Open across the North West 3
- Apply for angel investmentaward £50,000–£220,000 · with Manchester Angels: apply for angel investment (B2B software and deep tech, the North)
- ESA Phi-Lab UK — STFC Deep Tech Catalystnon-cash support · with STFC Deep Tech Catalyst (Daresbury)
- Higgs BIC — STFC Deep Tech Catalystwith STFC Deep Tech Catalyst (Daresbury)
UK-wide 37
- Advancing atmospheric and aerial autonomyaward £300,000–£1,000,000 · total pot £4m · closes 21 Oct 2026 · with UK Research and Innovation funding finder
- CfI: counter UAS demonstrations in prison environmentsaward £40,000–£80,000 · total pot £900,000 · closes 28 Oct 2026 · with UK Research and Innovation funding finder
- European Innovation Council: Pathfinder, Transition, and Accelerator 2026non-cash support · closes 28 Oct 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Robotics & AI)
- AI-enhanced x-ray imaging for bomb disposalmax award £60,000 · closes 29 Oct 2026 · with HMGCC Co-Creation
- UK Defence Innovation: Security Open Call 2026 Cycle 2award £150,000–£350,000 · closes 29 Oct 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- CfI: Battery innovation for dual use and defence phase 1award £20,000–£50,000 · total pot £2m · closes 4 Nov 2026 · with UK Research and Innovation funding finder
- European Space Agency: The Arctic Region: Safety, Navigation and Operationscloses 5 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect (opportunities incl. ICURe)
- Horizon Europe 2026-27: Civil Security for Society (Cluster 3)closes 5 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Robotics & AI)
- iX Challenge: Distributed Smartphone-Based Detection and Mapping of PNT Signal Interferenceaward £60,000 · closes 6 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- iX Challenge: Edge AI with Low Size, Weight, Power, and Costaward £60,000 · closes 6 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect (opportunities incl. ICURe)
- iX Challenge: Extending protection to personnel travelling in armoured vehicles under drone attackaward £60,000 · closes 6 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect (opportunities incl. ICURe)
- iX Challenge: Repeatable Adversarial Evaluation of Physical Tamper Protection for Defence Electronicsaward £60,000 · closes 6 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- iX Challenge: Resilient High-Altitude Communications, Navigation and Mission Connectivity for Persistent Autonomous Aircraftaward £60,000 · closes 6 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- iX Challenge: Secure, Cost-Effective Use of Cloud-Based AI Tools in the Defence Supply Chainaward £60,000 · closes 6 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- HMGCC Co-Creation Challenge: Multi-Terrain Micro Robotic Systemsmax award £60,000 · closes 12 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect (opportunities incl. ICURe)
- HMGCC Co-Creation Challenge: Smart glasses for mappingmax award £60,000 · closes 12 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect (opportunities incl. ICURe)
- Funding competition MDI Programme Innovation and Scale-up Hubaward £3,800,000–£4,000,000 · closes 18 Nov 2026 · with Innovate UK (Innovation Funding Service)
- ARIA: Forecasting Tipping Points Phase 2 – Concept papersaward £5,800,000–£18,500,000 · closes 2 Dec 2026 · with ARIA
- Funding competition UK-Singapore CRD 2026award £100,000–£900,000 · total pot £3m · closes 16 Dec 2026 · with Innovate UK (Innovation Funding Service)
- UK-Singapore CR&D 2026 — Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunitiesaward £100,000–£900,000 · total pot £3m · closes 16 Dec 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- Horizon Europe 2026-27: Horizontal actions - Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and societycloses 14 Jan 2027 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Robotics & AI)
- Funding competition Eureka collaborative R&D: Globalstars Japan 2027award £600,000 · total pot £2m · closes 20 Jan 2027 · with Innovate UK (Innovation Funding Service)
- Horizon Europe 2026-27: Horizontal Actions - Bridging Actionscloses 18 Mar 2027 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Robotics & AI)
