# Innovate UK Smart Grant

> Innovate UK Smart Grant is a VC fund backing Software, AgTech and Building Material. See 8 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Total investments: 8
- Last investment: Nov 2025
- Lead investor: 63%
- Last updated: Aug 2026

Innovate UK Smart Grant is a VC fund focused on Software and AgTech. Government National Funding Agency

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 3 | 38% |
| AgTech | 2 | 25% |
| Building Material | 2 | 25% |
| Advanced Materials | 2 | 25% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 2 | 25% |

23 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 7 | 88% |
| Seed | 1 | 13% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fit Collective | Fit Collective offers a scalable solution that helps brands design more effectively, reduce waste, and produce clothing that better meets customer needs. |  | Grant | Nov 04, 2025 |  |
| Embargo | Embargo is a beacon powered loyalty and rewards CRM platform and app that allows restaurants, bars as well as corporates (beverage brands in particular) to build relationships with customers and provide a personalised experience through a next generation CRM system. The idea came to life after recognizing an existing problem - the disconnectbetween customers and businesses in the hospitality industry. Loyal customers are absolutely essential, yet not a single venue knows how many customers actually return and how to make sure this rate increases. The problem is being exposed even more during the current staff crisis and challenges that bars, restaurants and cafes face nowadays. Embargo allows both the businesses and customers build long term relationships providing added value to each other. The app for customers is a user friendly tool that counts visits automatically from the moment the customer enters the venue. The venue can reward a regular customers without hoping that their staff will recognize such customer. The venues can easily access in depth analytics which are presented through a user friendly CRM Portal that allows to easily draw crucial conclusions, as well as run sophisticated marketing campaigns to relevant customers. Embargo solves exactly the same problem for beverage brands who do not have direct access to their consumers nor easy ways to put their products on people's lips. Embargo allows to connect directly with the brands' drinkers and follow up to increase sales, brand awareness and profile their best consumers. | $453.3K | Grant | Mar 27, 2025 |  |
| BioTwin | BioTwin creates, develops, and promotes material innovation in order to serve the construction industry and enable sustainable building for a better future. | $427.5K | Grant | Aug 06, 2024 |  |
| Albotherm | Albotherm offers a smart transitioning coating technology that regulates the temperature of surfaces and structures without the need for energy input. When temperatures rise above a determined trigger temperature, our technology reversibly transitions from clear to white, reflecting away unwanted light to prevent overheating. | $622.2K | Grant | Jun 07, 2023 |  |
| AgriSynth | AgriSynth is a software B2B company that creates synthetic image datasets of complex crop scenes for AI training . We enable precision agriculture and agricultural research to take on the next levels of efficiency and effectiveness. | $378.1K | Grant | Sep 01, 2022 |  |
| Built AI | Built AI helps real estate professionals analyze commercial property opportunities faster and better. | $2.5M | Seed | Aug 01, 2022 |  |
| Mimicrete | Mimicrete self-healing concrete solutions to heal concrete cracks. Mimicrete was founded in 2021 and was headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. |  | Grant | Jun 28, 2022 |  |
| Valarian Technologies | We’re on a mission to help enterprises ensure their communication tools are secure, compliant and efficient.Valarian’s software allows multinational organisations to make the communication tools they already use compliant with data sovereignty, protection and privacy laws across jurisdictions worldwide. Valarian’s resilient, scalable platform canbe deployed into any environment (on-prem, cloud, or hybrid) and easily integrates with existing business collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, harmonising compliance, security and efficiency. | $378K | Grant | Feb 08, 2021 |  |

8 of 8 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [MMC Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mmc-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Italian Angels for Growth](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/italian-angels-for-growth) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Leonas Capital — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Plug and Play](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/plug-and-play-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Vest Coast Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/vest-coast-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Scottish Enterprise](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/scottish-enterprise) — VC Fund
- [Foundation for Innovation and Technology (FIT)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/foundation-pour-l-innovation-technologique) — VC Fund
- [Business Finland](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tekes) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Innovate UK Smart Grant invest in?

Innovate UK Smart Grant invests primarily in Software, AgTech and Building Material startups, most often at Grant and Seed stage. Most of the 8 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Innovate UK Smart Grant last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Innovate UK Smart Grant closed in Nov 2025. Shizune tracks 8 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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