Innovate UK has opened a BridgeAI grant competition for UK-registered AI suppliers and organisations willing to test their technology in operational settings. The first phase has up to £5 million available, with applications open from October 21 to December 8. It is aimed at businesses that already have a working product but still face barriers to putting it into wider use.
The official competition brief sets a grant request of £100,000 to £200,000 per project. This is a competitive funding round, not an announcement that companies have received money. Innovate UK says funding remains subject to UK Research and Innovation approving the full business case and receiving enough suitable applications.
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst is intended to address the gap between an AI pilot and a system that an organisation can use in its everyday operations. For startup suppliers, that means demonstrating more than a promising model. The programme requires a partner able to provide the setting, users and data against which a deployment proposal can be tested.
A working product and a deployment partner
The lead must be a UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise with an existing AI or machine-learning solution at technology readiness level five or six. A functioning minimum viable product is required. Early research and concept development are excluded, as are generic productivity tools, routine back-office automation and projects where AI is peripheral to the partner's core operations.
Each consortium must include an eligible deployer, either a UK-registered medium or large business or a UK-based public-sector organisation. One further partner may join, making the team no larger than three organisations. Universities cannot lead, and subcontractors are not allowed. The structure therefore places responsibility for the technology with the SME and requires an organisation that can test its use.
The deployer must work in an eligible sector. These include health and life sciences, financial services, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, professional and business services, and creative industries. Funded organisations must carry out their work in the UK, intend to use the results there and spend most of the funding within the country.
The competition has three strands. Decision Critical Systems covers AI supporting consequential judgements or recommendations. Operational Systems concerns software that performs or coordinates activity within working processes. Assurance and Compliance Systems covers checking whether systems or outcomes meet requirements. Lead applicants must choose one strand according to the system's main purpose; an application submitted to the wrong strand will not be assessed.
Readiness comes before a wider rollout
Phase-one projects must assess both the supplier's ability to deliver and the deployer's readiness to adopt the system. That includes operational arrangements, regulatory requirements and assurance, rather than software performance alone. Teams must develop an evidenced use case and demonstrate the solution near the end of the project using representative data and systems in a representative working environment.
The grants do not necessarily cover every eligible cost. For commercial or economic work classified as feasibility studies, the brief sets maximum funding rates of 70% for micro or small organisations, 60% for medium-sized organisations and 50% for large organisations. The SME lead must account for 40% to 70% of the project's total eligible costs, while the deployer must account for 30% to 50%.
Projects are expected to last three to five months, start by April 1, 2027, and finish by August 31. Applications close at 11am UK time on December 8, which is 4.30pm IST. Innovate UK lists February 1, 2027, for notifying applicants. An approved grant-offer letter is required before work starts, and delays during project setup can move the start date.
Further funding is possible, but not automatic. After reviewing delivery and partner engagement, Innovate UK will decide which projects may apply for phase two. That stage would prepare systems for deployment. A third stage would support live operation and replication across two additional organisations. The published indicative limits are £1 million per consortium for phase two and £2 million for phase three.
Across the potential three-phase programme, Innovate UK expects up to £52 million to be available. The later durations, funding levels and co-investment requirements are not commitments. Successful phase-one participation therefore should not be presented as securing the whole funding pathway, and a high assessment score may still be insufficient if a proposal does not fit the programme's portfolio balance.
Related Dalimss News coverage examines the separate Sovereign AI investment and procurement allocation and byteXL's private financing round. BridgeAI is a distinct grant competition, rather than either an equity investment or a public procurement contract.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Crown copyright.
