Unlock Grant Funding with AI: Grantify's Breakthrough Approach

Write grant applications in days, not weeks with Grantify's unique fusion of AI tools and experienced grant experts. See how it works today.

Megan Williams
June 13, 2024
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Contents

Business grants offer incredible potential – they let you fuel your innovation without sacrificing equity or taking on debt. But they're also highly competitive. Most grant programmes, like the Innovate UK Smart Grant, have success rates below 10%. 

If applying was as simple as ticking a few boxes, that wouldn’t be a big deal. 

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Crafting a convincing grant application without support is a major time investment.

At least, it should be if you want to maximise your chances of winning.

That’s because you need to:

  • Meticulously gather data
  • Tailor your idea to the grant's specific criteria
  • Explain complex concepts in a way that makes sense to non-experts

Even then, you could spend weeks on an application, only to find out your idea was “out of scope” – that is, not even eligible for the grant.

This is where grant writing support can make all the difference. 

Here at Grantify, we believe securing funding shouldn't feel like shooting in the dark.

To help light the way, our platform fuses two worlds:

  1. The experience and knowledge of a human team
  2. Cutting-edge AI tools to streamline the process 

Let's break down how this unique approach simplifies the complex world of grant funding.

£125M
AND COUNTING
Our team has helped hundreds of businesses successfully secure over £125M in funding over the past three years.

This hands-on knowledge gives us a deep understanding of what assessors truly want to see.

Why Crafting a Winning Application is Tougher Than It Looks

We don't mean to make it sound like writing a winning grant application by yourself, without expert help, is an impossible task. It isn't. But nor is it an enviable one.

To win funding, you must answer seemingly straightforward questions with exceptional clarity and persuasive detail. 

To their credit, grant organisations provide guidelines and scoring criteria to help you, but those guidelines can feel more like a tattered treasure map than a straightforward instruction manual.

For example, the Innovate UK Smart Grant application asks you to address:

  • Innovation: What is your idea, and why is it truly groundbreaking?
  • Market: What's the target market, what problem does your innovation solve, and what's your commercialisation strategy?
  • Impact: How will the grant transform your business and create wider benefits for society?
  • Team: Who are the key people involved, and why do you have the right skills and experience to deliver your project successfully?
  • Budget: How will the grant money be spent, and how does your budget represent excellent value for taxpayers?

While these questions provide a starting point, the devil lies in the details.  

  • How do you prove your idea is "groundbreaking"? 
  • How much market data is enough? How should you cite it?
  • What qualifies as a "wider benefit"?
  • Should you budget enough for an MVP or include extra to cover all the bells and whistles?

In addition, assessors aren't experts in every niche, so your answers must be crystal-clear to someone outside your field.

Here's some real assessor feedback from an Innovate UK application for a project looking to improve road safety for horse riders:

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The business case is weak. The applicant needs to demonstrate need by using evidence of the numbers of horse riders that share roads with cars and the number of accidents, casualties, and fatalities.

There is no clear explanation of the underlying market for this technology, and whilst potential end users are identified, their needs are not explained.
Smart Grant Proposal Assessor
Innovate UK

As you can see, assessors don't mince words. And in this case, the problems within the meat of the application were ultimately irrelevant because the applicant, who gave the application their best shot on their own, misunderstood the definition of a "collaborative" project (which was a requirement for the grant). As such, their application was deemed out of scope from the get-go.

It's this level of evidence and precision that separates an average application from a winning one. 

What about a cutting-edge software solution? Or a revolutionary medical device? The same principles apply. Assessors want meticulous detail and evidence to justify their decisions.

This is where Grantify's approach becomes invaluable.

Client Spotlight
Fixie received an Innovate UK Sustainable Innovation grant, and also an Innovate UK Smart Grant.
“Doing it ourselves the first time, we failed…”

“Knowing what funders want to hear about your business isn’t something you can know by yourself.”

“You could waste so much time writing something that's not relevant... [Grantify] have the structure and the form that breaks everything down”

We don't pull our grant application knowledge from thin air. It's embedded in a trove of model answers taken from successful applications. 

To continue the treasure-hunting analogy from earlier: countless expeditions to the mystery island of grant funding have allowed us to continually refine our map, dodge the pitfalls and swerve the sharks.

Moreover, we stay at the forefront of funding trends, adapting our approach as the grant landscape shifts.

Of course, having insider knowledge is only one part of the equation. How can we help you translate that knowledge into a winning application without endless hours of research and writing? This is where the power of AI comes in.



AI: Your Grant-Writing Copilot

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It is not my aim to surprise or shock you, but … there are now in the world machines that can think, that can learn and that can create. Moreover, their ability to do these things is going to increase rapidly until – in a visible future – the range of problems they can handle will be coextensive with the range to which the human mind has been applied.

