Growth Catalyst for Early-Stage Startups, July 2025

Innovate UK’s Growth Catalyst for Early-Stage startups pilot supports innovators in 5 of the government’s frontier technologies

Innovate UK’s Growth Catalyst pilot helps accelerate early-stage startups on their journey to growth. It offers services and funding to successful applicants in high-potential start-up businesses to accelerate their progress to becoming scaleups and beyond.

This pilot round of Growth Catalyst is for early-stage micro and small (pre-seed) startups on their initial journey to develop and validate technical and commercial elements of their innovation. Other Growth Catalyst pilots, potentially in other domains, are planned to run later this year.

It is for startups working in any of the following five areas from the government’s frontier technologies:

• Advanced connectivity technologies (formerly called future telecoms)
• Artificial intelligence
• Engineering biology
• Quantum technologies
• Semiconductors

This pilot funds projects which run for 3-6 months, to be completed by 30 April 2026. Your project’s total costs and grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £50,000.

UK Innovate have built a suitability checker to help you make a more informed decision about whether to apply. It is optional and only takes five minutes.

Applications are open from 7 July 2025 and close on 6 August 2025 at 11am.