What are government-funded projects?
Government funded projects are awards publicly given by either national or local government.
Examples of some of the best grants between 2020-202
Investment
This blog outlines examples of some of the best government funded projects in the last three years, given to many businesses and charities.
Introduction
Government funded projects are awards publicly given by either national or local government. EU funded projects from the European Social Fund are also available. These awards are often given to specific groups of people or companies needing additional funding for projects they are working on. This can be across various industry sectors, including social enterprise, robotics, engineering, IT and infrastructure.
Various grants are available depending on your business sector, your circumstances, and the scale of your project. Over the last few years, many leading companies have worked, sometimes with others, on community projects to try and bring change to others or to introduce a new product that will be of great benefit. These projects have been successful, with the companies granted high amounts of money. This has led to greater recognition for their efforts and has contributed to a significant growth in innovation for the companies. Below we have listed some of the most notable examples of Innovate UK funded projects and grants, as well as a few from other awarding organisations, from the last few years (2020, 2021 and 2022).
Small Grants
Below is a list of approved government funded projects for less than £100,000. However, this is still significant money that has helped these proposals get off the ground.
Signalbox
Technologies Limited
Industry:
Railway deep tech
Grant Size: £96,550
Description:Create and deploy an API and SDK that will allow partners to embed real-time geospatial train maps, enabling passengers to view and track live train movements across the network, making it easier to plan and manage their journey.
Iotec Limited
Industry:
Digital security
Grant Size: £74,483
Description:Description: Investigates projects that help UK digital computing infrastructure to become more secure.
Protectbox Ltd
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £72,058
Description:Description: AI with user-friendly features that lets B2B/C/G/I users assess, match/bundle, compare, personalise, buy and rate a range of products and services.
A.N. Technology
Limited
Industry:
Nuclear waste
Grant Size: £60,000
Description:WACPAC - an autonomous system that assigns items from decommissioning operations to the correct waste stream.
Capabilities Limited
Industry:
Digital security
Grant Size: £54,000
Description:Assessing the applicability and viability of DSbD technologies to a complete open-source desktop environment software stack.
Anzen Technology
Systems Limited
Industry:
Digital security
Grant Size: £53,694
Description:Allows organisations to store their data in the public cloud with an increased level of assurance that it will not be leaked or compromised.
Delkia Limited
Industry:
Nuclear waste
Grant Size: £59,961
Description:Utilising the latest in sensory technology for imaging, material detection and clash detection, ASSIST incorporates sensor fusion capabilities resulting in an unmanned digital delivery solution for future nuclear decommissioning sort and segregation applications.
Altran UK Limited
Industry:
Nuclear waste
Grant Size: £54,851
Description:Description: Combine artificial intelligence and autonomous robots to sort and segregate nuclear waste.
Edge Hill University
Industry:
Cybersecurity
Grant Size: £31,790
Description:Online Authentication using User Behaviour Profiling.
University of Kent
Industry:
Blockchain
Grant Size: £29,205
Description:Voting in Blockchain Systems.
Aparito Limited
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £25,000
Hexsor Scientific
Limited, AquAffirm
Limited and
Membranology
Limited
Industry:
Green tech
Grant Size: £19,500
Grant Size: £4,000
Grant Size: £1,499
Description:Description: Accelerating the Adoption of Smart Technologies, Monitoring and Management Systems for Water Security and Sustainability in South Africa.
TechforTrade
Industry:
Green tech
Grant Size: £15,882
Royal Holloway
University of London
Industry:
Deep tech
Description:Democratisting Encrypted Data Analytics.
Medium Grants
Below is a list of projects awarded between £100,000-500,00. Many bodies and universities have been involved as innovators through these schemes.
Grey Wolf
Therapeutics Limited,
University of Oxford
and University of
Southampton
Industry:
Biomedical
Grant Size: £533,380
Grant Size: £199,530
Grant Size: £134,837
Description:Development on a next-generation approach to cancer immunotherapy that is more effective than existing treatments.
Massive Analytic
Limited
Industry:
Railway deeptech
Grant Size: £398,940
Description:Project EDGE: Will firstly build a digital twin of a section of rail track near Workington, demonstrating the availability, strength and latency of different terrestrial mobile phone signals, as well as satellite signals, and use AI to enhance board voice and data connectivity for customers.
