Next Wave: How to Write an Innovate UK Application That Actually Scores
Innovate UK just launched a £10M grant competition for creative businesses. Up to £500k per project. Deadline 11 August.
If you're in video games, advertising and marketing, film and TV, or music and performing arts, this competition was written for you.
Tom Adeyoola, Innovate UK's new Executive Chair, has publicly committed to rebuilding the entire application process from the ground up because of AI. That rebuild hasn't landed yet. This competition runs on the existing system. Which means right now, if you know how the system actually works, you have a real advantage.
I've spent 19 years as an Innovate UK assessor and monitoring officer. I'm still one. I know exactly what scores and what doesn't, not from theory but from reading hundreds, if not thousands of applications from the inside.
What I'm also seeing is that assessors are drowning in AI-generated boilerplate. Generic applications that could have been written about any business, in any sector, for any competition. They stand out immediately. And they fail but not for the reasons you might think. There is a better way to do this.
In this 45-minute session I'll cover:
How Innovate UK actually scores applications and what kills good ideas on paper
What genuinely novel looks like in each of the four creative frontier sectors
Why most applications fail - it's not because the idea is bad
The AI application trap that's getting more submissions rejected than ever
The structure that consistently produces high-scoring applications
....with plenty of time for questions at the end. This is practical and specific. No overview of what InnovateUK grants are, I'm assuming you know that. You'll leave knowing whether this competition is right for you and, if it is, exactly how to approach prepping your application for it.
At the end I'll share three ways I can support your application directly.
Jo Eckersley is a founder, strategist, and published author of It Ain't Over 'Til... She has assessed and monitored Innovate UK applications for 19 years, raised over £3M in grants and investment across her own businesses, and written and won over £15M in grant applications for clients.