Nobel Laureate Herb Simon wrote those words in 1958

It’s taken over 60 years for them to finally and convincingly come true.

For decades, the promise of AI remained largely out of reach for most of us. Sure, we’ve all felt its effects in recent years – better movie recommendations, smoother map directions – but the game-changing power of AI wasn't in the hands of everyday businesses.

That's all changed with the arrival of generative AI powered by large language models.

Generative AI marks a turning point. These models can understand and respond to complex instructions, produce different creative text formats, and even translate languages with startling accuracy.

This isn't just about automating tasks; it's about unlocking new ways of thinking, collaborating, and bringing ideas to life.

Grant applications, with their dense information and need for clarity, are tailor-made for the power of generative AI.

Grantify is at the forefront of this revolution, harnessing the power of AI to streamline and elevate the grant application process.

Here's how our purpose-built AI tools work their magic:

Writing assistant
Much more than a chatbot, our context-aware assistant, trained by our grant experts using real aggregated assessor feedback, understands your project and helps craft concise, compelling answers.
Writing assistant uses AI to transform your notes into ideal responses.

Reference Finder
Get instant access to research databases like Statista and Google Scholar directly within the platform, saving you hours of searching and strengthening your application's credibility.
Our AI-assisted reference finder makes it easy to find vital supporting statistics -and without leaving the platform.


The true power comes from combining these AI tools with our deep well of human expertise. Our human-led, AI-powered platform lets you:

  • Break it down: Complex applications transform into bite-sized, easy-to-answer questions.
  • Get it written: The AI generates draft sections of your application, saving you precious time.
  • Find the facts: Get relevant data at your fingertips to support your claims, all without leaving the platform.
  • Stay on track: Our platform guides you through every step of the process.
  • Learn from the best: Access model answers from successful applications for inspiration and guidance.

The bottom line? You can now produce a high-quality grant application in record time – days, not weeks.

Testimonial Author Image
"The fusion of AI with human creativity is creating a new era of entrepreneurship, where the impossible becomes possible."
Maldy Agavia
Senior AI Product Manager @ Grantify

The Essential Human Touch

It's tempting to think that a cutting-edge AI tool is all you need to churn out a winning grant application. While AI is powerful, it's important to understand its limitations. 

Generic AI chatbots can produce polished-sounding text, but without the right context and knowledge of grant assessors' expectations, that text could miss the mark entirely. 

Your input information might also be used to train future versions of their models, potentially exposing your IP to future users.

How do you guarantee the input data is kept safe, and the output is accurate, relevant, and compelling?

True success lies in artfully combining human expertise with AI power – a concept sometimes called "Humanistic Intelligence." 

To understand what this means, think of the grant application process as a high-stakes conversation between two groups of humans: your business seeking funding and the assessors deciding who deserves it.

To make your case effectively, you need two things: 

  1. Deep knowledge of what assessors want to see 
  2. The ability to communicate your idea with clarity and impact

Grantify's human experts bridge this gap. We know what makes a good grant application because we've seen it firsthand. However, even with that knowledge, crafting a polished application takes significant time and effort. This is where AI shines, taking time-consuming tasks off your plate.

The idea is summed up nicely in this quote, attributed to Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

AI accelerates the process, but human expertise guarantees that your business, your innovation, and your unique story aren't lost in the mix.



The Power of Partnership

Securing a business grant shouldn't be an uphill battle. It should fuel your drive to innovate. But navigating the process alone can lead to uncertainty and wasted time. Generic AI tools, while impressive, can’t replicate the nuanced understanding assessors demand.

Grantify is different. Our AI tools streamline and elevate your writing, saving you precious hours. Yet, we recognise that for as long as humans create innovative solutions to human problems, and other humans judge their merit, there's an undeniable need for a personal touch.

That's why we view the grant application process as a partnership. Our experts guide you, sharing knowledge gained from countless successes. Our AI takes on time-consuming tasks, letting you focus on your idea's core strength. 

It's this unique blend of human insight and AI efficiency that gives you the best chance of winning funding.

After all, the goal of a grant is more than just money – it's also about validating your idea and its potential. We love helping businesses unlock that potential.

See for yourself how smooth the grant application process can be thanks to cutting-edge AI.
Step one: Let’s check your business and project are eligible.
Check your eligibility in 90 seconds
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Grantify's customers submit their grant applications 7X quicker than applying solo.
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In a recent round of government funding, 64% of all winners were produced by the Grantify platform.

Write grant applications in days, not weeks with Grantify's unique fusion of AI tools and experienced grant experts. See how it works today.

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