Defence Online

In a move to foster innovation within defence and boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is pleased to announce cycle dates for the Defence Innovation Loans service until March 2025,

What are Defence Innovation Loans?

DASA, supported by Innovate UK Loans Ltd (Innovate UK), provides an opportunity for single small and medium enterprises SMEs with solutions to Defence themed problems to apply for a Defence Innovation Loan of between £100,000 and £1 million with a below market interest rate of 7.4% per annum. This loan can be used to cover up to 100% of eligible project costs to aid the commercialisation of the solution.

Interested in a loan to boost your small business? Read the competition document here.

Introduced in June 2021, Defence Innovation Loans were designed to assist smaller organisations in “building the business behind the innovation.” The Defence Innovation Loans initiative has proven to be a catalyst for growth, innovation, and economic development.

Since the launch of Defence Innovation Loans, 8 companies have successfully secured a combined total of £6 million. This financial boost has served as a springboard, enabling nearly all of these companies to attract further private investment, amounting to £19 million. This has not only strengthened their operations but has also contributed to the creation of 84 new jobs in defence innovation across the UK.

Defence Innovation Loans: Success Stories

Silicon Microgravity

Among the recipients of Defence Innovation Loans is Silicon Microgravity, who are utilising their loan to advance their underground detection technology. Additionally, the loan is helping them in commercialising their product for various markets, including security, border control, defence, and civil engineering.

Francis Neill, CEO of Silicon Microgravity said: “DASA helped get Silicon Microgravity get off the ground with early stage funding of our gyroscope and have continued to support us over time with a Defence Innovation Loan for our gravity business and a Defence Technology Exploitation grant to commercialise our 100g accelerometer. Thanks to DASA’s continued support both our Inertial and Gravity Divisions are commercialising world leading technology developed in the UK. Our Inertial Division has taken first purchase orders for our navigation grade micro-electromechanical system accelerometers and our Gravity Division has successfully completed field trials in Australia. Exciting times lie ahead thanks to DASA.”

VRAI

VRAI is another success story, having secured a DASA Innovation Loan to aid in commercialising their data capture and analysis technology. This technology, which has been tested with the RAF, enables trainers to evaluate and craft individualised training programs for trainee pilots.

QUICKBLOCK

QUICKBLOCK, which specialises in developing lightweight, rapid assembly building blocks for force protection, also benefited from a Defence Innovation Loan. This support has enabled them to relocate their supplier base to Yorkshire, strengthening their supply chain and circumventing recent shipping disruptions.

Are you eligible for a Defence Innovation Loan?

To take on a Defence Innovation Loan for a project you must:

• be a UK registered SME
• intend to exploit the results in the UK or overseas to make a significant and positive impact on the UK economy and / or productivity
• give evidence that your business is suitable to take on a loan
• Only SMEs are eligible to apply for Defence Innovation Loans; individuals, academic institutions, research organisations and large companies are not eligible. Only single businesses can receive innovation loans, so joint applications with other organisations cannot be funded in this competition (subcontractors are allowed, see further details at the link below).

Innovations must be fairly mature at TRL 6 and above to ensure that the solution can be commercialised within the time scale of the Defence Innovation loan. Applications must clearly evidence a Defence need for the innovative solution.

Find out more about the eligibility criteria, read the full competition document.

When can I apply?

Defence Innovation Loans run in cycles throughout the year; the current cycle (Defence Innovation Loans FY24/25 Cycle 3) is open from 29 October 2024 to 10 December 2024. Future cycle dates, and more information on how to apply can be found here.

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