A new Innovate UK funding competition has opened to support high-growth UK companies developing semiconductor, AI hardware and advanced connectivity technologies.
The Investor Partnerships – ACT and Semiconductors competition brings together Innovate UK grant funding with private investment, helping innovative UK SMEs accelerate R&D while accessing the capital needed to take new technologies towards commercialisation.
Up to £15 million has been allocated to the competition, which is jointly funded by government to support Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) and Semiconductors – two of the frontier technologies identified within the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. For semiconductor companies, the programme also supports the ambitions of the UK AI Hardware Plan.
What semiconductor technologies are in scope?
The semiconductor theme is deliberately broad and includes technologies across the semiconductor value chain, including:
- novel compute hardware and AI accelerators
- advanced semiconductor materials and devices
- IC design and architecture
- semiconductor fabrication processes, equipment and manufacturing technologies
- power electronics and energy-efficient devices
- sensors and MEMS
- photonics and optoelectronics
AI hardware projects can include technologies for data centre, edge and embodied AI, including AI processors and accelerators, chiplets and heterogeneous integration, 3D packaging, photonic interconnects and co-packaged optics, sensing technologies and advanced SiC and GaN power electronics.
A third theme also supports the convergence of semiconductors and advanced connectivity, including specialist hardware for communications infrastructure, photonic systems, hardware/software co-design and integrated sensing, compute and connectivity platforms.
Who can apply?
The competition is aimed at growth-oriented UK SMEs, particularly companies from seed through to Series A.
Projects must be led by a single UK-registered SME, with the project work undertaken in the UK and the results intended to be exploited from or within the UK.
Importantly, this is an Investor Partnerships competition. Applicants must be working with one of Innovate UK’s selected investor partners and must have discussed and agreed their proposal with that investor before submitting their application.
How much funding is available?
For industrial research, projects must have total costs of between £250,000 and £1 million, with Innovate UK funding up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small businesses and up to 60% for medium-sized businesses.
For experimental development, project costs must be between £500,000 and £2 million, with grant funding of up to 45% for micro and small businesses and 35% for medium-sized businesses.
Projects must run for between 6 and 18 months. The Innovate UK grant must also be accompanied by qualifying private investment led or catalysed by an approved investor partner.
Key dates
Competition opens: 1 September 2026
Online briefing: 7 September 2026, 11:30am
Application deadline: 14 October 2026, 11:00am
Applicants notified: 16 November 2026
Projects start by: 1 February 2027
For UK semiconductor companies developing ambitious new technologies with the potential to scale, this represents an important opportunity to combine public R&D support with the private investment required to accelerate commercialisation.
TechWorks members working in semiconductors, AI hardware, photonics, power electronics, advanced packaging, sensing or related technologies are encouraged to review the competition and assess whether their development plans could qualify.
Find out more and apply
Full competition scope, eligibility requirements, investor partnership arrangements and application details are available through the Innovate UK Innovation Funding Service.
