BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst 2026: AI for Assurance and Compliance
Innovate UK grants of £100,000 to £200,000 for UK AI SMEs to prepare compliance and assurance AI for real use. Apply 21 October to 8 December 2026.
The BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst is a new Innovate UK competition that helps UK AI companies move from pilots to real deployment. This card covers the strand AI for Assurance and Compliance, for AI systems that monitor, test, verify or evidence compliance with requirements, standards or controls. Innovate UK will invest up to £5 million in this strand.
Each project asks for a grant between £100,000 and £200,000 and runs for three to five months. It must start by 1 April 2027 and end by 31 August 2027. Grant rates are those for feasibility studies, up to 70% of eligible costs for micro and small companies.
The lead must be a UK registered SME with an AI or machine learning solution at technology readiness level 5 or 6 and a working minimum viable product. The team must include one deployer: a UK registered medium or large business, or a UK public sector body. The deployer must work in one of the Industrial Strategy sectors, such as health and life sciences, financial services, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, professional services or creative industries. Academic institutions cannot lead.
During the project the team builds an evidence based use case, checks how ready both the supplier and the deployer are, gathers letters of support from other possible deployers, and runs a demonstration with representative data near the end. Innovate UK says the work must address real deployment problems and go beyond routine setup or configuration.
The competition opens on 21 October 2026 and closes on 8 December 2026 at 11am UK time. Apply through the Innovation Funding Service. Two sibling strands, AI for Decision Critical Systems and AI for Operational Systems, run with the same funding and dates. A lead SME can lead only one application across all three strands.
Quick answers
Can a company apply on its own?
No. The competition is for collaborations only. The lead SME must bring one UK deployer organisation and may add one more partner, so the team has two or three organisations.
Is there funding after this phase?
This is phase 1 of up to three phases. Innovate UK may invite projects to phase 2, with an indicative grant of up to £1 million, and later phase 3. These later phases are not guaranteed.
Can the solution already be on the market?
It may have been piloted, trialled or sold, but it must not already be in wide commercial use for the proposed use case. A working minimum viable product is required.