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Scottish Enterprise Grants
Scottish Enterprise’s R&D and SMART: SCOTLAND grants — essential funding to power your tech business forward.
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No-equity R&D grants for Scottish SMEs and large businesses.
What is Scottish Enterprise?
Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’s national economic development agency, committed to helping ambitious businesses innovate, grow, and compete globally. By providing strategic guidance, funding, and expert support, it empowers companies to realise their full potential and drive sustainable economic growth.
Two of its most sought-after funding opportunities are:
- The SMART: SCOTLAND grant, designed for SMEs exploring early-stage innovation. Up to £100,000 available.
- The Research & Development (R&D) Grant, available to both SMEs and larger businesses developing commercially viable new products, services, or processes. From £150,000 available.
SMART: SCOTLAND
Got a bold tech idea? The SMART: SCOTLAND grant helps Scottish SMEs explore innovative, high-potential concepts through funded feasibility studies.
Backed by Scottish Enterprise, this support is ideal for early-stage projects aligned with national priorities like energy transition, productivity, and high-growth innovation. If your idea carries commercial promise and technical risk, this grant could be the launchpad you need.
Do I Qualify for SMART: SCOTLAND?
Eligible applicants are Scottish-based SMEs or spin-outs with the capability and IP rights to deliver a commercially focused, technically innovative feasibility study.
The study must align with national priorities and require essential SMART: SCOTLAND funding alongside private match support.
SMEs or university spin-outs based in Scotland (or plan to establish operations there).
Technical and managerial capability to deliver a commercially focused feasibility study.
Projects with technological innovation, including technical risk or alignment with Scotland’s economic priorities.
Rights to use any background IP, own all project-generated IP, and have a plan to protect it.
Scottish Enterprise Research & Development (R&D) Grant
If you’re serious about innovation, this grant can help turn ambition into action. The Scottish Enterprise R&D Grant is aimed at businesses in Scotland working on projects that are novel to their businesses. So, you must be developing new or significantly improved products, processes, or services with strong commercial potential.
Whether you're pushing technological boundaries or refining a game-changing solution, this support is designed to fast-track your R&D journey and help you bring your innovation to market faster and stronger.
Do I Qualify for Scottish Enterprise R&D Grants?
Eligible applicants are financially viable companies based in the Scottish Enterprise’s area, undertaking significant novel R&D projects with strong commercial potential, internal delivery capability, and a clear need for grant funding to proceed.
SMEs or university spin-outs based in Scotland (or plan to establish operations there).
Technical and managerial capability to deliver a commercially focused feasibility study.
Projects with technological innovation, including technical risk or alignment with Scotland’s economic priorities.
Rights to use any background IP, own all project-generated IP, and have a plan to protect it.
SMART: SCOTLAND vs Scottish Enterprise R&D: What’s the Difference?
The SMART: SCOTLAND grant supports early-stage feasibility studies to explore the potential of innovative ideas, while the R&D Grant funds the development and commercialisation of more advanced projects with clearly defined outcomes.
Scottish Enterprise Research & Development (R&D) Grant
SMART: SCOTLAND
Award size
From £150,000
Up to £100,000
Project duration
6-36 months
6-18 months
Match-funding requirments
50- 65% for SMEs and 60-75% for large businesses
30% for small enterprises and 40% for medium enterprises
Payment structure
Paid in arrears and/or by project
milestones
One-third paid up front, and the remaining paid quarterly in arrears
Competition opens
Rolling basis
Rolling basis
Application process
Two-stage application process
Two-stage application process
How Much Could I Get?
For the SMART: SCOTLAND grant, your business could secure up to £100,000 in non-dilutive grant funding.
Whereas, for the Scottish Enterprise R&D grant, you could be awarded a minimum of £150,000 per project, with no specified upper limit.
Scottish Enterprise is on a mission to transform Scotland’s economy by uplifting small businesses to innovate and scale.
How Do I Apply for a Scottish Enterprise Grant?
You could apply directly with Scottish Enterprise for either grant opportunity, or you could save valuable time and energy and apply with Grantify’s AI-driven platform.
The Grantify platform builds your application from start to finish without:
- Wasting your time reading long, open-ended instructional PDFs
- Endless, vague suggestions for change
- Writing it all yourself
When it comes to these types of grant applications, you can expect two stages:
- Stage 1: Initial enquiry form (screening for fit and viability)
- Stage 2: Invitation-only full online application with appendices, covering project details, technical innovation, commercial potential, team, IP, and finances
Our Grant Experts can help you from start to finish, helping you articulate your vision into a cohesive application that ticks all the boxes for assessors.
Why Grantify?
Break down the complex process into short, simple questions.
Guide you throughout the entire process.
Exclusive access to over £3M worth of business perks.
Write sections of the application for you.
Give you free access to your own Statista account to reliably source crucial data.
Save your valuable time by building an application from your answers.
What Our Clients Say About Us
“We chose Grantify because we needed a specialist partner who could cut through the bureaucracy and help us translate our ambitious vision into the language and structure required by the grant process. Grantify brought clarity, structure, and expert support when we needed it most.”
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“Working with Grantify was seamless. Their platform distilled the process into manageable, structured stages, while their expert feedback dramatically improved the clarity and competitiveness of our answers. Their editorial support and detailed appendix guidance were particularly valuable in refining our technical and financial sections.”
Check if You’re Eligible in 90 Seconds
Take our fast, free eligibility quiz today to check if you could qualify for Scottish Enterprise funding.
Then, book a call for a no-obligation, no-nonsense advice session with one of our experts to kick off your funding journey.
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