Deep Tech Funding – Seed to Series A Support

Deep tech CFOs are asked to deliver global growth, manage complex R&D portfolios and preserve runway, all while dealing with evolving incentive regimes and increasing compliance scrutiny on R&D claims. The result is often fragmented, reactive use of non dilutive funding.

Common pain points we see in Seed to Series A clients include:

• Regulatory complexity
• Compliance and enquiry risk
• Fragmented global approach
• Opportunity cost of internal delivery
• Unstructured funding stack

FI Group’s role is to identify these gaps, set a structured roadmap and then execute it with a mixture of UK and international expertise.

FI Group is a global specialist in R&D incentives with local execution in the UK. We combine technical expertise, sector knowledge and rigorous compliance processes, so CFOs and founders can trust that every claim and application is robust, defendable and aligned with long term strategy.

Our consultants bring experience across chemistry, MedTech, AgriTech, software and advanced engineering, drawing on hundreds of claims and grant submissions for high growth companies. This means we understand what investors, regulators and boards expect to see when non dilutive funding sits alongside equity.

What Are Innovate UK Innovation Loans?

Innovate UK Innovation Loans provide non-dilutive finance to support late-stage R&D and early commercialisation activities. Eligible UK SMEs can now secure:

• Loans from £100,000 to £5 million (recently increased from the previous £2 million cap)
• Coverage for up to 100% of eligible project costs
• Project durations of up to 5 years, with a total loan lifecycle up to 7 years
• Initial low interest at 3.7%, increasing to 7.4% during the repayment phase

These loans specifically fund activities such as R&D, prototyping, tooling, marketing, customer testing, capital deployment, pre-commercial readiness, trials, and scale-up operations.