FOAK Builder: Programme Entry Expression of Interest
The Climate Tech FOAK Builder pilot provides late-stage climate tech SMEs with expert advisory, technical assistance, and mentoring to accelerate First of a Kind (FOAK) commercial projects towards Final Investment Decision (FID), with potential Phase 2 grant funding.
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Competition Scope & Overview
Text update 13 October 2026: remove repetition and add clarity. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest a minimum of £4.77 million through the Climate Tech FOAK Builder pilot programme. This will support ambitious, late stage climate tech businesses developing a First of a Kind (FOAK) commercial projects, across a two phase competition.
This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received. The Climate Tech FOAK Builder is an Innovate UK led and funded initiative to accelerate the development of strategically important climate technology projects in the UK. It will support a selected cohort of FOAK Builder ready companies that align with the UK’s Industrial Strategy priorities and are approaching first commercial deployment. The pilot will test and prove the operating model for the FOAK Builder with a view to scaling the pilot up across a multi-year programme, subject to business case approval. The aim of this EOI competition is to support and accelerate Climate Tech First of a Kind (FOAK) projects towards Final Investment Decision (FID). The FOAK Builder does not fund projects. It equips selected companies with expert advisory, technical assistance, mentoring and upskilling support, making potential FOAK projects more credible, coordinated and investable. Potential grant funding for is also available in Phase 2. This is Phase 1 of a 2 phase competition. Successful businesses will work with Innovate UK and the FOAK Builder Technical Assistance Supplier (TAS) to develop a FOAK Development Plan and a FOAK Support Plan. Plans will be tailored to the needs of each business and the challenges facing it in developing its proposed FOAK project from concept to FID. The FOAK Development Plan will be managed and supported by a dedicated mentor and will establish an integrated plan for the FOAK project, including a stage-gate framework, project tracker, budget, schedule, risk register and stakeholder register. The FOAK Support plan will identify specific activities from the FOAK Development plan that can be funded support activities to strengthen credibility, coordination and investability. This could include the following themes:
technical and engineering, for example, developing engineering, procurement and construction plans financial, for example, developing the project’s investment case, planning how the project will be financed commercial, for example, supply chain mapping, feedstock and offtake agreements project development, for example, legal advice on all project aspects, including environmental, planning, insurance strategy, risk identification and mitigations team and governance, for example, recruitment, including finding senior leaders and core project development and execution team members
Funding of activities in the FOAK Support plan is subject to approval by Innovate UK. Once a support plan is approved, the business will implement the plan, which will involve receiving intensive commercial and technical work package support from the TAS supplier. Participation in the Climate Tech FOAK Builder pilot will require your business to work collaboratively with the TAS supplier. This will include committing staff time and other resources. Applicants successful in developing a FOAK Support Plan may also have the opportunity to apply for Phase 2 grant funding, for eligible project development costs. Only applicants successful at Phase 1 and with an agreed FOAK Development Plan and FOAK Support Plan can be invited to apply to Phase 2. An invitation to apply to Phase 2 does not guarantee grant funding. You must aim to reach FID for your FOAK project within 18 months of completing Phase 2. A minimum of £4.77 million will be awarded in both technical assistance support and grants across both phases of this competition, with £770,000 available for Technical Assistance support and £4 million available for Phase 2 grants. Should the operational phase of the Climate Tech FOAK Builder be approved, this budget may be increased and there may be future entry rounds for the Climate Tech FOAK Builder subject to Innovate UK business case approval. In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.
Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 10% chance of success.
We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny.
We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions.
This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.
Official Applicant Guidance Documents
FOAK Builder Applicant Briefing.pdf
This document contains the official applicant briefing slides for the Innovate UK "FOAK Builder" pilot competition. It outlines the eligibility criteria, application process, and project requirements for businesses developing first-of-a-kind climate technologies.
Download Official DocumentFOAK Assessor guidance for applicants.pdf
This document is the official assessor guidance and applicant briefing for the Innovate UK FOAK Builder competition. It outlines the specific scoring criteria (ranging from scores of 1 to 10), mandatory appendices, and detailed response requirements across 22 application questions.
Download Official DocumentApplication Questions & Guidance Brief
Every question below carries specific word limits and guidance criteria.
Project summary
Official Guidance
Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.
Public description
Official Guidance
Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.
Scope
Official Guidance
Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why. You must briefly describe your proposed climate tech FOAK project and explain: what you intend to build or deploy, including its proposed scale, location, indicative capital cost and timetable; why it is first of a kind at commercial scale, rather than new only to your business; how it differs from your previous pilots or demonstrations in terms of scale and any changes to technology or process being introduced based on learnings from previous projects; why this configuration is likely to be replicable at second-of-a-kind and beyond; how it fits the technology scope of this competition.
