UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) open calls and themed competitions
UK Defence Innovation (formerly Defence and Security Accelerator, DASA)
Open continuously
No deadline — apply whenever you are ready.
Award sizes are set per competition and were not verifiable from a single official page at the time of checking. DASA's Open Call for Innovation historically ran in cycles with phased funding; the collection page now states the Open Call is closed and there are currently no cycles open. Live opportunities under UKDI (e.g. the Security Open Call, Innovation Support to Operations) publish their own funding levels.
UK Defence Innovation, Ministry of Defence
public · national
Deadline: rolling — DASA is now part of UK Defence Innovation. The DASA Open Call for Innovation collection was updated on 13 January 2026 to reflect that it is closed and there are currently no cycles open; other UKDI calls such as the Security Open Call remain live. Check UKDI live funding opportunities for current cycles and cut-offs.
This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.
Moderate — a form and supporting documents.
Who can apply
- Sectors: deeptech, ai, manufacturing, any
- Stage: pre_seed, seed, series_a, growth
- R&D activity required
Open to innovators of any size including startups and academia; specific eligibility, security requirements and any nationality restrictions are set in each competition document. Note the organisational change from DASA to UKDI — DASA-branded pages are being superseded.
How to apply
- Register for a UKDI account. — link
- Review live funding opportunities and read the relevant competition document.
- Submit a proposal through the UKDI submission portal before the cycle cut-off.
What you will need
- Competition proposal via the UKDI portal
Source. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-and-security-accelerator-dasa-open-call-for-innovation — checked 2026-08-14
"You can view our Open Call for Innovation competitions currently accepting submissions here. For a list of DASA open themed competitions, please see here."