CSconnected Supply Chain Development Programme - Call 2
CSconnected are deploying a £1M investment programme with Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) to drive the expansion of the semiconductor supply chain in South Wales, to boost jobs creation and GVA growth in Wales and the UK.
This is the second call since the programme was launched in March 2025 and is relevant to UK-based buyers and suppliers to the Compound Semiconductor (CS) sector in South Wales.
Calls to action and opportunities list
Find here the latest opportunities and calls to action for the semiconductor sector.
New Calls and Events
Wales Technology Awards – Entries Close: 18 July 2025
Enter the Wales Technology Awards 2025, celebrating the gamechangers, innovators and impact-makers in Welsh tech. It’s free to enter and open to companies of all sizes.
Startup Square – Applications Close: 31 July 2025
Wales-based tech startups are invited to apply for a stand at Startup Square at Wales Tech Week 2025, with exposure to 4,000+ attendees from across all sectors.
DRIVE35 Scale-up: Feasibility Studies
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million for feasibility studies into UK manufacturing of zero emission vehicle technologies. Competition closes: Wednesday 3 September 2025 11:00am
Travel support for UK businesses to attend European events in 2025 & 2026
Innovate UK is offering Travel Support of up to £750 for companies to attend Horizon Europe consortia-building events in Europe.
Pre-announcement: Local Innovation Partnerships Fund
This programme earmarks at least £30 million for each of ten regions across the UK, including one in each of the devolved nations. The programme is designed to support places that have an identifiable innovation ecosystem, with high-potential innovation clusters aligned to national policy priorities.
Existing Calls and Events
Discover Future Zero-Emission Vehicle Funding Opportunities
Collaborative Research and Development Funding Opportunities event at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK on 16 July 2025
DASA - Innovation in Support of Operations | Phase 2
Funded by the Ministry of Defence, DASA launches Phase Two of Innovation in Support of Operations - a Themed Competition seeking fast paced scalable proposals across five new challenge areas. Aim: To identify and accelerate innovative solutions and techniques, ensuring they can be scaled and deployed faster than adversaries. Closing: 05 August 2025 12:00 Midday; 14 October 2025 12:00 Midday (BST)
Growth Catalyst Early Stage: New Innovators
UK registered micro and small businesses can apply for a share of up to £10 million to develop affordable, adoptable and investable innovations in the five critical technologies. Competition closes: Wednesday 6 August 2025 11:00am
A German SME leads an R&D project to advance ultrafast 2 µm laser bonding of Si, sapphire, and Ge for high-precision, defect-free joining. The consortia seeks an established partner in PIC integration or advanced packaging for validation and use-case input for a German national call. Deadline for EoI: 31 Aug 2025
Global Incubator Programme: Canada - Made Smarter Manufacturing
This Global Incubator Programme (GIP) provides an opportunity for UK-based companies to expand into the Canadian market and collaborate with North America’s largest urban innovation hub. Registration closes: 31 August 2025
QuantERA Call 2025 Pre-Announcement
We are pleased to inform that the QuantERA network pre-announces a new Call for international research projects in Quantum Technologies. The Call Announcement: expected to be published on 4 September 2025.
Canada-UK NetworkPlus in semiconductor research
Apply for funding to build a Canada-UK academic NetworkPlus in semiconductor research, share expertise in areas of joint interest and seed future projects. Focus on joint research and development strengths in compound semiconductors, photonics, NEMS/MEMS, advanced packaging and chip design. Closing date: 10 September 2025
Exhibit at SEDEX 2025 with the Department for Business and Trade Building on our successful participation in 2024, British Embassy Seoul is leading another UK delegation to SEDEX in October 2025.
Horizon Europe 2025 work programme Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space
The European Commission has pre-published all of the 2025 Horizon Europe Work Programmes, which list the funding opportunities under the 2025 call topics. Topics available under Horizon Europe’s Cluster 4 programme for 2025/26, with up to €75m available for the largest single projects. Closing date: 02 October 2025
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is pleased to launch Phase Two of our fast paced Themed Competition Innovation in Support of Operations. Run on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, this competition is looking for innovative proposals that are cost competitive, designed for manufacture, and can be scaled in an approximate twelve-month timeframe. Three competition cycles closing on 20 May 2025 12:00 Midday (BST); 05 August 2025 12:00 Midday (BST); 14 October 2025 12:00 Midday (BST)
The VInnovate Call 2025 will open on 2 May (17:00 CET)
Following the successful implementation of the VInnovate Call 2024, the Vanguard Initiative is launching a second Call in the framework of its own Interregional Funding Mechanism, designed to enable the funding of industry-led international projects. Closing of the submission of “full” proposals: 15 October 2025
Competition overview - Canada-UK Semiconductors - Innovation Funding Service
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to invest at least £1 million in innovation projects. The aim of this competition is to stimulate the development of innovative semiconductor technologies. Competition closes: Wednesday 15 October 2025 11:00am.
Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 10, business and non-academic
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £110 million for ambitious research and innovation projects in any sector, and tailored support to develop careers for future leaders. This funding is from UKRI. Competition opens: Monday 23 June 2025. Competition closes: Wednesday 5 November 2025 11:00am
Help Shape a New Advanced Packaging Conference at CS/PIC/PE International 2026
With growing industry focus on chiplets, heterogeneous integration, and packaging innovation, we want to explore the need for a technical, application-focused event dedicated to this space.
Open ended calls
The Flexible Skills Programme (FSP) is a Welsh Government funded initiative that helps businesses across Wales build a stronger, more skilled workforce. Employers can apply for funding to cover up to 50% of the accredited training costs, with a maximum value of £50,000 per application.
UK Quantum Skills Taskforce report
The Quantum Skills Taskforce is a sector-wide coalition, including representatives from industry, academia, professional societies, national labs, and government departments and agencies. The Taskforce has considered the current and future skills needs of the sector, and how these needs could be met.
Agile Cymru
Agile Cymru is a scaleable programme of coordinated action, an agile tool to deliver greater economic co-operation at speed, guided by the International Strategy and our economic policies. This includes a flexible grant mechanism to support cross-border and international activity that maximises shared opportunities across themes, sectors, and geographies. Agile Cymru funding can support a wide range of activity; the focus is on the outcome and benefit for Wales.
Made Smarter Innovation Network: Digital & AI in Manufacturing
Made Smarter Innovation has identified AI as a keystone industrial digital technology, strategic to all sectors, and other digital technologies are critical to making AI useful. By filling out this short survey, you will directly contribute to shaping the future of AI and digital technologies within industry.
SMART Flexible Innovation Support (FIS) | Business Wales (gov.wales)
The Welsh Government is building a stronger, fairer, greener country, with an economy based on fair work, sustainability and the sectors of the future. SMART Flexible Innovation Support (FIS) is open to any organisation wishing to engage in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I), including the third sector, local authorities and health boards. Open ended
Academic-Industry Partnerships In Cardiff Capital Region
Jointly funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) the Academic-Industry Partnerships programme, part of the Cluster Development and Growth Programme, aims to bring together industry and academia to identify innovative solutions to enterprise challenges, particularly amongst micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Open ended
Strategic Innovation Fund: Round 5 Challenges
Innovation Challenge 1: Advanced Energy Transmission and Networks: How can we leverage breakthroughs in semiconductor, superconductor,
and wireless power transmission technologies to enhance grid performance? Projects applying to this challenge should align with and build upon existing UK and international initiatives in advanced energy transmission. Applicants should consider how their innovations complement prior research and industry developments.
The Innovate UK Scaleup Programme: for high potential scaleup businesses
Share your news and opportunities with us at comms@csconnected.com.