- Horizon Europe 2026-27: European Research Infrastructuresnon-cash support · closes 15 Jun 2027 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- ARIA: Safeguarded AI - Cybersecurityaward £2,500,000–£3,500,000 · total pot £59m · open all year · with ARIA
- ARIA: Scaling Trust - Tooling and Fundamental Researchaward £100,000–£3,000,000 · total pot £50m · open all year · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- ESA Open Call for Proposals: Proof-of-concept Studies and Pilot Projectsnon-cash support · open all year · with MarRI-UK
- European Space Agency Open Call For Proposals: Proof-of-concept Studies and Pilot Projectsopen all year · with Innovate UK Business Connect (opportunities incl. ICURe)
- Safeguarded AI — ARIAaward from £18,000,000 · total pot £59m · open all year · with ARIA
- Scaling Trust — ARIAaward £100,000–£3,000,000 · total pot £50m · open all year · with ARIA
- UK Space Agency: Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) - open callswith Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- MTCnon-cash support · open all year · with MTC (Manufacturing Support for SMEs in Defence)
- Cyber Resilience Assessment (CRA)non-cash support · with Growth Platform
- Digital Twin Academic R&D Accelerator 2.0award £225,000 · closes 20 Oct 2026 · with Digital Catapult - Opportunities
- ICURe Explore programme cohorts — Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunitiesaward £20,000–£35,000 · closes 22 Oct 2026 · with Innovate UK Business Connect – Opportunities (Digital)
- Collaborative Research and Development Supportnon-cash support · open all year · with Satellite Applications Catapult
- Geovationaward £20,000 · with Geovation (OS/HM Land Registry accelerator)
International, open to UK applicants 10
- Eureka call for disaster resilience, response and recovery projects – 2026non-cash support · closes 26 Oct 2026 · with EUREKA Network (incl. Eurostars)
- EIC STEP Scale Up Defencenon-cash support · closes 28 Oct 2026 · with European Innovation Council (EISMEA)
- NLnet open-source grants (Restack and CodeSupply): €5,000 to €50,000closes 3 Nov 2026 · with NLnet / NGI open calls (Restack and CodeSupply)
- The Arctic Region — ESA Space Solutions — business funding callsnon-cash support · closes 5 Nov 2026 · with ESA Space Solutions — business funding calls
- FIERCE 2nd Open Call: up to €50,000 in services for space-data green innovationnon-cash support · closes 9 Nov 2026 · with FIERCE - Open Call for Financing (space-enabled green innovation)
- European Space Agency: co-funding for space-enabled smart grid resilience projects (proof-of-concept and pilots)closes 27 Nov 2026 · with European Space Agency: Smart and Resilient Energy Systems
- Boost VC Fellowship - Pre-Seed Investmentaward £150,000–£500,000 · open all year · with Boost VC Fellowship
- GitHub Secure Open Source Fund: $10,000 per open-source projectopen all year · with GitHub Secure Open Source Fund
- Growth Projects — ESA Space Solutions — business funding callsnon-cash support · with ESA Space Solutions — business funding calls
- Eksim Ventures — EUREKA Networknon-cash support · with EUREKA Network (incl. Eurostars)
Questions
How many opportunities are open for Defence & CyberSecurity in Cheshire & Warrington?
On 18 October 2026 Bearings lists 50 live opportunities a business based in Cheshire & Warrington can apply for: 42 grants, loans, investment and prizes, 8 programmes, advice and support. 0 are only for Cheshire & Warrington, 3 are open across the North West and 47 are UK-wide or international.
Which funding closes soonest?
- Advancing atmospheric and aerial autonomy (closes 21 Oct 2026)
- CfI: counter UAS demonstrations in prison environments (closes 28 Oct 2026)
- European Innovation Council: Pathfinder, Transition, and Accelerator 2026 (closes 28 Oct 2026)
How do I hear about new ones?
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Defence & CyberSecurity in other areas
Bearings is free and independent, and not affiliated with any funder. It checks its sources every day; always check eligibility, amounts and deadlines on the provider's own page before applying. Updated 18 October 2026.