Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund

The Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund (CKAF) provides financial grants to government research organisations to commercialise public sector Knowledgeknowledge Assetsassets. 

The CKAF supports an organisation to move viable public sector Knowledgeknowledge Assetsassets with identified potential markets towards commercialisation. It provides funding ranging from £50,000 to £250,000 per project.

Who can apply: 

Research Organisationsorganisations which we define as:

• Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs),(PSREs)
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) wholly owned institutes and other public sector bodies (e.g.(for Arm’sexample, Lengtharm’s Bodies)length bodies) that undertake research as a primary function.function The(read the full list of eligible organisations can be found on our about us pageorganisations).

How to apply

Innovate UK are the delivery partner for CKAF and are running the competition.

Apply to CKAF via the Innovation Funding Service website.

Key dates

Organisation Fundingfunding Thresholds

thresholds

At the Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOTT,), we are committed to supporting a diverse and technology-agnostic mix of Knowledgeknowledge Assetsassets and organisations.

To ensure that CKAF funding supports a range or organisations, we have introduced an annual funding distribution threshold of £800,000 per organisation.

This threshold acts as a trigger point in our assessment process to help balance support across the ecosystem.

How it works:

works

• Annual

  It basis:runs theon an annual basis. The threshold applies to the total funding allocated to an organisation within a single financial yearyear, (FY)for e.g.example, the total of the Spring,spring, Autumnautumn and Winterwinter calls (note(it it is not based on the timing of spend). It resets at the start of each FYfinancial year and is not cumulativecumulative, i.e.that is, previous funding from CKAF and Knowledge Assets Grant Fund (KAGF) is not considered.

• Applications from organisations that have already received £800,000 or more in the current FYfinancial year will still be considered and could be funded, but are ranked below applications that are deemed fundable from organisations that are below the threshold.

This policy reflects our ongoing commitment to equitable and strategic investment in the government’s Knowledgeknowledge Assetasset ecosystem.

Briefing Webinar

webinar

You can access the recording of our briefing webinar and session slides for the Springspring call.

ForRead our CKAF archive page for a full list of the projects CKAF has supported, read our CKAF archive pagesupported.

Any questions about funding should be directed to grantfund.gott@dsit.gov.uk.

The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund is now closed

The KnowledgeKAGF, Assets Grant Fund, which ran between 2021-20242021 to 2024, has now closed. ForRead our KAGF archive page for a full list of the projects KAGF has supported,supported.

Rapid readResponse Awards (RRA)

In addition to CKAF, contact our KAGFTechnology Transfer Strategic Partnerships (TTSP) archiveteam on enquiries.ttsp@dsit.gov.uk to help you access smaller agile funding.

The RRA is for technical activities that help test, de-risk and develop commercialisation opportunities, offering a light-touch, rapid-turnaround funding route. The list of eligible organisations is the same as for CKAF and can be read on our about us page.

UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) fund

The UKI2S Fundfund is an early-stage investment fund with an appetite for withhigh-growth, high-growth early-stage UK technology opportunities,opportunities, setting groundbreaking technologies and ideas on a route to market. The Fundfund stands out in the investment world by targeting high-riskhigh-risk, early-stage opportunities that typically fall outside the comfort zone of established venture capital investors. It is one of the largest pre-seed funds in the UK, with £110M£110 million under management. management.

The UKI2S Fundfund is a venture capital limited partnership, with UK public sector bodies including including:

• UKRI,
• the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT,)
• UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA,)
• the MOD,Ministry UKHSA,of APHA,Defence UKSA,(MOD)
• UK NPLHealth Security Agency (UKHSA)
• Animal and JHIPlant asHealth theAgency Limited(APHA)
• UK Partners.Space Agency (UKSA)
• National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
• JHI

The fund is managed by Future Planet Capital (FPC).) Future Planet Capital (Ventures) LimitedLimited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Authority.

The fund manager works closely with GOTT to help develop spinout propositions with the aim of securing investment capital. If you have a spinout opportunity you’d like to discuss, please contact outour team at enquiries.ttsp@dsit.gov.uk. .

To find out more visit UKI2S – Investing in innovations that transform our future