This competition opened on 18 July 2016 and is now closed for registrations.

Innovate UK is to invest up to £19 million in innovation projects that test new infrastructure technologies for the first time in user-facing applications.

The aim of this competition is to enable selected innovative infrastructure systems solutions to take the final step to market readiness by proving:

repeatable financing and business cases for the innovation

that the innovation delivers the expected outcomes when integrated in complex real-world applications

Proposals should also help inform Innovate UK about the role that new financial products can play in supporting this stage of the commercialisation process in future.

The competition will be in 2 phases:

Phase 1 – funded study

We expect projects to range in size up to total costs of £50,000. Projects should last up to 3 months.

Phase 2 – testing the innovation in a commercial environment

We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £250,000 to £5 million. Projects should be deployed within 1 year.

If you are a business, you can carry out the project on your own or you can collaborate with others. You must involve an end customer. If you are not an SME you must involve one. A business must lead the project.

You must register before noon on 24 August 2016.

You must apply before noon on 31 August 2016.