now part of IonQ) to help build a UK quantum computing supply chain. It’s fantastic to see how far that early support has come. This partnership is also an important step in moving quantum innovation toward real‑world deployment. As IonQ expands its UK capabilities, the new Centre will help accelerate the journey from breakthrough research to commercial applications in sectors like drug discovery, national security, climate solutions and more. It’s another milestone in building a scalable UK quantum industry. Read more below 👇

What does it take to recognise and empower the people driving the UK’s innovation breakthroughs?   We often picture innovation as the work of formal R&D teams, but our newest insights show that the hidden engine of UK innovation lies with the thousands of specialists, engineers and problem-solvers whose roles aren’t formally labelled “innovation” at all.   In this month’s Talking Innovation, Debbie Johnson, Head of Innovation Talent & Skills, and research specialist, Abigail Stocker, explore how shining a light on the range of roles, and understanding the underpinning skills, can help businesses unlock far greater innovation potential.   If we get this right, the next decade of UK innovation won’t just accelerate, it will broaden, deepen, and belong to many more people than we think.   Read the full piece 👇

This International Women’s Day, we’re championing the trailblazing women who are shaping the UK’s future. This is about women like Samantha, Lia, Emma, Ese, Beren - and hundreds more - who are improving lives, strengthening communities and driving economic growth. The numbers that follow matter because they reflect what’s possible when women-led innovation is supported. 👇 Since launching in 2016, the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards has invested £11m+ in 203 women innovators - who have gone on to secure over £358m* of additional funding, including: - £272m+ in private investment across 405 fundraising rounds* - £86m+ in grant funding across 507 awards* But the real legacy is what those numbers represent. High-value jobs created. International expansion. Prestigious industry and royal recognition. Major partnerships with organisations like Disney, M&S, Universal, Müller, Warner Music, Sanofi, Waitrose, Royal Engineers and the NHS. These pioneering women have unleashed breakthrough innovations that are transforming lives and industries, including: - Samantha Payne MBE co-founder of Open Bionics: affordable, multi-grip prosthetics that empower people with limb differences to live without limits. - Lia Li founder of Zero Point Motion: ultra-precise motion sensors that operate where GPS fails - from indoors and underground, to dense cities and outer space. - Emma Yates founder of Proteotype Diagnostics: cancer detection that harnesses immune‑responses to spot disease earlier and improve patient outcomes. - Ese Eniwumide co-founder of Happaning: real-time, crowdsourced video platform that transforms live audiences into powerful content creators. - Beren Kayali co-founder of Deploy™: rapidly deployable, inflatable concrete water tanks for disaster relief, defence operations and remote communities. Alongside supporting these incredible founders, the Women in Innovation Awards has built a vibrant community of 11,000+ women business leaders and helped grow the proportion of successful women-led applications across all Innovate UK competitions from 1 in 7 to 1 in 3. Join us in celebrating these trailblazing women innovators. They’re not just building successful businesses. They’re building a better future for the UK. 👉 Explore stories from our Innovate UK Women in Innovation alumni by clicking our hashtag #IWD26WII 👉 Join the Women in Innovation community: https://lnkd.in/gh4SD-m #IWD2026 #WomenInnovate #WomenInBusiness #Innovation #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #StartupSuccess *Beauhurst data