How do UK companies move from local support to national innovation funding?
Local growth hubs and national innovation funding sit at different points in the journey. Most companies progress in stages.
## Quick Answer Local support — Growth Hubs, Shared Prosperity Fund-delivered programmes, Devolved Nation equivalents — is where most companies start. National innovation funding (Smart Grants, KTP, consortium calls) follows once the business has framed a defensible R&D problem and built delivery capacity. The bridge is usually Innovate UK Edge. ## Typical Situation A small UK business that has used local support successfully and is now considering national innovation funding for the first time. ## Advisor Interpretation Local support is excellent for foundational capability — leadership, digital basics, first export steps, first capital. It is rarely suited to funding sustained R&D. Companies move to national funding when their growth question becomes innovation-led rather than capability-led. ## Readiness Signals - Demonstrable benefit from prior local support. - A specific innovation question, not a general growth ambition. - An identified delivery team. - Willingness to commit to a longer application cycle. ## Common Mistakes - Jumping to national innovation funding without the underlying capability. - Treating Innovate UK Edge as marketing rather than diagnostic. - Letting local support timelines blur into national grant timelines, which are much longer. ## Usually Too Early When The growth question is still capability or capacity, not innovation; the team cannot deliver an R&D project; or there is no match funding available. ## What Usually Comes Next Innovate UK Edge diagnostic, then Smart Grants or KTP, then sector consortia or Horizon Europe as track record grows. ## Related Comparisons - /comparisons/ktp-vs-smart-grants - /comparisons/horizon-europe-vs-innovate-uk ## Related Pathways - /pathways/startup - /pathways/innovation - /pathways/scale-up ## Conservative Note Local support varies by region and delivery partner. National schemes change call structure and eligibility — always confirm before committing application time.