Business Grants in London
London businesses can access funding from the Mayor of London's programmes, individual borough councils, and national schemes. The capital's diverse economy means grants are available for everything from tech startups to creative industries.
Mayor of London Programmes
The Mayor of London and GLA run various business support initiatives. These include programmes for specific sectors, support for underrepresented founders, and investment in London's economic recovery and green economy transition.
London Borough Grants
Each of London's 32 boroughs plus the City of London has its own economic development programmes. These may include small business grants, shop front improvement schemes, and support for local high streets and town centres.
Tech and Creative Sector Support
London's strength in technology and creative industries means dedicated funding exists for these sectors. Programmes support digital skills, creative workspace, and innovation in fintech, AI, and other emerging technologies.
London Business Grants
214 grants found
Funding opportunity: Expression of interest: First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) builder: programme entry
Expression of interest competition for UK-registered businesses to apply for support to develop a climate tech FOAK commercial project. Successful applicants could be invited to apply for a larger grant through FOAK builder phase two.
Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence 2027-2030 – invite only
Supports the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) to conduct high-quality research that improves economic measurement, enhances key statistics production, modernises data collection, and assists the ONS in shaping global economic measurement standards.
Invite only: Precision prevention: biological mechanisms of response variation
Apply for funding to investigate why biomedical prevention interventions work differently across people. Projects must generate mechanistic evidence in humans by testing biomedical experimental interventions or challenges in pre-disease or early disease states, providing insight into how to improve the targeting and effectiveness of precision prevention strategies.
Large Grant full applications: November 2026 (invite only)
Funding to support innovative, large-scale and complex projects that tackle big science questions and have the potential to produce world-leading research.
Energy Resilience Accelerator – helping SMEs scale their resilience innovations
A programme designed to connect ambitious SMEs with industry partners (Centrica, NHS England, NESO, NGED, SSEN) to collaboratively develop trial proposals tackling pressing energy resilience challenges, with fully funded technical and business support and potential trial funding.
Transformative sustainable AI technologies
Apply for funding for projects focused on speculative and high-risk research with the potential to deliver high rewards and a step change in the sustainability of future AI systems. Projects should consider technological innovations across the AI stack.
Frontier AI: SME Champions, phase 1
Feasibility studies for frontier artificial intelligence, and machine learning technologies with a clear route to defensible scale-up.
Teacher Development Fund
Supports schools and arts organisations working in equal partnership to deliver professional learning for teachers, enabling arts-based approaches that create equitable classrooms for primary-age children.
Second Act Entrepreneur Fund
A grant funding and mentorship initiative aimed at supporting UK business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs aged 40 and over to start or grow their business.
Exploring the frontiers of environmental research 2026
Apply for funding to pursue truly novel curiosity-driven environmental research that is at an early stage of development and has the potential to be transformative. Projects should focus on preliminary investigation that may inform future activities and applicants should articulate the potential for impact of the project outcomes.
Efficient, Structured and Controllable AI Systems
UK registered SME businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.66 million to deliver experimental validation of prototype AI systems for novel reusable components of efficient, structured and controllable learning systems.
MDI programme innovation and scale-up hub
UK registered eligible organisations can apply for a share of up to £4 million for a manufacturing digitalisation innovation (MDI) and scale-up hub to improve the targeting, quality and commercial impact of grant funded activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about business grants in London