SME Programme

The SME Programme is a two-stage competitive funding programme which invests in the aerospace sector and its supply chain, accelerating innovation on the journey to Destination Zero.

The aim of this competition is to help SMEs to develop innovative technology in line with the ATI technology strategy, which can be exploited in the next five years. The primary application for technologies developed through this competition should be for the civil aerospace sector but cross-sector application is valuable.

At least 50% of the total eligible project costs must go to micro, small and/or medium business in your consortium.

Stage one – Outline Stage (OS)
Details on the Outline Stage of the SME Programme including links to apply can be found on this page.

Stage two – Full Stage Application (FSA)
Successful Outline Stage applicants will be invited to apply to the Full Stage Application stage via the Innovation Funding Service with guidance available on the UKRI website here.

This competition is open to any registered organisations in the UK looking to develop technology for the civil aerospace sector. Applicants may apply as individual organisations or as a part of a consortium.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered SME or, a business of any size with at least one SME in the consortium.
• carry out your aerospace research project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• address the specific requirements of the UK’s Aerospace Technology Strategy
• sign up to the ATI SME Programme Agreement
• claim funding

Collaboration or single applications are accepted for this competition. Collaborative projects are encouraged.
More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules. Research Organisations cannot lead.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Your organisation must:

• carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• be invited to take part by the lead applicant
• sign the ATI SME Framework Agreement

Applications to the SME Programme must align with the ATI aerospace technology strategy, Destination Zero, and have a potential application within the civil aerospace sector.

Destination Zero serves as an ambitious blueprint for growth in the industry. The strategy’s ultra-efficient, zero-carbon and cross-cutting technology roadmaps detail the objectives and milestones for the UK aerospace sector across aircraft design, manufacture, assembly and operation.

Technology Strategy

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that focus:

• solely on defence, space or other industrial sectors, but we will recognise dual use technologies providing the primary application is in civil aerospace.
• on fundamental research, feasibility studies or experimental development. To view the ATI’s guidance on TRL levels, please click here. 
• research topics outside the scope of the UK aerospace technology strategy, Destination Zero.

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a manufacturer on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of parts to another country.
• dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a manufacturer on the condition that it uses 50% UK materials in their product.

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects as defined in the guidance on categories of research and investment aid for research infrastructure.

Your application will be assessed on the following criteria by the ATI assessors:

• your project’s alignment to the UK aerospace technology strategy
• the proposed technology and innovation
• the strength of your business and market case
• benefits of your project to the UK

Outline Stage PowerPoint presentation guidance
As part of the Outline Stage application, you are required to submit a PowerPoint presentation in PDF format. This presentation must address the following criteria:

Technology

Demonstrate project alignment with ATI’s Technology Strategy and explain the aircraft-level benefits.

• How does the technology help to deliver the ATI technology strategy roadmaps?
• How does the technology compare to current market solutions and where possible known competitor R&D solutions?
• Describe the technology benefits (e.g., cost, weight, performance, safety, sustainability, etc.)

Demonstrate the project ambition.

• Explain the innovation step.
• Why is this technology required?
• What challenges the technology will address?
• What is the key enabling technology that is being developed?
• Describe the technology developed on the project.

Exploitation and market

What are the routes to market and business opportunities?

• Who are the customers for the technology developed?
• Describe the route to market and how it will be implemented.
• State the addressable market size for the technology.

What are the exploitation opportunities for the project?

• What engagement has there been with end-users to date with respect to the exploitation of this technology?
• What is the timeline for implementation?

Financial restrictions
Organisations that are in financial difficulty will not be awarded grant funds. Innovate UK will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests at the application stage.

Funding ratios
Individual partners conducting commercial or economic activities as part of the project, which may include research organisations, can request grant funding of up to:

• 70% if you are a small or micro organisation
• 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
• 50% if you are a large organisation

At least 50% of the total eligible project costs must go to micro, small and/or medium business in your consortium.

UK registered large businesses in your consortium can share up to 30% of the total project costs. If your consortium contains more than one large business, this maximum will be shared between them.

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance. This is a change from the EU definition unless you are applying under State aid.

Research participation
The UK registered research organisations in your consortium undertaking non-economic activities can share up to 30% of the total project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them. Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic
• 100% of your project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

Non-funded partners
Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will not count towards the total eligible project costs but must be included your application.

Subcontractors
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process. You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK. Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will review this on a case-by-case basis. You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor. All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Previous applications
You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition. If you are submitting a new application and are unsuccessful, you can only resubmit an updated application into one future competition that allows you to resubmit.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project
• an overdue independent accountant’s report
• failed to comply with grant terms and conditions
• received funding previously for the same project from the government
• already developed technology via private funds

Multiple applications
When a business leads on an application it can collaborate in a further two applications. If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to three applications.
An academic institution, charity, public sector organisation, research organisation or RTO can collaborate on any number of applications.
If projects apply to both the SME Programme and the Strategic Programme and are successful in both, they can only accept one of the awards.

Funding restrictions and sanctions
Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian and Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian and Belarusian source.

Applications are submitted via the link on this webpage which will become live between the published competition dates.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• the application is completed and submitted before the deadline
• that all the information provided in the application is correct
• your application meets the eligibility and scope criteria
• all sections of the application are marked as complete
• if collaborative, that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You cannot edit your application once submitted.

