Secure Software for Resilient Growth

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £5 million for collaborative projects that enable adoption of the Government's Software Security Code of Practice to drive growth of secure and resilient software supply chains.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £5 million for Collaborative Research & Development projects. This is subject to a sufficient number of high-quality applications being received.

Cyber has been identified as a “frontier technology” in the UK’s Industrial Strategy 2025 and the Cyber Growth Action Plan 2025 has set out how cyber resilient technologies enable economic growth in the UK.

Software underpins all the digital technologies we rely on, driving productivity and growth across industry. But many sectors are undergoing digital transformation without embedding adequate cyber security measures. This is leaving them vulnerable to cyber-crime that drains £14.7 billion from the economy each year.

The Software Security Code of Practice is one of a series of cyber security codes of practice developed by the UK government to improve overall UK cyber-resilience.

The aim of this competition is to drive the growth of secure and resilient software supply chains in the UK, through the adoption of the Software Security Code of Practice (SSCoP).

Your project must:

• increase adoption, awareness and implementation of the SSCoP
• drive the commercial growth of cyber resilient technology supply chains in the UK
• increase the baseline level of cyber resilience of UK software supply chains
• support at least 2 or more of the 4 SSCoP Themes

To support the technical teams implementing these the Software Security Code of Practice, NCSC have provided implementation guidance.
This guidance provides more detailed information about how the principles can be implemented. It will also signpost to existing guidance and frameworks where possible.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.

Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have a 30% chance of success.

A range of factors are considered when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny.

InnovateUK reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the 29 April 2026 - Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.