Innovate UK Growth Catalyst December 2025

What is the Innovate UK Growth Catalyst?

Innovate UK Growth Catalyst is an Innovate UK programme designed to help startups and scaleups with high growth potential to grow faster. This Innovate UK Growth Catalyst competition combines grant funding, aligned private investment and structured support services to help innovators progress through key growth milestones.

This Innovate UK Growth Catalyst competition comprises a £100 million programme to support innovative companies in six of the industry growth sectors identified in the Government’s Industrial Strategy, in addition to a Battery Innovation programme conducted with the Department for Business and Trade. It seeks to support innovative companies seeking to scale in:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Clean Energy Industries
• Creative Industries
• Defence and Security Technologies
• Digital and Technologies
• Life Sciences
• Batteries

It also seeks applications from innovative companies working in foundation industries (typically cross-cutting) that enable the high-growth sectors listed above.

Details of an online briefing about the competition will be available soon.

What could Growth Catalyst do for your business?

Growth Catalyst offers a tailored package of funding and support to help you accelerate your journey to scale by:

• Progressing your innovation toward market readiness.
• Securing aligned private investment.
• Strengthening your business model, operations, and investment readiness.