UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £1.8 million to target the growth of the cyber security sector and the development of cyber security skills. This funding is from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to invest up to £1.8 million in innovation projects.
These will be to resolve geographical disparities in the development and growth of the cyber security sector and to reduce the skills gap in the sector.
The aim of this competition is to develop impactful regional activities and events that focus on supporting the growth of the cyber security sector and the development of cyber security skills.
Your proposal must:
The nine specific geographical areas are:
For further information on these specific areas please see the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics guidance.
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.
This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.
Grant
Your project’s grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £150,000.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.
You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.
We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.
You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
Your project
Your project must:
To obtain an endorsement please submit an Expression of Interest to the local steering group by contacting the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) by midnight, Friday 14 March using the provided online form you will find in the Supporting Information tab.
Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.
You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.
You will be made ineligible if you exceed the Minimal Financial Assistance limit. You must submit a complete declaration as part of your application.
Lead organisation
To lead a project or work alone your organisation must be a UK registered:
More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.
Project team
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be a UK registered:
Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs in the application.
To be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must apply for funding when entering their costs into the application.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.
You must also provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you.
We expect all subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.
Number of applications
A business of any size, academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO) can lead one application and can be included as a collaborator in any number of applications.
If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.
Sanctions
This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.
Use of animals in research and innovation
Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.
Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.
Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.
You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.
If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.
If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.
We will not award you funding if you have:
Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to Innovate UK in relation to other projects.
Grant funding in this competition is awarded as Minimal Financial assistance (MFA). This allows public bodies to award up to £315,000 to an enterprise in a three year rolling financial period.
In your application, you will be asked to declare previous funding received by you. This will form part of the financial checks ahead of Innovate UK making a formal grant offer.
To establish your eligibility, we need to check that our support added to the amount you have previously received does not exceed the limit of £315,000 in the ‘applicable period’.
The applicable period is made up of:
(a) the elapsed part of the current financial year, and
(b) the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year.
You must include any funding which you have received during the applicable period under:
You do not need to include aid or subsidies which have been granted on a different basis, for example, an aid award granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation.
Further information about the Subsidy Control Act 2022 requirements can be found in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).
EU Commission rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.
In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.
Further information
If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, you should take independent legal advice. We cannot advise on individual eligibility or your legal obligations.
We have allocated up to £1.8 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.
Your total project costs will be up to 100% funded, up to the maximum grant of £150,000. Your grant funding request detailed within your application must not exceed £150,000. If your grant funding request exceeds £150,000 then your application will be made ineligible. Your project costs can be higher than your grant funding request.
You can make reference to any additional voluntary contribution in your application answers. It must not be detailed in the finance section.
For more information on company sizes, please refer to the Company accounts guidance.
If you are applying for an award funded under European Commission Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.
The aim of this competition is to develop impactful regional activities and events that focus on supporting the growth of the cyber security sector and the development of cyber security skills.
These projects will be to resolve geographical disparities in the development and growth of the cyber security sector and to reduce the skills gap in the sector.
Your project must:
The nine specified geographical areas are:
Further information and the contact details to obtain the endorsement from the steering group of your geographical area can be found in the Supporting Information tab.
Your project can:
We welcome applications that support women into the cyber workforce and initiatives that are aimed at inspiring young girls to consider a technology career.
We also welcome applications that encourage the adoption of Government products, such as Cyber Essentials or the professional titles introduced by the UK Cyber Security Council.
Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across different locations. We call this a portfolio approach.
We are prioritising projects that have a presence or are already operating in the geographical area where the project is going to be delivered. We will be using the answer to Question 5 to determine this.
Your project must focus on one or more of the following:
We are not funding projects that:
We cannot fund projects that:
17 March 2025 Competition opens
18 March 2025 Online briefing event: register to attend
Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event.
30 April 2025 11:00am Competition closes
22 May 2025 Applicants notified
1 September 2025 Project start from
You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.
Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:
You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.
What we ask you
The application is split into three sections:
Accessibility and Inclusion
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.
