Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026 | Fund cross border R&D with up to £600,000 for UK partners

Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026 - Grant Application

Programme:Innovate UK (Eureka)

Awards:Up to £600k

Geographical Scope:international

Beneficiaries:private

Key Features:UK businesses can apply for collaborative industrial research with partners in Japan and other Eureka countries, unlocking funding to accelerate global market entry.

Key information at a glance

Funder: Innovate UK under the Eureka framework
Funding type: Grant
Total UK pot: Minimum £2,000,000
Status: Open
Opens: 13 October 2025
Closes: 21 January 2026 at 11:00am UK time
Award size per project: Up to £600,000 total grant for the UK partners
Project length: Up to 36 months. Expected start: by 1 July 2026
Collaboration: Required, including at least one eligible Japanese SME plus UK partners
SME grant rates: up to 70 percent for micro or small, up to 60 percent for medium businesses

Eligibility - Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026

Lead and team: a UK registered business must participate and collaborate with at least one eligible SME in Japan. Consortia can also include other organisations from participating Eureka members.
Collaboration rules: no single partner may claim more than 70 percent of the total eligible project costs, and no single country may claim more than 70 percent collectively.
Location of work: UK partners must carry out the majority of their funded work in the UK, with clear UK economic benefit.
Number of applications: a UK business may lead one application and collaborate on up to two more. If not leading, it may collaborate on up to three.
Duration: projects can last up to three years and should start by 1 July 2026.

Deadlines and how to apply

Opens: 13 October 2025
Closes: 21 January 2026 at 11:00am UK time
Prepare two coordinated submissions: the UK application and the Eureka joint application. Build in time to align budgets, roles and work packages across all partners, and to gather letters of intent from users or customers in the UK and Japan.

Benefits to applicants

Non dilutive funding to accelerate international R&D and market access
Partnerships with leading Japanese SMEs and research driven ecosystems
Investor readiness supported by cross border pilots and customer validation
UK growth through new products, exports and supply chain opportunities

Scope - Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026

This competition funds business led, collaborative industrial research that develops innovative products, processes or services with strong market potential in the UK, Japan and participating Eureka countries. Proposals should address a clear international customer need, demonstrate technology innovation, and show a credible path to commercialisation, including plans to scale in both the UK and partner markets.

Projects may focus on areas such as advanced manufacturing, electronics and photonics, health technologies, mobility and transport, digital and AI enabled systems, clean growth, and other sectors aligned to UK and Japanese priorities. The scope is open, but work related to nuclear or drug discovery is not supported.

Funding and award size - Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026

Total UK funding: at least £2 million is available for UK participants in this round.
Per project cap for UK partners: up to £600,000 total grant across UK participants.
Funding rates: for industrial research, UK SMEs can receive up to 70 percent of eligible costs if micro or small, and up to 60 percent if medium. Large businesses can receive up to 50 percent.
Match funding: applicants must cash fund the remainder of eligible costs and evidence financial capacity at project start.

What assessors look for

Compelling innovation that addresses a defined market need
International collaboration quality, with clear roles and balanced budgets across partners
Commercial potential and a credible route to revenue in the UK and Japan
Capability and delivery, including access to facilities, data and supply chains
Value for money and realistic risk management for an international project

Grants Roadmapping, built for CFOs

Get a focused, funder-ready plan in 2 to 4 weeks. We benchmark your pipeline, map the best fit UK and EU calls to your technical and commercial milestones, and produce a clear bid calendar with go or no go decisions, owners, and dates. One team, one point of accountability. Global Reach. Local Expertise.

What you get

Portfolio scan and eligibility fit across Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, Eurostars
12 month call calendar, deadlines and funding rates, with quick scoring
Consortium gap analysis and partner shortlist
Bid plan with responsibilities, timeline, and compliance checks
Optional end to end writing, submission, and audit readiness

“A good roadmap removes the noise. CFOs get a realistic bid calendar, not false hope. We align funding to the business plan so teams move quickly and stay compliant.”
Dr. Chrysi Karagiannaki, R&D Tax Consultant, FI Group UK

Book a free 20 minute discovery call about Grants Roadmapping using the button below.

Book Discovery Call

Grants Roadmapping, built for CFOs

What you get

Portfolio scan and eligibility fit across Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, Eurostars
12 month call calendar, deadlines and funding rates, with quick scoring
Consortium gap analysis and partner shortlist
Bid plan with responsibilities, timeline, and compliance checks
Optional end to end writing, submission, and audit readiness

“A good roadmap removes the noise. CFOs get a realistic bid calendar, not false hope. We align funding to the business plan so teams move quickly and stay compliant.”
Dr. Chrysi Karagiannaki, R&D Tax Consultant, FI Group UK

Book a free 20 minute discovery call about Grants Roadmapping using the button below.

Book Discovery Call

FAQs - Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026

Use this FAQ to quickly confirm award size, eligibility, collaboration rules, funding rates, match funding, eligible costs, timelines, UK benefit, and scoring expectations for the Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026 grant competition.

Read Our 2025International Grants Guide

Trusted by InnovatorsAcross the UK

Discover how businesses like yours have benefited from our expertise in R&D tax credits and innovation funding.

Brad Hilder, Finance Director, Dronamics

What stood out was their proactive in-year review process. This approach has meant that we are now months ahead on our next claim, as the technical information has already been obtained during the year. This ensures our future claims are based on up-to-date and more reliable technical data, giving us even greater assurance.

Michelle Hennessy, Financial Controller, Stablepharma

We are extremely pleased with the R&D tax work carried out by FI Group on behalf of Stablepharma during 2024. Giuseppe and his team were great collaborators and quickly assimilated the necessary data to best showcase our R&D efforts, with excellent attention to detail. This resulted in a much-improved claim for our organisation, which will have an immediate impact on the work we can carry out in 2025. We would highly recommend them to other industry colleagues.

Praveen Sagar, Director and co-founder, OxDevice Ltd.

Giuseppe Amoroso from FI group did our R&D tax claim and successfully submitted on our behalf of OxDevice. Excellent team work in Submitting the claim.

Jenny Young, Head of Business Operations, Mocean

We've had an excellent experience collaborating with FI Group. Their team of consultants demonstrated proficiency in evaluating and comprehending our innovative wave energy technology, leading to a comprehensive technical report that played a significant role in securing our R&D tax credit repayment.

Robin Lumely-Savile, Director, BemOre

The smoothest way to work on R&D Tax Credit – not only are they experts of the subject but also sectors specialists; FI Group could get all the technical elements of our business by themselves leading to a successful and remarkable result.

Jaco Rabie, CFO, Equipsme

Service was fantastic, the claim exceeded our expectations and FI Group were very fair on contract points that I wanted to negotiate on. The original sale person followed the consultancy process throughout every stage to ensure the claim delivery met the expectations agreed from the beginning. We would highly recommend the services of FI Group.