Applicant location (not scored)
Official Guidance
You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation. We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.
Minimal Financial Assistance declaration (not scored)
Official Guidance
You must download the declaration template. You must complete this, declaring any funding received under Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) or de minimis awards, (from any source of public funding) in the applicable period. Each partner must complete all the fields on their form before uploading. The lead applicant must write ‘declaration attached’ in the question text box. The lead applicant must upload all the completed declarations as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It must be legible at 100% zoom. You must keep all documentation relating to Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) and other de minimis awards for a period of 6 years. You must be prepared to release it to any public funding body which requests it.
Animal testing (not scored)
Official Guidance
Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing? You must select one option: Yes, No. We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare. Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.
International collaboration (not scored)
Official Guidance
Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement? You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.
Export licence (not scored)
Official Guidance
You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance. You must select one option: Yes, No.
Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)
Official Guidance
You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including: a list of any dual use (both military and non-military) applications to your research; a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act; whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications; a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List. If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this. We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.
Technology readiness (not scored)
Official Guidance
The technology underpinning your FOAK project must have reached TRL 7 or above. Provide quantitative evidence of the real world demonstration that has been undertaken for the technology. Evidence should be measurable and may include operational hours, number of deployments, demonstration sites, customer trials, production volumes, reliability data, or other relevant metrics. Describe the scale and outcomes of the demonstration activities. Submit your response as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. Failure to upload an appendix with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.
Customer agreements (not scored)
Official Guidance
What evidence can you provide of commercial agreements with potential customers who would buy the outputs from your First of a Kind (FOAK) project? This could include initial evidence of customer interest in the product, a Letter of Intent (LOI), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), or another form of offtake agreement. Submit your response as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. Failure to upload an appendix with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.
Project maturity (not scored)
Official Guidance
Describe the current stage of development of your project and provide evidence that it is beyond Front-End Loading (FEL) Stage 1. As a minimum, your response should include: an identified or shortlisted site and rationale, with preliminary assessments of planning, permitting, utilities and grid requirements; high level designs, for example, concept designs and block or process flow diagrams; potential Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partners; supply chain requirements, for example, feedstock or supply chain market study complete; a completed FEL stage self assessment against the milestones above, identifying your own view of current status. Submit your response as an appendix. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to ten A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. Failure to upload an appendix with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.
Project financing (not scored)
Official Guidance
Describe how you will finance your project, including: estimates of development expenditure (devex) required to reach FID, including development funding secured and funding still required; a high level view of the likely capital stack; evidence of initial engagement with investors, strategic partners or public finance providers. You must also submit a preliminary project level financial model. The model should include: profit and loss showing offtake volumes and pricing and a cost breakdown demonstrating unit economics; sensitivity analysis on 3 to 5 key variables; cash flow showing your funding requirement and intended use of funds. This should reflect your project's current stage of maturity. Submit your response as two appendices. The first covering the project financing description. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. The second appendix containing the financial model. It must be an open document spreadsheet or ODS no larger than 10MB. Failure to upload both appendices with the requested information will result in your application being out of scope.
Technical risks
Official Guidance
You must outline the top three technical risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.
Commercial and financial risks
Official Guidance
You must outline the top three commercial or financial risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.
Environmental and social risks
Official Guidance
You must outline the top three environmental or social risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.
Project management risks
Official Guidance
You must outline the top three project management risks in more detail. For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact. Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.
Milestones
Official Guidance
What are the key business milestones you are aiming to achieve through this programme? You must focus on what support, financial and non-financial, from this award will enable you to do. You don’t need to provide the full project plan in the answer to this question.
Regulation approach
Official Guidance
Describe your approach to working with the regulator and meeting regulatory approval. This must include details of timelines, costs and resources, internal or external, and if these costs and constraints have been included in your overall plan.
Skills
Official Guidance
What skills, capabilities or experience does your team have that will help you deliver your project? You must include any skills, knowledge, or experiences that are applicable.
Skills gaps
Official Guidance
How do you plan to address any skills gaps in your team? Detail whether your business will need support to carry out this project, and what types of support you will need. Recognising and acknowledging the need for additional support is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.
Benefits
Official Guidance
Outline the benefits you expect to result from your innovation in more detail. In your explanation, include specific metrics or indicators that you intend to use to measure these benefits.
Public funding
Official Guidance
How will public funding accelerate or enhance your innovation compared to relying solely on private investment or internal resources at this stage?
Market growth
Official Guidance
How much do you expect your target market to grow over a two, five and ten year period? You must consider the key market trends or drivers underlying this growth. Highlight any research or evidence that supports these expectations in your response.
Differentiation
Official Guidance
How does your business or innovation set itself apart from other businesses operating in your target markets? Provide specific examples and evidence where possible.