EMTEQ Limited and
Queen Victoria
Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £396,278
Grant Size: £25,653
Description:Description: Develop brain rehabilitation that utilises virtual reality environments akin to real life scenarios, to help individuals build up their skills.
Dynamic Crowd
Measurement Ltd
Industry:
Railway deeptech
Grant Size: £369,871
Description:CCTV-based passenger density sensing & optimisation uses AI and machine learning to deliver accurate and real-time platform and carriage occupancy insights directly to passengers on platforms.
Fabrx Limited and
Brunel University
London
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £354,362
Grant Size: £139,715
Description:Develop SmartDose, an integrated solution that allows doctors to prescribe custom medication to patients and for pharmacies to manufacture it./
Richmond Design &
Marketing Limited,
Changi Airport Group
Singapore Pte Ltd and
Civil Aviation
Authority of Singapore
Industry:
Logistics
Grant Size: £349,747
Description:Use self-driving vehicle technology to enable safer and more efficient baggage handling for aviation industry.
Exrt Intelligent
Healthcare Limited
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £296,287
Description:An innovative connected-health physiotherapy device that provides personalised upper limb stroke physiotherapy within Virtual Reality for home-based physiotherapy.
Link:https://exrt.io/
IN4DERM Ltd
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £294,435
Description:Deliver a prototype drug that is suitable for development and progression into human clinical trials to treat eczema.
Muddy Machines Ltd,
JGHC Limited and
University of Warwick
Industry:
Robotics
Grant Size: £296,287
Grant Size: £20,747
Grant Size: £50,461
Description:Further develop the capabilities of an existing robotic vegetable harvesting concept in order to develop a prototype that can be used for commercial trials during the 2022 harvest season in the UK.
Birdie Care Services
Limited and Co-Assist
SaS
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £276,445
Grant Size: £175,678
Description:Adapting existing technology to perform even more sophisticated, world-first functionality, achieving cutting-edge innovation that will prove vital in the mission to keep elderly people happier, healthier and at home for longer.
Healome Therapeutics
Ltd
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £263,375
Description:Tackles the issue of rapid clearance of conventional eyedrops. Has the protective advantage of a contact lens but is as easy to apply as any other eyedrop.
PhenUTest
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £257,322
Description:Technology that enables a 30-minute antimicrobial susceptibility test for UTI-suspected samples which ensures that the patient gets the correct antibiotics.
Unhindr Ltd
Imperial College
London
Manufacturing
Technology Centre
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £247,379
Grant Size: £100,636
Grant Size: £44,610
Description:Development of Roliner, a sleeve-like device that uses Artificial Intelligence and is worn on the stump before putting a prosthetic limb on.
Roslin Technologies
Limited
Industry:
Food
Grant Size: £234,608
Description:To serve cultured meat companies globally by providing them with key cellular and media tools to cost effectively develop their own food products.
Mobotix Limited
Centre For Process
Innovation Limited and
Johnson Matthey PLC
Industry:
Robotics
Grant Size: £223,360
Grant Size: £74,721
Grant Size: £29,898
Description:Robust Automated Delivery (RAD): A resilient solution that will allow companies in the future to operate their research remotely. They will also demonstrate the concept of a "backup lab", a mirrored robotic facility in another site that can be controlled securely over the internet.
Link:https://matthey.com/
HausBots Limited and
Safeguard Europe
Limited
Industry:
Robotics
Grant Size: £197,855
Grant Size: £21,218
Description:Focused on developing transformative wall-climbing, paint applicator technology, that disrupts project delivery within the painting, decorating and damp proofing industries.
Wizdish Limited and
Oxfordshire County
Council
Industry:
Health tech
Grant Size: £193,421
Grant Size: £193,421
Description:Provides social VR (Virtual Reality) walks for people 65+ in Care Homes whose choices and opportunities are often limited. Wizdish has patented a VR treadmill (the ROVR) clinically assessed to use similar effort and muscle groups to walking.
Transport for All
Industry:
Social enterprise
Grant Size: £150,000
Description:For the continuation of the “Access, Rights, Advise” scheme, delivering transport sector system change, while making sure disabled people have a greater influence on policy.
