UK startup grants and accelerators closing in December 2026

Short answer. 10 programs for founders in the United Kingdom close in December 2026: 10 grants. The first closes on 1 Dec 2026 (Germany Bilateral Collaborative R&D: round 5 (UK-German ZIM)) and the last on 16 Dec 2026 (UK-Singapore Collaborative R&D 2026).

That is 10 of the 24 United Kingdom programs in my base that have a written closing date. The other 10 of the 34 that are not closed have no written date (3 rolling, 7 with no deadline found) and are not in this count. Every row below is read from the same list as open funding in the United Kingdom, so a program that closes or whose link dies leaves this page without anyone editing a line.

Find my money

Closing in December 2026 (10)

6 of these calls are published on two official pages, a listing and an application portal; each is counted once, as one row with both links. Soonest first. Amount and closing date are the program's own words; a fact I did not find says not found. A date with a time is in UTC.

Program	Type	Amount	Closes	Checked	Link
Germany Bilateral Collaborative R&D: round 5 (UK-German ZIM)United Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	GBP 2.4m · cash · GBP 2.4m total pot up to £2.4 m · cash · share of up to £2.4 million (Innovate UK funding, GBP)	1 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗The application portal ↗
Battery innovation: concept development round threeUnited Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	up to £25 m · cash · UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification.	2 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗
Battery Innovation: Feasibility Studies Round 3 (Innovate UK)United Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	up to £25 m · cash · UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification.	2 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗
Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships round 1United Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	up to £8 m · cash · UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £8 million to develop engineering biology products and services with selected investor partners. up to GBP 8 m · cash · Share of up to GBP 8 million in grant funding, alongside aligned private investment from a lead investor.	2 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗The application portal ↗
Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: CR&D Round 2 (Innovate UK)United Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	cash · Your project’s total eligible grant funding request must be between £500,000 and £1 million.	2 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Assurance and Compliance SystemsUnited Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	up to £5 m · cash · share of up to £5 million (Innovate UK funding, GBP) cash · GBP 100,000-200,000 per project; up to GBP 5m phase pot	8 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗The application portal ↗
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Decision Critical SystemsUnited Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	cash · GBP 100,000-200,000 per project; up to GBP 5m phase pot up to £5 m · cash · share of up to £5 million (Innovate UK funding, GBP)	8 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗The application portal ↗
BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Operational SystemsUnited Kingdom	Grant, non-dilutive	cash · GBP 100,000-200,000 per project; up to GBP 5m phase pot up to £5 m · cash · share of up to £5 million (Innovate UK funding, GBP)	8 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗The application portal ↗
Cluster Acceleration Programme (Invest NI)Northern Ireland	Grant, non-dilutive	cash · Phase 1 up to GBP 60,000; Phase 2 up to GBP 1,000,000 per cluster	11 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗
UK-Singapore Collaborative R&D 2026United Kingdom · United Kingdom / Singapore	Grant, non-dilutive	up to GBP 3 m · cash · Share of up to GBP 3 million (grant); Singapore partner funded via Enterprise Singapore. up to £3 m · cash · UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Singapore.	16 Dec 2026	10 Oct 2026	The program's page ↗The application portal ↗

Questions founders ask

Which UK startup grants close in December 2026?

10 in my base: Germany Bilateral Collaborative R&D: round 5 (UK-German ZIM) (1 Dec 2026); Battery innovation: concept development round three (2 Dec 2026); Battery Innovation: Feasibility Studies Round 3 (Innovate UK) (2 Dec 2026); Engineering Biology Investor Partnerships round 1 (2 Dec 2026); Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: CR&D Round 2 (Innovate UK) (2 Dec 2026); BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Assurance and Compliance Systems (8 Dec 2026); BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Decision Critical Systems (8 Dec 2026); BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Operational Systems (8 Dec 2026); Cluster Acceleration Programme (Invest NI) (11 Dec 2026); UK-Singapore Collaborative R&D 2026 (16 Dec 2026).

Which UK accelerators have a deadline in December 2026?

0 in my base: none.

How current is this list?

Each row says the day its program's page was last read; the rows here were read 10 Oct 2026. On 29 Oct 2026 I opened the 16 official pages of these 10 programs again and the closing date on each matched the one in the table. Open the program's page before you apply: dates and terms change.

What this list does not tell you

It does not say whether you are eligible: many rows are limited to a place, a field or who the founder is, and the program's page is the rule. It does not include programs with no written closing date, and it never converts or rounds an amount. It is information, not advice or an offer. A program is not listed once its deadline has passed or when its link was found dead on two checks in a row.

Wanna

Find the ones that fit you

Paste your site's address: I read it, keep the programs that fit your country and stage, and fill the applications from facts you confirm. Each waits for your OK.