You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.
We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.
You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
This section provides background for your application and is not scored.
Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.
Application team
Decide which organisations will work with you on your project and invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.
Application details
Give your project’s title, start date and duration.
Project summary
Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Public description
Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Scope
Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 6. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.
You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.
Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)
You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.
We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.
Question 2. Minimal Financial Assistance declaration (not scored)
You must download the declaration template. You must complete this, declaring any funding received under Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) or De minimis awards, (from any source of public funding) in the applicable period.
Each partner must complete all the fields on their form before uploading.
The lead applicant must write ‘declaration attached’ in the question text box.
The lead applicant must upload all the completed declarations as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It must be legible at 100% zoom.
You must keep all documentation relating to Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) and other De minimis awards for a period of six years. You must be prepared to release it to any public funding body which requests it.
Question 3. Animal testing (not scored)
Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?
You must select one option:
We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.
Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.
Question 4. Permits and licences (not scored)
Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?
We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.
You must select one option:
Question 5. Delivery location (not scored)
Where will your project be delivered?
Do you already have a presence in the geographical area where the project is going to be delivered?
Indicate the geographical area or areas where the project will be delivered:
Explain the nature of your presence in the area or areas specified.
If you currently don’t have a presence in the area, explain the reason why you have chosen that geographical area or areas.
Your response to this question will not be scored but it will be used as part of the portfolio approach.
Question 6. Steering group endorsement (not scored)
Have you received endorsement from your local steering group?
You must submit the endorsement from your local steering group as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, up to two A4 pages long, and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom. You will be made ineligible if you do not submit this appendix.
Question 7. Need or challenge
What is the need, challenge, or opportunity behind your project?
Explain:
Question 8. Approach
What approach will you take and where will the focus of the project be?
Explain:
You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 9. Team and resources
Who is in the project team and what are their roles?
Explain:
You can submit one appendix with a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.
10. Added value and impact
How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your project?
What impact would this award have on the organisation or organisations involved and outside the project team?
Explain:
Describe, and where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project to:
Describe any expected social impacts in the geographical area, either positive or negative on, for example:
Question 11. Outcomes and plan for continuation
How are you going to grow and continue your initiative after the funding period?
Please indicate if your initiative is a one-off project.
Explain:
If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:
Question 12. Project management
How will you manage your project effectively?
Explain:
You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages but must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 13. Risks
What are the main risks for this project?
Describe:
You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 14. Costs and value for money
How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?
In terms of the project goals, explain:
Each organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.
Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.
Your projects total grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £150,000. If your grant funding request falls below the minimum or exceeds the maximum, then your application will be made ineligible.
You can make reference to any additional voluntary contribution in your application question answers but these must not be detailed in this finance section.
For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance please see the eligibility section in this competition. You can also view our application finances video.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.
You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.
Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:
Cyber Local 2025 2026 Assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)
Innovation Loans Future Economy Rd 20 - assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)
To ensure that proposed projects address the specific needs of the area in which they will be delivered, we require applicants to secure the endorsement of their local steering group before they are formally assessed by Innovate UK.
Steering groups will not be asked to complete a full assessment on applications but rather consider how well the proposed projects align with the priorities of their local cyber ecosystem. The steering groups will not be limited in the amount of applications they can choose to endorse.
Steering Groups will be representative of their local cyber ecosystem. Membership of steering groups will vary across each region but may include representatives from government, academia and industry. This may include further and higher education institutions, cyber clusters, cyber businesses and business representative organisations.
Before submitting your application, you need to prove the endorsement of your local steering group.
For that, please submit an Expression of Interest by completing the online form before midnight, Friday 14 March.
The endorsement of your idea from the steering group will be communicated by Tuesday 1 April.
Please attach your local steering group endorsement as an appendix to Question 6.
We encourage that you start your application on the portal in parallel to receiving the confirmation from the steering group to avoid delays in submitting your application.
The endorsement of the steering group is a necessary requirement to apply but it does not imply that your application has been successful for funding.
