Innovate UK Textile Fund 2024

The Innovate UK Textile Fund is part of the £15M trilateral UKRI Circular Fashion and Textile Programme. It is being delivered by LITAC (Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour) and Future Fashion Factory working in partnership with Innovate UK.

Critically, the IUK Textile Fund will enable textile businesses to adopt more sustainable operations, driving the UK to become the global leader in circular fashion and textiles and to best transition towards Net Zero models. To achieve this aim, IUK Textile Fund brings together stakeholders from across the fashion and textile industry as well as academia; ideally placed to best support a joined-up, cross-sector approach when achieving circular solutions.

Building on Future Fashion Factory’s pedigree of excellence when successfully delivering on innovative R&D projects, the fund will be led by industry partners who seek the expertise of academic collaborators. These experts will sit across a consortium of one of three UK universities:

• University of Leeds
• University of Huddersfield
• Royal College of Art (London)

A mechanism of the Circular Fashion and Textile Programme, the IUK Textile Fund will align with the same thematic areas that inform Innovate UK’s broader mission for circularity. As such, grants will be awarded to businesses who successfully meet one or more of the below key themes:

• Circular Business Models
• Novel Technologies
• Sustainable Manufacturing
• Sustainable Fashion Ecosystem
• Diverse and Future-Proof Workforce
• Green Growth

The Award

Projects must last between four to six months and must have total eligible project costs of £50,000 or less. Projects must start by 1st October 2024 and complete no later than 31st March 2025.

Who Can Apply?

The Fund welcomes applications from UK fashion and textiles businesses. To be eligible for funding industrial partners must either have textile design or textile manufacturing as their core business OR have an innovative application of their technology / product that will add-value to these industries. More than one industrial partner can collaborate on an application. The lead industrial partner must have a turnover of at least £50,000 per year and be able to demonstrate they have been established since at least 1st March 2023. Academic organisations can collaborate on an application, as a partner or a subcontractor, but cannot lead a bid.

How to Apply

This will be a single stage application process. It is strongly recommended (but not mandatory) that applicants discuss and explore the development of their project/s with the LITAC IUK Textile Fund team to ensure fit and alignment with the focus of the project, and avoid time being spent on projects that are unlikely to be supported.

In the first instance, please send a brief description of your project idea as an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) to l.munroe@leeds.ac.uk by 30th June 2024; feedback will be provided within five (5) working days.