The document provides information about the Sustainable Innovation Fund, including news from funded projects, upcoming funding competitions, events, support programs, and resources. Some highlights include: - News stories about projects using VR to help inmates build business plans, technology to convert cow methane to water vapor, and touchscreen wheelchairs. - Upcoming funding competitions include Smart Grants from Innovate UK and Horizon Europe grants from the EU. - Events include workshops on the circular economy, women in innovation, and green finance. - Support programs listed are Innovate UK EDGE, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, and Tech For Our Planet challenge.

1. www.ktn-uk.org
Maximising the impact of you innovation project
Sustainable Innovation Fund
June 2021 Briefing

2. Content
• News
• Funding competitions
• Events
• Support programmes
• Resources
• Contact us

3. News
Stories from the Sustainable Innovation
Fund projects

4. Your News
Jay Wilson, Impact and Performance Manager for Health
and Life Sciences projects within The Sustainable
Innovation Fund, talks about some of your projects she
has been working with in this Innovate UK blog.
Including…
Latchaid use a 3D animation of a baby’s mouth to help
achieve a good latch for successful breastfeeding.
Enterprise Exchange use VR headsets to help inmates build
a business plan to become self-employed when they are
released.
Zelp have produced a wearable device for cows that
converts their methane emissions to harmless water vapour.
Freedom One Life has designed a new wheelchair
electronics system that includes touchscreen technology and
extended battery life.

5. Your News
Sarah Wellard, Impact and Performance Manager for The
Sustainable Innovation Fund, talks about how artificial
intelligence is being used to address societal and
environmental sustainability challenges in this Innovate
UK blog.
Including…
The Smart Container Company, who have built a product
intelligence platform that enables a zero-waste supply chain
in the draught beer industry.
Mind Foundry is developing a Green AI Auditor (GAIA) to
enable sustainable and resource-efficient AI uptake for the
financial services market.
Bezos.ai work is focused on decarbonising e-commerce
delivery and fulfilment. Making it easy for SME e-commerce
retailers to offer an option of green fulfilment and delivery to
their customers.
SimplyVideo is opening up their communication platform to
new capabilities in AR and VR devices to help essential
infrastructure function during Covid restrictions.

6. Tell us about your News
Kyra Allen
Communications Lead - KTN Programmes
kyra.allen@ktn-uk.org
KTN is working with Innovate UK to increase the impact of the Sustainable Innovation Fund through communications and
engagement. If you have news you’d like to share then please reach out to us and your Impact and Performance
Manager.
Charlotte Thompson
Knowledge Transfer Manager, Digital Economy
charlotte.thompson@ktn-uk.org

7. Funding Competitions

8. Innovate UK Smart Grants: May 2021
Deadline: 25th August 2021 11:00am
Innovate UK is investing up to £25 million in the best game-changing and commercially viable innovative or
disruptive ideas. All proposals must be business focused.
Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy.
Projects of 6 - 18 months must have total eligible project costs between £25,000 and £500,000 and can be single
or collaborative. Projects of 19 - 36 months must have total eligible project costs between £25,000 and £2 million
and must be collaborative.
Read more
Funding

9. Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe is an EU research and innovation programme. It has a budget of €95.5 billion and runs until 2027.
In January, the government announced that the UK will associate to Horizon Europe. This means UK scientists,
researchers and businesses will be able to access funding under the programme on equivalent terms as
organisations in EU countries.
• Overview of Horizon Europe Clusters and funding calls - Webinar Series
• Horizon Europe Consortium Building events
14th June: Cluster 1 Health and Cluster 2 Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society
17th June: Cluster 3 Civil Security for Society and Cluster 4 Digital, Industry and Space
21st June: Cluster 5 Climate, Energy and Mobility and Cluster 6 Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources,
Agriculture and Environment
SME Brexit Support Fund
Apply for a grant to help small and medium-sized businesses new to importing or exporting. The SME Brexit
Support Fund could give you up to £2,000 to help with training or professional advice, if your business has up to
500 employees and no more than £100 million annual turnover.
Featured International Funding

10. Featured Funding on Environmental Sustainability
Scottish Enterprise funding for green jobs
A new series of funding rounds to help businesses in the Scottish
Enterprise area create jobs that contribute to improving the
environment and achieving net zero emissions.
Deadline: 15th June
Hydrogen Transport Hub: demonstration
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £2.5 million to
demonstrate how green hydrogen can be used to power transport
solutions for end users.
Deadline: 16th June 2021 12:00pm
Driving the Electric Revolution: Supply Chains for Net Zero
UK registered businesses of any size can apply for a share of up
to £22 million for innovation projects focused on supply chain
development for power electronics, electric machines and drives.
Deadline: 30th June 2021 11:00am
IETF energy efficiency and decarbonisation studies, Spring 2021
Organisations can apply for a grant to carry out feasibility and
engineering studies into energy efficiency and decarbonisation
technologies for industrial processes.
Deadline: 14th July 2021 11:00am
IETF deployment of energy efficiency technologies, Spring 2021
Organisations can apply for a grant to improve the energy
efficiency of industrial processes, reducing energy bills and
cutting carbon emissions.
Deadline: 14th July 2021 11:00am
ISCF smart sustainable plastic packaging: business-led R&D
This competition will fund ambitious R&D projects with the
potential to significantly impact the 2025 UK Plastic Pact targets
and address widely known problems related to plastic packaging
for consumer products.
Deadline: 8th September 2021 11:00am

