Scale-up
Enabling rapid growth through the pioneering Scale-up Fund
Promoting co-investment with the private sector.
About this competition
DRIVE35’s innovative Scale-Up Fund is designed to bridge the gap between innovation and transformation. This critical phase of product or process development is filled with inherent risk and often referred to as the “Valley of Death” by businesses large and small. It requires significant amounts of investment to ensure an already successfully validated business plan becomes a reality.
Funded by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK, the DRIVE35 Scale-Up Fund offers grants of between £2.5m to £20m to UK-registered businesses, large or small, single entity or consortium, to enable rapid scale-up of essential zero-emission vehicle technologies.
How does it work?
The funding stream has been specifically designed to overcome the inherent risks of the scale-up phase by supporting the development of new pilot-scale and demonstration-scale “first-of-a-kind” production processes and facilities and encourage investment, public and private sector, enabling safe passage through the “valley of death”.
Scaling-up requires substantial funding, often at a time when investors or lenders are reluctant to engage due to the development, market risk and the scale of investment needed. They also often require the comfort of a customer commitment before investing. This creates a dilemma as customers are reluctant or unwilling to place orders without manufacturing validation on a scalable early production line.
Scale-up Fund helps mitigate this risk. As soon as the grant is approved the successful applicant is provided with an offer in principle, enabling them to reach out to other investors to raise additional funds. Through incremental validation of production capability, companies can showcase their readiness for market engagement and growth, leading to further substantial private sector investment and enabling them to reach the end-goal of full-scale industrialisation, further enriching the UK’s established automotive zero-emission supply chain.
What you need to know
- Government funding of between £2.5m to £20m available per project, with a wider total investment ratio of 2:1 or better (private investment:scale-up grant)
- Funding available for eligible project costs of:
- up to 50% for micro or small or medium sized organisations
- up to 30% for large organisations
- Grants to support manufacturing growth including Capital alongside other R&D costs
- Open to UK based companies only
- Single applicants or collaborations
- Up to 46 months project duration, includes 9 months to raise investment for matched funding (if required).
Technology scope
- Electrical energy storage: Development of batteries, super-capacitors, their components, management, and integrated systems
- Electric machines and associated driveline
- Power electronics including Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)
- Internal combustion engine (ICE) for off-road applications, we will fund project proposals that support a transition to zero emissions, utilising non-fossil fuels
- Light-weighting materials and manufacturing processes
- Fuel cell systems and associated balance of plant
- Hydrogen storage and management systems
- Zero-emission-vehicle assembly
Please check out the full scope via the IFS website.
How to apply
If you’ve got an exciting project that fulfills the eligibility criteria outlined above, you can apply on the Innovation Funding Service website by clicking the button below.
To support you with the application process, we’ve put together an applicant briefing webinar with our partners at the Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK. You can watch the recording here or download our info pack.
All grant-funding is subject to HMG approval.