We will not fund applications that duplicate the CyberFirst programme. If you are unsure if your activity would duplicate an existing CyberFirst activity please contact your local Cyber First delivery partner.
Background
The UK has a thriving cyber security sector, however not all regions are benefiting from it. The latest sectoral analysis reflects a sector concentrated in a handful of key locations, with some left behind, both in terms of economic growth, availability of skilled jobs and resilience to threats.
The UK's cyber security sector is a vital driver of economic growth and digital transformation. The sector generated £11.9 billion in revenue in the past year, up 13% since 2023, and employing 60,689 people. Total Gross Value Added (GVA) for the sector is estimated to have reached circa £6.5 billion, an increase of 4% since 2023.
With an ever-evolving threat landscape and growing attack surface, it is critical that our cyber sector innovates and realises the promising opportunities for economic growth. However, geographical disparities in access to investment, skills and support for innovation persist. There are regions with the potential to better exploit and grow their cyber sectors.
The cyber security skills gap needs direct and immediate attention. The annual Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) report on the Cyber Security Skills in the UK Labour Market (2022) highlights how approximately 697,000 businesses (51%) have a basic skills gap, which hinders them from meeting the basic tasks laid out in the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme. As a result the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) works with partners across government and industry to develop a sustainable talent pipeline that meets the skills demand, both now and in the future.
DSIT wants to provide those who best understand what is needed at a local level with the means to deliver activities tailored to address these gaps.
Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.
If you are successful with this application, you will be asked to set up your project.
You will be notified by email on the date published for this competition. Notifications may be sent any time up to 5pm.
You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your Innovation Funding Service (IFS) Set Up portal, where we gather the information to set up your project.
Watch our video on what steps there are before a project starts.
During the project set up you will be assigned a delivery executive who will guide you through the whole project set up process.
Following your email notification, you will need to provide the following within 5 days (including weekends and bank holidays):
You will need to provide the following within 30 days (including weekends and bank holidays):
You will have 90 days (including weekends and bank holidays) to complete all of your project set up. Within this time, you will also be required to submit:
Your funding offer may be withdrawn if project setup is not completed within this or an alternative timeframe as advised by Innovate UK.
In order for us to process your claims, you must make sure you have a valid UK business bank account. It can take several weeks for a new account to be created if required. We recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to your project start date.
The bank account which grant is to be paid into must:
Online accounts are eligible as long as they meet the above criteria.
Innovate UK will accept most banking societies apart from:
If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate UK's funding criteria, you can use the sort code checker. If you input the sort code and find a tick next to the ‘BACS Direct Credit payments can be sent to this sort code’, this will give you an indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable.
Finance checks
We will carry out checks to make sure all organisations are UK registered with access to the funds necessary to complete their project.
You must check your IFS portal regularly and respond to any requests we have sent for additional information to avoid any delays.
If you are not a UK registered organisation or fail to complete project setup this may result in your grant offer being withdrawn.
During our financial due diligence checks you must provide evidence of how you will finance your project costs for the duration of your project. Grant claims are submitted three months in arrears.
Your Grant offer letter (GOL)
Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your GOL.
The GOL will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve. Once approved we will send you an email with permission to start your project on your confirmed start date.
You must not start your project before the date stated on your email and GOL. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your grant.
If your GOL is approved on or before the fifteenth of the month it will be dated from the first of that month. If your GOL is approved after the fifteenth, it will be dated the first of the next month.
If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.
Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.
We would like to remind you that eligible non-funded business can still benefit from fully funded and bespoke support from the Innovate UK Business Growth service.
If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.
Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.
Our innovation and growth specialists provide our fully funded and bespoke support to clients nationwide. Visit the service’s website to discover whether you could benefit from this advisory support, which is available to Innovate UK funded and non-funded businesses alike.
A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.
This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) (each an ‘agency’).
Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.
This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to DSIT and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:
Innovate UK and DSIT are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect and DSIT will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.
Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Privacy Policy
Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.
The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.
If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.
Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.