Challenges, pilots and first customers
The first customer problemA pilot is worth more than a pitch.
Published challenges, open calls, pilots and demonstrator opportunities where an organisation has said it wants to work with somebody new.
This is the hardest inventory in Britain to hold honestly, because calls open and close quickly and many are never published in one place. UKIZ shows what it can evidence and says plainly where coverage is thin.
17 verified records from 8 operators across 3 places. Most recent check 2026-08-25.
What this page is
UKIZ will not manufacture a directory out of stale calls. Where there are too few live, sourced records to be genuinely useful, this page stays out of search and says so on the page.
Start here
On the record
- £20m Farming Futures automation and robotics competition is open
No evidenced route in recorded yet.
Source, checked 2026-08-10 - ADOPT FundDefra / Innovate UK
Access as published: Programme-specific
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Battery research-to-scale infrastructure remains unusually concentrated
No evidenced route in recorded yet.
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - DASA competitionsDASA
Access as published: Open calls and themed competitions
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Farming Futures R&D Fund: Automation and Robotics Round 2
Access as published: OPEN
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Find a Tender / Defence procurement notices
Access as published: Tender/notice-specific.
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Floating Offshore Wind Centre of ExcellenceUK / regional projects
Access as published: Membership/project engagement.
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Measurement for QuantumNPL
Access as published: NPL application/enquiry
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - NATO DIANA UK accelerator
Access as published: Cohort application.
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Quantum Missions PilotDSIT / Innovate UK
Access as published: Project-specific
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Robotics Adoption Programme skills developmentInnovate UK / DSIT · UK
Access as published: PROJECT DELIVERY / COURSES TO EMERGE
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Royce SME Equipment Access SchemeHenry Royce Institute
Access as published: Apply via Royce
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Semiconductor Catapult surfaces new imaging challenge
No evidenced route in recorded yet.
Source, checked 2026-08-18 - STFC Proof of ConceptSTFC / Innovate UK · UK
Access as published: OPEN — CLOSES 26 AUG 2026
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - SynbiCITE Proof of ConceptSynbiCITE / UKRI
Access as published: Monitor current round dates
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - UK Battery Industrialisation CentreCoventry
Access as published: Commercial industry access / project engagement.
Source, checked 2026-08-25 - Up to £14.3m opens to accelerate quantum sensing and PNT adoption
No evidenced route in recorded yet.
Source, checked 2026-08-04
How to use it
What counts as a challenge here
A published invitation to work on a defined problem: a corporate challenge, a public sector open call, a demonstrator, a testbed trial or a first customer programme.
How to get in front of a buyer
Evidence beats introductions. A recorded capability, a named facility you can use and a route to make at volume are what turn a conversation into a pilot.
Tell UKIZ about a call
Organisations running a challenge can put it on the record with its own source. Nothing is listed without one.
Questions
- Why are there so few challenges listed?
- Because UKIZ only lists calls it can evidence from a published source that is still in date. A thin page is more honest than a full one built from expired calls.
- Does UKIZ broker introductions to buyers?
- No. UKIZ makes capability findable and links to the published route in. There is no paid access and no selling of member data.
- Can I be told when new calls appear?
- Yes. Create My UKIZ and follow the fields and places you work in.