JustLife Foundation
Industry:
Social enterprise
Grant Size: £147,000
Description:FEstablished Temporary Accommodation Action Groups (TAAGs) in five London Boroughs, allowing temporary accommodation residents to connect with each other and campaign for meaningful change.
Montague Sykes
Limited
Industry:
AI
Grant Size: £119,278
Description:AI to predict fraud and a new claims module to manage illness related fraud that could significantly reduce repeat and hidden fraud against organisations, enhance police capability and generate a year-5 post-project revenue of £5m.
Action For Race
Equality (ARE)
Industry:
Social enterprise
Grant Size: £115,000
Description:Continues to support core activities of the MoU project, with ARE’s role identifying and disseminating evidence of what needs to be done to improve employment outcomes for young Black men in London.
Large Grants
These are the largest grants we have listed for publicly funded projects; all were awarded over £500,000. They are all based in the green tech and biomedical sectors.
Biome Technologies
Limited
Industry:
Green tech
Grant Size: £1,936,494
Description:Develop a novel biodegradable tree guard to reduce the environmental burden of the current oil-based plastic design.
Pragmatic
Semiconductor
Limited
Industry:
Green tech
Grant Size: £1,278,347
Description:Reduce emissions from landfill to stop the avoidable waste from reaching it, achieved by a combination of actions grouped into reduce and re-use categories.
Rinri Therapeutics
Limited and Cell
Therapy Catapult
Limited
Industry:
Biomedical
Grant Size: £1,618,278
Grant Size: £1,028,557
Description:Description: Development of an unique-cell based therapy for patients with hearing loss caused by nerve damage.
Cambridge Allergy Ltd
Industry:
Biomedical
Grant Size: £1,119,481
Description:Development of a novel biological oral immunotherapy drug for the treatment of peanut allergies to protect patients from severe reactions.
Mas Design Products
Limited
Industry:
Green tech
Grant Size: £986,160
Description:Produce a folding bicycle that is compact and can be taken anywhere.
Why innovate?
Why do government-funded projects have to innovate to succeed? The industry is highly competitive and sought-after, so business leaders must keep their eye on the latest trends and developments in their sector and look for new ways to act upon them. Understanding this will help businesses learn the importance of growth through innovation. It’s critical to remember that problems cannot always be solved with old solutions. It’s also crucial for any company leader to thoroughly understand the process of innovators and what it takes to be one. Business innovation is often grouped into two categories: sustaining and disruptive.
- Sustaining innovation:Sustaining innovation: Enhancing an organisation’s processes and technologies to improve its current product line. Businesses usually carry this out to stay on top of their game in their market. This will, in turn, help them to become successful and influential innovators.
- Disruptive innovation:This happens when smaller businesses challenge larger ones with their ideas. It is classified into two sub-categories: low-end disruption, where company owners enter and claim a section at the bottom of an existing market, or new-market disruption, with innovators creating an additional market segment of their own to serve a customer base who have not yet been catered for in the existing market.
Growth in innovation is essential as it allows businesses to adapt constantly and be ready for change. This notably happened in recent years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trade was disrupted for some companies who chose to stick to the status quo, while others, in turn, became innovators as they overcame the challenges of these new changes. You will often be required to collaborate with others and invest time and resources into generating solutions to help you overcome obstacles.
The four stages of innovation
If a business were to be successful through innovation, it must keep in mind four steps to do this successfully. These were derived from Harvard Business School’s Dean Srikant Datar, who taught these principles in the online course Design Thinking and Innovation. Keep these in mind if you want to be a leading innovator.
- 1Clarify: Firstly, you will need to clarify any problem you may face and undertake research to understand your target audience, as well as their pain points. If any problem does arise, you will need to frame it in a way that will allow you to innovate and resolve the issue.
- 2Ideate: Next, you will have to generate ideas to help solve the problem, challenge assumptions, and overcome biases.
- 3Develop: Any solutions generated during the ideation stage need to be explored and developed further, preferably through innovation itself. Question the solution’s practicality and effectiveness before you decide whether to utilise it.
- 4Implement: Finally, you must communicate your developed idea to stakeholders.
Conclusion
If you want to find more information on publicly funded projects and grants and learn more about IT innovators, please visit the Innovate UK website for more information. You can also visit the different companies’ respective websites, as listed in the tables.
Business Development
