£100k to £200k to get your AI deployed.
Innovate UK has £5m in each of three competitions. Applications close at 11am on 8 December, so check your fit first.
Register freeBridgeAI Deployment Catalyst at a glance
Phase 1 of the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme in four numbers.
This isn't funding to build AI. It's funding to deploy it.
It's for UK AI SMEs whose product already works, at around TRL 5 or 6, and who now need to prove it can be deployed inside a real organisation.
That organisation, your deployer, opens up its people, data and systems, and Phase 1 ends with a demo in that setting. Still building the AI? This one isn't for you yet, but register free to see what is.
Register freeOne programme, three competitions. Find the one that fits.
Same rules, three separate £5m competitions. What changes is what your AI is there to do, and if you apply to the wrong one you won't be assessed.
So are you a fit?
You're probably a fit if all five of these are true.
If they aren't, there's likely other funding that suits you better, and registering free will show you what.
- You're a UK-registered SME with an AI product at a working MVP (TRL 5–6)
- You have a UK deployer partner in one of the seven eligible sectors
- AI is central to the deployment, and it's new in that setting
- You own the IP, or have the rights to deploy and commercialise it
- Each partner can fund its share and wait to be paid in arrears
Your deployer has to work in one of seven sectors.
It isn't just a label. Your deployer needs a real operational setting in one of these.
Health and life sciences
Healthcare, medtech, pharma, diagnostics and care delivery, where safety, quality and governance matter.
Financial services
Regulated financial operations, where controls, auditability and trust are central.
Advanced manufacturing
Production processes, equipment, industrial software and quality, in a live operational setting.
Clean energy industries
Power generation, grid operations, energy assets and low-carbon infrastructure.
Defence
Defence systems and processes, with any permissions or licences in place by the project start.
Professional and business services
Core service delivery and regulated operations, rather than generic internal productivity.
Creative industries
Core creative operations, rather than general AI content or workflow tools.
Not sure where you sit?
Register free and the platform checks your sector, your strand and your eligibility in a few minutes.
Register free ↗From 'is it worth it?' to submitted, in weeks not months.
Three steps from registration to an application you can stand behind.
Match
Answer a few questions and get a named match to the right BridgeAI strand, plus any other grants you qualify for, with an indicative funding value.
Plan
Get your full report and talk it through with an experienced Account Executive: which strand fits, what assessors score and where applications fall down.
Apply
Build it with up to 3 hours of Advisor calls and 24/7 platform access, then two in-depth reviews, proofreading and a final check before you submit.
The money, and the bit people miss.
Innovate UK pays up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small companies, 60% for medium and 50% for large. Each partner funds the rest of its own share.
The bit people miss: the lead SME carries 40–70% of the total costs and the deployer 30–50%, so your partner puts real money in. Claims are paid in arrears, too.
With £5m per competition, that's roughly 25 to 50 projects per strand, and a good score still isn't a guarantee.
Why Phase 1 is the most important one to get into.
Phases 2 and 3 are by invitation only, based on how your Phase 1 project delivers.
Neither is guaranteed and both need co-investment, but they're what make Phase 1 worth a serious application.
UK founders who got through.
Opens 21 October. Closes 11am, 8 December.
Lead SMEs can only lead one application across all three strands, and old applications can't be reused. Settle your strand and deployer early.
Register free21 October 2026
The three competitions open.
6 November 2026
The last day you can register with Grantify and have enough time to craft a truly competitive application.
8 December 2026, 11am
Applications close.
By 1 April 2027
Your project starts, on the first day of a month.
By 31 August 2027
Your project finishes. Phase 1 runs for three to five months.
Where Grantify comes in.
We've secured more than £200M for over 650 companies, so we know how assessors score.
Register free and the platform tells you which strand, if any, fits. If it stacks up, our experts help you build the use case, the readiness assessment and the costs.
It closes on 8 December. Finding out which strand is yours takes a few minutes.
Free registration. Named match and indicative value in minutes. Applications open 21 October and close at 11am on 8 December 2026.
No. Every project is a consortium of two or three organisations: a UK-registered SME leading as the AI supplier, an eligible UK deployer, and optionally one more partner.
A UK-registered medium or large business, or an eligible UK-based public sector organisation, operating in one of the seven eligible sectors. It has to give you meaningful access to its people, data, systems and operational environment.
Not as the lead. A lead SME can lead only one application and can't collaborate on any others across the three strands. A deployer can be part of up to three, as long as each one is a materially different use case.
Not for the same use case. The programme is for solutions that may have been piloted or trialled, but aren't yet commercially deployed in the use case you're proposing.
Innovate UK funds up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small companies, 60% for medium and 50% for large, and each partner covers the rest of its own costs. The lead SME has to account for 40% to 70% of total eligible costs and the deployer 30% to 50%.
No. Subcontracting isn't permitted on this competition, and all funded work has to happen in the UK.
Phase 1 runs for three to five months. It has to start on the first day of a month, by 1 April 2027 at the latest, and finish by 31 August 2027.
Projects that deliver may be invited to apply for Phase 2, around six months of deployment preparation with up to £1m, and then Phase 3, around 22 months of live deployment with up to £2m. Neither is guaranteed, and both need co-investment.
The grant itself is free, and registering to check your fit costs nothing. There's a fee to apply with Grantify's support and a success fee if you're awarded.
Then you'll know in a few minutes rather than a few weeks, and the platform will show you the funding opportunities that do match.