Most guides to funding tell you to "write a compelling application". These tell you what the assessor's scoring sheet says, what the investor's spreadsheet needs, what the buyer's evaluator is told to look for, and what the odds really are. Then they show real applications, decks and bids that won, and why.
The honest numbers
- 2.8% of applicants won Innovate UK's last Smart round (46 of 1,645, September 2024)
- 26% average success rate across UKRI research councils (2022-23)
- 30% Arts Council Project Grants funded (2025/26)
- 34% of council procurement spend in England went to SMEs (2025)
- About 1 in 50 companies a venture firm screens gets an investment
Start with the first guide if you are new to this. It explains how the money works, which routes have the best odds for you, and how to decide what to apply for. Then go to the guide for the route you are taking. Every guide has a checklist you can tick off (it remembers), templates you can copy, calculators, and its sources.
Start here
Start hereHow funding really works: the honest guide to your odds, your options and where to startWhat each kind of money wants back, the real success rates with dates, the five things that move them, and three first steps for founders, SMEs, researchers, charities and public-sector suppliers.26 min readStart hereWhy applications fail: the pitfalls before, during and after you applyThe pre-flight check for any grant, pitch or bid: the reasons funders, investors and buyers give for saying no, with the fix for each, and what to do after you win or lose.21 min readStart hereReal winning applications, decks and bids, and why they wonA library of real funded proposals, Innovate UK openers, investor decks, scored tenders and arts awards, each with who, when, how much and the published reason it won.29 min read
Prove the business
Prove the businessProve the business, not just the product: evidence that convinces assessors and investorsA 12-week workbook for proving people will pay: desk research, Mom Test interviews, letters that count, paid pilots, and where each funder lets you show it.21 min readProve the businessKnow your market: TAM, SAM and SOM done credibly, and the route to eachA bottom-up market model from free UK data, a route-to-market paragraph that names who sells and who pays, and business-model numbers that match everywhere.16 min readProve the businessYour moat: defensibility that assessors and investors believeA benefit is not a moat. The seven powers, the tests that expose fake network effects, what assessors discount, and a moat paragraph for a grant, a deck and a tender.12 min readProve the businessIntellectual property: what funders and investors need to seeWhat to file, when and for how much at the fees from 1 April 2026; what each funder asks; what an investor's lawyer checks; and the money that pays for it.25 min read
Grants
GrantsThe questions every grant application asks, and how to answer each one wellThe dozen questions every grant form asks under different names, what each funder really wants, a skeleton for each, and the limits, timelines and templates.22 min readGrantsWinning Innovate UK grants: how applications are scored, question by questionHow Innovate UK scores the ten questions, the 2026 routes now Smart is closed, the odds printed on each competition, and North West winners.26 min readGrantsInnovate UK money: costs, match funding, cash flow and life after the awardWhat Innovate UK pays and what you pay, the cost rules, the cash you need to carry a grant claimed against spend, the 5/30/90-day set-up, claims and audit, Innovation Loans and the tax interplay.22 min readGrantsKTP and the EIC Accelerator: the high-odds route and the hardest oneA KTP pays 67% of a university-led project in your firm; the EIC Accelerator funds about 6% of full proposals, grant only for UK firms. Scoring, odds, North West examples.22 min read
Research funding
Research fundingWinning research grants: UKRI, Future Leaders, Horizon Europe, ERC and NIHRUKRI's real odds by council, the 1 to 6 scale reviewers use, word limits, Horizon Europe and ERC thresholds, and the five failures that lose marks everywhere.25 min readResearch fundingFrom research to company: ICURe, impact funds, spin-outs and the money along the wayThe staged route from a disclosure to a funded spin-out, the money at each step, the equity terms investors now accept, and what North West researchers can use.19 min read
Investment
InvestmentInvestors: who they are, what each one needs, and how to find the right oneAngels, crowdfunding, VCs, spin-out funds, NPIF II, loans and grants: what each needs from you, UK benchmarks, and the North West routes as of October 2026.21 min readInvestmentThe maths investors do: returns, dilution, preferences and SEIS/EISThe sums behind an investor's answer: return the fund, post-money, dilution, IRR, preferences, ASAs, SEIS/EIS, RBF and loans, with checked examples and calculators.18 min read
Public contracts
Public contractsHow public procurement works now: a bidder's map of the Procurement Act 2023One map of the Procurement Act 2023: what changed, each stage of a contract and your move at it, 2026 thresholds, financial tests, payment and where SMEs win.21 min readPublic contractsWho buys, what they need from a supplier, and the compliance to get good atCouncils, the NHS, central government, universities, housing, police, transport, utilities and schools: what each buys, what it insists on, and the compliance stack with costs.22 min readPublic contractsFinding tenders and choosing the ones to bid forWhere public contracts appear, how to watch them free, how to read a notice in ten minutes, and a bid/no-bid screen so you stop chasing everything.19 min readPublic contractsHow to get on a framework, and win work once you are on itWhich frameworks matter for North West firms, when each opens, what joining costs, and how call-offs are actually won. A place is a licence to compete, not an order.21 min readPublic contractsWriting the bid: method statements, evidence and the scoring behind the marksHow evaluators score public tenders, what moves a 3 to a 5, the price formula, and a method for writing answers that earn the marks, with templates.20 min readPublic contractsSocial value that scores: PPN 002, the TOMs and commitments you can keepWhat counts as social value, how central government, councils and the NHS score it, every North West weighting with its source, and a template for commitments that win marks and survive as contract KPIs.21 min readPublic contractsSelling innovation to the public sector: Contracts for Innovation, SBRI Healthcare and the NHSContracts that pay 100% of development costs, how SBRI Healthcare and Innovate UK score them, the NHS buying rules (PSR, DTAC, Supply Chain) and the North West front doors, at October 2026.20 min read
People and relationships
People and relationshipsThe team: what funders and investors look for, and why naming your gaps winsWhat every assessor, reviewer and investor tests in a team, quoted from their own scoring bands, and a team answer to copy. Naming your gaps scores higher than hiding them.14 min readPeople and relationshipsRelationships first: who to talk to before you apply, and the North West events worth your timeKnown applicants win far more often. How to talk to funders, investors and buyers within the rules, and the North West rooms worth your time, with dates and costs.18 min read