Innovate UK have launched new funding schemes that start from 11th January 2016. The schemes are:

• Future Retail -  Innovate UK is offering 5 businesses up to £35,000 (excluding VAT) each to encourage innovation around ‘future retail’, across the themes of food waste reduction, virtual fitting, seamless shopping and enhancing in-store and market experiences.
• Surface engineering and coating technologies for high-value manufacturing - Investment of up to £2 million in technical feasibility studies to stimulate innovative new concepts and applications in surface engineering and coatings, positioning the sector to identify potential areas for further innovation, and address the challenge areas for future growth.
• APC5: Driving UK productivity through low carbon propulsion innovation  - The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Innovate UK is to invest up to £20 million per project in collaborative research and development funding to support the development of low carbon, low emission automotive propulsion technologies.
• Schools financial health - The Department for Education wants to find innovative and practical new ways to engage and enable schools to become more financially efficient, healthy and sustainable [UPDATE]