What we will ask you
The Outline Stage is made up of two parts:
Part one: Application details and presentation submission
Part two: Presentation to the Panel

View the launch webinar recording
Before commencing your application, we recommend viewing the SME Programme launch webinar from Tuesday 5th December 2023 below. The slides from the webinar are available to download here.

Stage one – Outline Stage
Part one – Application details and PowerPoint presentation
This section provides background for your application and is not assessed.

Project details
Including project title, start date and duration plus your total project costs (includes ineligible costs) and total grant request (only eligible costs).

Lead applicant’s contact details
The name and email address for a representative of the lead applicant organisation who is responsible for submitting the application and is the main point of contact for the project.

Location of lead company
The location of the site where the majority of the lead organisation’s project work will take place.

Application team
List the organisations which you will work with on your project. Give the name, location and email address of the key point of contact from each organisation.

Project summary (max 200 words)
Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

SME Programme Agreement
All applicants to the SME Programme must read and sign the SME Programme Agreement. To avoid delays later in the process we recommend doing so as early as possible, but it must be completed no later than 30 days after Full Stage Application notification. The link on this page will take you to a secure page where you can read and sign the agreement. Your digital signature will be reviewed by the ATI team, and you will receive confirmation via email once the validation process is complete.

If you have signed the ATI Framework Agreement for a project on the Strategic Programme, you are not required to sign the SME Programme Agreement.

PowerPoint presentation
Presentation document rules

• The presentation must be submitted as a PDF up to 10MB in size.
• No more than 10 slides*
• Font – Arial
• Minimum font sizes:
  Title Slide and Section Header – Size 36
  Content Slide Titles – Size 28
  Body text – 14
  Captions and references – 10
• File format- pptx (submitted in PDF)
• Slide aspect ratio – widescreen

*If more than 10 slides are submitted, only the first 10 slides will be assessed.

After submitting your application, the ATI will carry out an eligibility check to determine if your project is in scope. Only projects that are in scope will be invited to present their Outline Stage presentation to the panel. If your project is not in scope, you will be told why but will not receive any further feedback on the application.

Part two – Presentation to Panel
If invited to present your Outline Stage presentation to the panel, this will be on one of the published panel presentation dates. The panel will include a Chair, a Co-Chair and assessors. The presentations will be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams. Guidance on how to use Microsoft Teams, can be found here.

Please note, other than minor corrections such as typos, the copy of the presentation submitted must be the same as the one used during the Outline Stage Presentation to the Panel. Major changes may lead to your application being disqualified from the competition.

• You will be invited to an hour-long meeting.
• The project lead must attend the panel and lead the presentation.
• You must join the meeting promptly at the allocated time. Any delay in joining the meeting will result in less time for your presentation and Q&A time.
• No more than three members of the consortium, including the project lead, can attend the Panel session. If more than three attendees join the Panel, the additional project attendees will be asked to leave the meeting. In unforeseen circumstances, applicants are permitted to replace project attendees, but must inform the ATI by emailing competitions@ati.org.uk prior to their allocated panel presentation date.
• It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure you have access to suitable IT equipment, with your camera and sound turned on, and are able to share your screen to present your slides.
• No additional materials can be shared during the panel presentation in any format e.g., hardware, paperwork, demo. etc.
• Panels can rarely be rescheduled once allocated; you are responsible for ensuring your availability to attend the Panel on one of the published Panel dates.
• To ensure fairness, panel presentations run strictly to time.
• Please be aware recording or filming of the panel presentation meeting is not permitted [including the use of AI note taking or AI recording tools]. Automated tools may need to be disabled in advance of the pitch panel. Recording of interviews could result in an application being disqualified from the competition process.

Indicative panel presentation agenda:

*Presenters will leave the meeting after the question and answer session.

After assessing applications, the ATI will make recommendations to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) which makes the decision on projects proceeding to Full Stage Application.

If you are successful in the Outline Stage, you will be invited to submit a Full Stage Application (see below).

If your Outline Stage application is not successful, you will be given the opportunity to discuss your feedback with the ATI. Details on how to take up this feedback opportunity are provided in the feedback document. You will be able to submit the same project proposal up to a maximum of three times.

The outcome of your application and feedback on your Outline Stage application will be provided by the ATI on the published notification date.

There is no funding at Outline Stage. Funding will be awarded at Full Stage Application, if successful.

Stage two – Full Stage Application
If you are successful in the Outline Stage, you will be invited by Innovate UK to apply for the next Full Stage Application, aligned with the next Batch in the ATI Programme.
You must apply to one of the next two Full Stage Application competitions otherwise you will need to reapply to the Outline Stage.

If you wish to defer your full stage application to the following Batch, you will need to contact competitions@ati.org.uk within 10 working days of receiving your successful notification.

The ATI, DBT and Innovate UK monitor changes between Outline Stage and Full Stage Application submissions and unjustified major changes will not be accepted.

Further details on the Full Stage Application can be found on the Innovate UK website here.

The Outline Stage opens three times per calendar year, with successful applicants progressing to one of the three Full Stage Application (FSA) rounds held annually. Competitions close at 11:00 (UK time) on the date stated. For all competition dates, please click here.