Innovation Grant Funding

Grant Funding Support for UK & Ireland Businesses

Accessing non-equity funding such as government grants, innovation loans and strategic funding programmes can be a transformational catalyst for businesses undertaking research and development or commercial innovation.

At Redline, we support UK and Irish companies in identifying, assessing and securing the right innovation funding opportunities that match their strategic ambitions and growth plans. Grants offer substantial non-repayable funding to accelerate development, test new technologies or scale prototype solutions towards commercialisation.

Across the UK and Ireland, a wide range of grant and funding programmes exist to support innovative businesses. These are offered by bodies such as Innovate UK (the UK’s national innovation agency) and regional development agencies, as well as Enterprise Ireland and similar agencies in Ireland that provide tailored grants for research, innovation, employment and growth.

However, the application processes for these funds are highly competitive and require compelling evidence of innovation, market potential and project deliverables.

Our end-to-end grant support service

Redline provides a structured end-to-end grant support service that includes:

Opportunity Identification - we map your business’s innovation profile to relevant funding opportunities across UK and Ireland schemes, ensuring you target grants and loans that align with your technology, market and stage of development.
Eligibility Assessment - we conduct detailed assessments to confirm eligibility against each programme’s criteria, reducing wasted effort and improving the likelihood of success.
Application Development - our team prepares compelling technical narratives, project plans and cost justifications designed to appeal to grant evaluators. We focus on presenting clear evidence of innovation, commercial potential and strategic impact - elements that evaluators prioritise in competitive rounds.
Documentation & Submission - we manage all facets of the application process, from drafting responses to assembling supporting documentation and handling submission logistics.

Our approach is built on deep understanding of funding frameworks and evaluator expectations, ensuring applications are strategically positioned and highly relevant. This helps minimise the burden on internal teams and saves valuable time that would otherwise be spent navigating complex eligibility rules and assessment criteria.

Expert support beyond standard grant advisory

Unlike basic guidance or self-service tools, our service blends specialist technical insight with commercial grant strategy.

We not only help write applications but ensure they reflect a strong connection between your innovation activities and the strategic aims of the funding body. This level of alignment is critical in contexts where evaluators are assessing hundreds or thousands of proposals and prioritise clarity and impact.

We also advise on structuring project plans and deliverables in ways that enhance competitive scoring, without overstating outcomes or misrepresenting capabilities. This speaks directly to the needs of grant panels in both the UK and Ireland, where credibility and evidence-based arguments are essential.

Supporting you through funding cycles

Grant applications do not end at submission. Many agencies provide feedback, require clarifications or invite refinements before a final funding decision. Redline remains engaged throughout:

We respond to evaluator queries, ensuring follow-on information is accurate and compelling;
We advise on resubmission strategy if an application is unsuccessful, helping refine the approach and build stronger evidence for the next funding round; and
We assist with post-award Project Management, including reporting and milestone tracking where required, helping you maintain compliance with grant terms.

Why partner with Redline?

Securing innovation funding is a technical and strategic exercise, not just a matter of completing forms.

Our support ensures that:

Your application is backed by credible, technically robust narratives and cost models;
Internal resources are preserved for focus on core business activities; and
You maximise your chances of success in highly competitive funding environments.

Contact us to discuss how we can support your grant strategy and funding applications across UK and Irish innovation programmes.

Speak to us today

We'll help you understand your options and develop a plan that works for you.

GRANT FUNDING - CASE STUDY

Agricultural Engineering Prototype Development

Client: UK-based agri-technology company developing automated harvesting and crop handling machinery

Sector: Agricultural automation

Challenge
The client was developing a tractor-mounted prototype designed to identify, handle, and sort crops during harvesting operations. The system required coordinated mechanical actuation, sensor-based crop detection, and real-time control under highly variable environmental conditions including uneven terrain, changing crop geometry, and fluctuating throughput rates.

Although early mechanical concepts had been validated in controlled environments, the client lacked a structured development programme to demonstrate technical feasibility at field scale - a key requirement for grant funding assessment. Previous applications were unsuccessful due to insufficient definition of engineering risks, testing methodology, and performance validation criteria.

Redline’s Approach
Redline worked with the client’s mechanical, electrical, and systems engineers to define a phased prototype development and validation programme, structured around:

Kinematic optimisation of handling mechanisms to reduce crop damage at variable feed rates
Integration of optical and proximity sensors for crop detection and positioning
Development of control algorithms to synchronise conveyor, gripper, and sorting subsystems
Environmental robustness testing for dust, vibration, and moisture ingress
Field-based performance trials to assess throughput, fault rates, and recovery behaviour

We translated these technical challenges into clearly defined work packages with measurable performance targets, validation protocols, and stage-gate milestones aligned to the funder’s scoring framework.

Redline also prepared detailed cost breakdowns covering specialist fabrication, control hardware, instrumentation, and field trial logistics, ensuring alignment with eligible funding categories and audit expectations.

The full submission was reviewed to ensure technical narrative, delivery plan, risk register, and budget were internally consistent and evidence-based.

Outcome

Competitive grant award secured to support full system integration and field trials
Defined engineering validation pathway reducing scale-up risk
Improved readiness for regulatory certification and commercial deployment
Strong technical foundation for subsequent product iterations and funding rounds

Why It Matters
Grant assessors in agri-technology expect to see rigorous prototype validation strategies that demonstrate how mechanical, sensing, and control challenges will be resolved under real operating conditions. Successful applications require engineering detail, not just product concepts.