To qualify, your company must:
Eligible activities include:
Technical R&D and testing
Tooling and capital equipment
Staffing and materials directly related to development
Compliance, certification, and market trials
Marketing, customer testing, and capital deployment to support early market entry
FI Group assists in assessing eligibility and preparing robust applications that meet financial and technical due diligence standards.
To qualify, your company must:
Eligible activities include:
Technical R&D and testing
Tooling and capital equipment
Staffing and materials directly related to development
Compliance, certification, and market trials
Marketing, customer testing, and capital deployment to support early market entry
FI Group assists in assessing eligibility and preparing robust applications that meet financial and technical due diligence standards.
Loans support projects that are too risky for traditional finance but too advanced for early-stage grants.
Loans can be used alone or in combination with grant funding, provided there is no duplication of cost coverage.
FI Group guides you through each stage of the competitive process:
Innovation Loans are one part of a broader innovation finance strategy. FI Group helps you:
Innovation Loans from Innovate UK offer growing SMEs a rare opportunity: patient, low-interest capital with zero equity dilution. But navigating the application process requires strategic clarity and precision.
Our new 2025 UK Guide to Innovation Loans demystifies the entire process—from eligibility to repayment—with expert advice from FI Group’s funding consultants.
Download the free guide to maximise your chances of success in upcoming rounds.
Innovation Loans from Innovate UK offer growing SMEs a rare opportunity: patient, low-interest capital with zero equity dilution. But navigating the application process requires strategic clarity and precision.
Our new 2025 UK Guide to Innovation Loans demystifies the entire process—from eligibility to repayment—with expert advice from FI Group’s funding consultants.
Download the free guide to maximise your chances of success in upcoming rounds.
Our team includes PhD-qualified consultants and former grant assessors who understand what makes a proposal successful.
Support for late-stage R&D and commercial innovation, now with increased flexibility and funding limits
The latest round of the Innovate UK Innovation Loans Future Economy competition (Round 24) is now open. From 23rd October to 7th January 2026, UK-registered SMEs can apply for £100,000 to £5 million in flexible loan support to fund the development and deployment of late-stage innovations.
This unique public finance mechanism is designed to support commercially-focused R&D and early market entry. Loans are non-dilutive, low-interest, and structured to work alongside your growth strategy, particularly if equity or commercial lending is unavailable or unsuitable.
See our post with full FAQs we have put together from our previous applications: Innovate UK Innovation Loans FAQs
Innovation Loans are low-interest loans provided by Innovate UK (part of UKRI) to support:
Loan size: £100,000 to £5 million
Coverage: Up to 100% of eligible R&D and scaling costs
Interest: 3.7% during development and extension phases, rising to 7.4% during repayment
Terms: Up to 7 years in total, including repayment deferral for the first 3 years
Ownership: Non-dilutive – you retain full equity
Unlike grants, these funds must be repaid, but terms are significantly more favourable than commercial loans.