11. Featured Funding on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Young Innovators Awards 2021/22
Young people can apply for an award to make their
business idea a reality, which includes a grant for
£5,000, a living allowance, and tailored business support.
Deadline: 28th July 2021 11:00am
Briefing event 15th June 10:00am
Women in Innovation Awards 2021/22
Delivered by KTN and Innovate UK Edge, the
programme enables brilliant women to fully achieve their
visions and change the world, while championing and
celebrating gender diversity throughout UK innovation.
Through the Women in Innovation Awards 2021/22, 20
female entrepreneurs will be awarded with a cash
injection of £50K each, as well as a bespoke package of
business support, coaching and mentoring.
Innovate UK and KTN are hosting a briefing event to tell
you more about the scope for this competition, the
application process and support available for applicants.
Briefing event 24th August 2021 10:0am

12. Events

13. Made Smarter – Innovation Network: Circular Economy
8th June 10:00
Showcasing the journeys of manufacturers innovating with
digital technologies to improve the performance of their
business, alongside digital technology providers creating
innovative solutions to aid the manufacturers journey.
Women in Innovation: Let’s talk about…The 'F' word
9th June 13:00
Failure shouldn’t be something to fear, but something to
learn from and hone your strategy and direction. We talk
about the role failure can play in positively shaping you and
your business, and learn from women that have adapted and
evolved their businesses, or started new ones, after it all
went wrong.
Women in Innovation: Time Domination Experience
Workshop by Dr Hannah Roberts
16th June 10:00
The Time Domination Experience Workshop delivered by
Dr Hannah Roberts as part of the Women in Innovation
community, is a 60-minute session, to discover the five-pillar
system to time domination, increase your energy and
effectiveness and take yourself to the next level in your life
and career.
Green Finance workshop
22nd June 10am
Influence the scope of Innovate UK’s £5m Green Finance
competition
Global Research and Innovation in Plastics
Sustainability (GRIPS) 2021
GRIPS is a conference, exhibition and showcase that was
held online. It was hosted by the UK Circular Plastics
Network, organised by KTN and supported by Innovate UK,
EPSRC and UKRI. Its aim is to bring together companies
and individuals to highlight the best of the UK and selected
international activities which will lead to plastics and
persistent polymers being less likely to reach landfills, end
up incinerated, or become fugitive in the environment.
Webinar recordings
Events

14. Support Programmes

15. Innovate UK EDGE
Exploit business innovation to
grow and scale
Protect & harness your IP, improve
innovation management and access
the innovation ecosystem globally
through their expertise & networks.
Source funding & finance to grow
and scale
Find the best option and get
investment ready with their help, to
propel your growth.
Enter new markets to grow and
scale
Connections and guidance to expand
into vertical & international markets
and achieve scale.
Support Programme
www.innovateukedge.ukri.org
All SMEs receiving Innovate UK grant funding are contacted by an EDGE advisor. If you haven’t engaged with
Innovate UK EDGE before then please reach out to your Monitoring Officer or Impact and Performance Manager.

16. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: 2021 to 2022, round 2
Deadline: 30th June 2021 11:00am
The Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme allows a UK registered business or not-for-profit organisation
(business partner) to partner with a UK higher education or further education institution, Research Technology
Organisation or Catapult (knowledge base partner).
This partnership brings new skills and the latest academic thinking into the business partner to deliver a specific,
strategic innovation project. The knowledge base partner will recruit 1 or 2 graduates (known as ‘associates’) to
work on the project.
Each application must be led by a knowledge base, working with a business partner.
Read more
Support Programme

17. Tech For Our Planet
Deadline: 25th June
Tech For Our Planet is looking for innovators who are providing key digital and data technology solutions to tackle
important climate challenges. If this is you, apply now to be in with a chance to pilot and pitch your solution.
This challenge programme is an initiative run in partnership between the Cabinet Office and PUBLIC to explore
and showcase how digital and data solutions can make a major and essential contribution to the global climate
effort.
Successful companies will work with external partners on rapid pilots to demonstrate the value of their technology
in advance of COP26. In-kind support will be provided for competition winners, including industry introductions and
mentorship to ensure the pilots are as relevant as possible to government priorities.
Apply now to be in with a chance to pilot and pitch your solution.
Read more
Support Programme

18. Resources

19. Funding
• UKRI funding finder - online guides and support before you
apply and preparing an application
• KTN Good Application Guide - a guide on how to write a
successful Innovate UK grant application
• Pitch Guide - a guide on how to prepare and an present an
investment pitch
• British Business Bank Finance Hub
Innovation Development
• Accelerators & Incubators in the UK – a creative commons
resource of UK programmes.
• Innovation Networks - Innovation programme to bring together
stakeholders across a technology theme. To promote a shared
understanding on emerging technologies cross sector.
• Tech Nation UK Startup Ecosystem
• Innovation Development Resource Library - a tool to plan the
innovation development journey. Supplemented with resources
to help address activities and stages of commercialisation
• British Library Business & IP Centres - access to training, IP
and market research resources
Regional & Thematic SME and Business Support
• Innovate UK EDGE - regional 1:1 Business support enable
ambitious, innovative SMEs to accelerate their growth and
achieve
• Catapults – provide businesses with access to their expertise
and facilities, enabling them to test, demonstrate and improve
their ideas.
• Growth Hubs - promote and deliver business support based
on the regional needs in England
• Scottish Enterprise – works with business to help overcome
challenges, enhance business practices, explore new markets
and opportunities to grow your Scottish company
• Invest NI - helps new and existing businesses to compete
internationally, and by attracting new investment to Northern
Ireland.
• Business Wales – provides advice and guidance you need to
start and grow a business in Wales.
Resources

20. About KTN

21. KTN exists to connect
innovators with new partners
and new opportunities
beyond their existing thinking –
accelerating ambitious ideas
into real-world solutions.

22. Our Team
200 colleagues based across
the UK
Offices in Edinburgh, London
and Harwell

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Positive Change.
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