Accelerating adoption of quantum enabled sensing and PNT is an Innovate UK grant competition providing up to £14.3 million to accelerate the commercial adoption of quantum-enabled sensing and position, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies.

Projects must identify specific technical or commercial barriers preventing customer adoption of a quantum-enabled technology in a defined use case and develop an innovative solution to overcome them.

The competition particularly supports projects that move quantum technologies toward real-world use and customer adoption, including field trials, proof-of-concept demonstrations, end-user engagement, integration with existing systems and deployment in representative or challenging operational environments. Technologies must exploit second-generation quantum technologies, involving generation and coherent control of quantum states; single-photon generation and detection technologies are also eligible.

Funding Amount

• Total funding available: Up to £14.3 million;
• Grant request per project: £1 million–£3 million;
  • Micro/small organisations: Up to 70% of eligible costs;
  • Medium organisations: Up to 60%;
  • Large organisations: Up to 50%;
  • Research organisations: Collectively maximum 30% of total eligible project costs;
  • Academic institutions: Up to 80% FEC within the research participation limit;
  • Other eligible research organisations: Up to 100% within the research participation limit;
• Project duration: 12–24 months.

Submission Deadlines

• Opening: 4 August 2026;
• Online briefing: 10 August 2026;
• Application deadline: 16 September 2026 at 11:00 UK time;
• Applicants notified: 15 October 2026;
• Project start: By 1 December 2026;
• Project end: By 30 November 2028.

Submission Conditions

Projects must:

• Request £1 million–£3 million in grant funding;
• Last 12–24 months;
• Start by 1 December 2026;
• Be collaborative;
• Be led by a UK-registered business of any size;
• Include at least one UK-registered SME claiming grant funding;
• Have at least two organisations requesting funding;
• Ensure no single organisation claims more than 70% of total project costs;
• Carry out funded project work in the UK;
• Intend to exploit project results in the UK;
• Spend the majority of funding in the UK;
• Address one of the three specified quantum technology themes.

A business can lead only one application but, if leading, can additionally participate as a collaborator in up to two further applications.

Eligible Types of Applicants

Project lead:

• UK-registered business of any size.

The consortium must include at least one UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding.

Eligible collaborators:

• Businesses of any size;
• Academic institutions;
• Charities;
• Not-for-profit organisations;
• Public-sector organisations;
• Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs).

Academic institutions cannot lead.

Eligible Countries

• Funded organisations: United Kingdom;
• Funded project work must take place in the UK;
• Results must be intended for exploitation in the UK;
• EU and other non-UK organisations: May participate as non-funded partners;
• Non-UK partners must cover their own costs and may perform their activities in their home countries;
• Overseas subcontractors: Permitted only with strong justification for why a suitable UK subcontractor cannot be used.