Hi all

Hope you’re well

I’m at the stage now where I’m thinking of applying for an innovate grant for my business, I have previously applied for my last startup but was unsuccessful with a score of 78% (I did the application myself in a mad rush so I was expecting an even lower score tbh!) it was a huge learning curve and the feedback from the assessors was really positive and helpful and I’ll definitely be taking it on board for my next application

Now with my past application I applied for a very specific grant, this time I can’t find one that aligns well so I’m planning to apply for the smart grant, is this a good idea or shall I wait for a more aligned grant to come along, if it helps I’m in the health space and have seen grants in the past in this space

Anyone had any experience with innovate grants and particularly the smart grant? Also would you recommend using a grant writer?

Thanks for your help

  • Flat_Beat_Eric@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The smart grants are MUCH harder than the focused/specific call grants. If you didn’t succeed in the focused grants then be prepared to really have to up the game in the open ones. To give you an idea, the acceptance rate is around 2-4% depending on the submission quality and number… but either way it’s very tough. Then they also apply a portfolio approach, I.e. if you were the only healthcare proposal then you might get through with a comparatively weaker score (still >83-85% needed) but if there are 5 or 6 proposals you’d need to be in the top 2 assuming you still met the threshold.

    There is no harm to doing it, it doesn’t preclude you from winning other grants or making other applications, but it’s notoriously difficult and specific funding calls are known to be much easier.

    HTH