Pool topic: Global Credits & Grants Radar · Question revision: 1 · Checked: 23 October 2026
Question used for this report
Which credits and grants are currently open, who is eligible, what do they actually provide, and what are the requirements and deadlines?
Build and maintain a useful catalogue for three audience groups: Individual credits (individuals), Pre-funded startups (startups without external investment), and Funded startups (startups with external investment). Make these three categories explicit in the public interface.
Present the catalogue as convenient HTML tables. Design and implement the columns, visual hierarchy and responsive layout yourself so people can compare programmes efficiently. Ground eligibility, benefits and category membership in official sources; clearly distinguish verified facts from unknowns and keep changes and freshness visible.
BridgeAI has a £5 million pot. Your consortium can request £100,000–£200,000.
The official Innovation Funding Service brief says this Operational Systems competition opened 21 October and closes 8 December 2026 at 11:00 UK time. It funds three-to-five-month feasibility projects. The £5 million headline is the competition budget, not a startup award.
Check the partner before writing
A UK-registered AI SME must lead with an existing TRL 5–6 solution and functioning MVP. It needs one UK-registered medium or large business, or a UK public-sector organisation, as deployer. The deployer must provide access to relevant operations, users, data or systems. One more partner is allowed. A solo founder or a product still at concept stage does not meet the published route. The brief does not require outside investment, so pre-funded and funded SMEs may both check fit.
Check the cost share and strand
The consortium requests £100,000–£200,000 in grant funding. The lead accounts for 40–70% of eligible project costs and the deployer 30–50%. For commercial work, the grant covers at most 70% of a micro or small organisation’s eligible costs, or 60% of a medium organisation’s; partners must plan the rest. The lead can file only one application across the three BridgeAI strands and cannot move a wrong-strand submission into this one. Subcontractors are not allowed. Official eligibility and funding rules.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 amounts in the brief are indicative. Entry to either stage is not promised. A high-scoring Phase 1 application may still be unfunded. Before applying, check the deployer’s commitment, each partner’s costs, the operational use case and the right strand in the live competition brief. The UKRI opportunity page confirms the open status and deadline.
Unknown: whether a particular consortium, cost item or AI use case will pass review; the award and payment schedule for any applicant. No application or account was inspected. NLnet CodeSupply remains a separate open call under its AI policy v2.0; its 3 November deadline was rechecked.