Innovate UK is launching a new cyber security competition designed to help UK innovators scale their solutions into some of the country’s most critical sectors.
The Contracts for Innovation: Cyber Scale in Critical Sectors programme will support high‑potential cyber security firms to demonstrate how their technologies work and the value they deliver in real‑world, critical sector environments. At the same time, it enables organisations responsible for essential services to safely trial and adopt innovative cyber security solutions.
By bringing innovators and end‑users together, the competition aims to bridge the gap between late‑stage development and commercial deployment, helping promising cyber technologies move more quickly into operational use.
The competition is aimed at cyber security companies whose solutions are at Technology Readiness Level 7 and show strong potential to commercialise and scale. Projects must be delivered in close collaboration with end‑users and customers, ensuring solutions are tested in realistic, operational settings and respond to genuine industry needs.
Projects may support organisations operating across a range of critical sectors, including chemicals, communications, emergency services, energy, food, health, space, transport and water.
Proposals must focus on one or more priority cyber security challenges affecting Critical National Infrastructure. These include proactive cyber defence, such as improving operational security and incident response, as well as the detection and removal of sophisticated cyber actors from CNI networks. Innovate UK is also seeking innovative threat hunting solutions designed specifically for critical sector environments, alongside new approaches to securing legacy systems that remain essential to day‑to‑day operations.
Funded projects are expected to undertake targeted research and development to progress solutions towards commercial readiness, while clearly demonstrating their value in live or operationally relevant environments.
Through Innovate UK funding and structured collaboration with end‑users, the competition offers cyber security innovators a lower‑risk route to market. It provides an opportunity to refine technologies, build operational evidence and develop trusted relationships with future customers across critical sectors.
The competition was published on 22 April 2026 and opens for applications on 1 May 2026. An online briefing event will take place on 7 May 2026 at 11:00.
Further details will be available via the Innovation Funding Service and Innovate UK Business Connect websites. Innovators with questions ahead of publication can contact Marta Fernandez Aguilar, Innovation Lead for Cyber Scale in Critical Sectors, at marta.fernandezaguilar@iuk.ukri.org.
Innovate UK is encouraging cyber security innovators and critical sector organisations to explore this opportunity and help strengthen the UK’s cyber resilience where it matters most.