UK-Nigeria Circular Fashion Innovation Lead Customer ProgrammeCopy Link

Innovate UK, through the Global Alliance Africa project is investing up to £120,000 for three UK-Nigeria collaborative pilot projects (x £40,000 per project) towards the adoption of circular fashion business models in Nigeria.

The aim of this competition is to accelerate innovations needed to create new or improved circular fashion technologies for the sector through UK-Nigerian partnerships.  

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

1. Innovating Sustainable Materials for Sustainable Fabrics

• Development of Eco-Friendly Fibres: Innovations in the creation and use of biodegradable, renewable, and eco-friendly fibres.
• Material Optimisation: Technologies to optimise the performance and lifecycle of sustainable fabrics.
• Supply Chain Transparency: Digital tools to track and verify the sustainability credentials of materials throughout the supply chain, ensuring ethical sourcing and production practices.

2. Recycling & Upcycling of Textiles

• Advanced Recycling Technologies: Technologies that enhance the efficiency and scalability of textile recycling processes.
• Upcycling Innovations: Creative and practical solutions for upcycling textiles into new, sustainable and valuable products.
• Circular Economy Platforms: Digital platforms that facilitate the exchange, donation, or resale of used textiles.

3. Redefining Chemicals in Production/Manufacturing

• Non-Toxic Dyeing and Finishing: Innovations in dyeing and finishing processes that eliminate harmful chemicals, reduce water usage, and minimize environmental impact.
• Chemical Management Systems: Digital solutions to monitor and manage the use of chemicals in textile production.
• Water-Efficient Technologies: Development and adoption of technologies that significantly reduce water consumption in textile production processes.
• Water Recycling and Reuse: Innovations that enable the recycling and reuse of water within textile manufacturing.
• Digital Water Management: Digital solutions for real-time monitoring and management of water usage in textile production.

PLEASE ENSURE YOUR APPLICATION INCLUDES THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED: COMPLETED APPLICATION TEMPLATE, PROJECT PLAN & FINANCES TEMPLATE, AND LETTER OF SUPPORT (ADD THESE AS ATTACHMENTS)

INNOVATE UK AND GLOBAL ALLIANCE AFRICA

Innovate UK exists to connect innovators with new partners and new opportunities beyond their existing thinking – accelerating ambitious ideas into real world solutions. Innovate UK is delivering the 6-year (2019 - 2025) UK International Development funded, Global Alliance Africa project, which aims to build new and stronger UK-African partnerships to maximise the creation of inclusive market access, funding, and investment opportunities through innovation knowledge transfer between the UK, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

The project aligns with the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) objectives by building stronger local innovation ecosystems and enhanced UK-Africa collaborations that lead to self-sustaining economic growth in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, by harnessing potential of innovation to meet current and future socio-economic-environmental challenges. The project is focused around three key pillars, one of which focuses on ‘Connected Innovation’ where Innovation Networks will be forged to facilitate UK, African and International networks to deliver collaborative research, innovation and funding solutions that address key global innovation challenges.

In Nigeria, one of the key sectors identified is Circular Fashion due to its potential to generate economic opportunities, reduce costs, expand markets, and mitigate environmental impact. The country boasts many contemporary designers and a population with a strong love for fashion items. However, the fashion supply chain in Nigeria faces challenges that inhibit the sector from fully embracing circular practices. These challenges include a lack of effective textile waste management, limited research and know-how, and non-uniform fashion standards. Recognising these issues, Global Alliance Africa, with its objective to align with the country's innovation needs, has identified the opportunity to fund innovation aimed at enabling circular fashion.

UK-Nigeria Circular Fashion Innovation Lead Customer Programme Background

The global fashion industry is a significant sector in the economy considering the important role it plays in our day-to-day life. The industry is however facing complex challenges in transitioning to a circular economy. Issues such as poor resource quality, water pollution and textile waste highlight the unsustainability of the traditional linear model of "take, make, and dispose." Despite these challenges, stakeholders are coming together to achieve a common goal; to adopt circular fashion practices, conserve resources, and mitigate environmental pollution. 

Achieving these goals will require coordinated efforts from stakeholders across government, industry, and civil society. This includes building supportive infrastructure, facilitating knowledge transfer, and creating enabling policies that promote circular fashion initiatives. 

The UK-Nigeria Circular Fashion Innovation Lead Customer Programme aims to address these challenges in both countries through a partnership model, thus accelerating innovations that promotes responsible consumption and production, minimize waste and enhance resource efficiency while contributing towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.

A Lead Customer is a Nigerian and/or UK fashion company or a top-tier future customer that shows support or commitment to the proposed innovations by presenting demonstrable deployment routes. The Lead Customer must provide a Letter of Endorsement with your application.

Funding Type and Project Size:

Projects must be led by a UK or Nigerian business. Universities, RTOs and other organisation types may be involved in consortia but can claim a maximum of 25% of the total project costs.

Innovate UK will fund 70% of a total project value up to £40,000 per project. An in-kind contribution of 30% is required from the project partners. Higher in-kind contributions by project partners are encouraged to boost the scale of the projects, and will be viewed favourably in the selection process.

A project must involve at least one partner from the UK and one partner from Nigeria.

• Technology Testing & Validation for a 6-month project: for the UK/Nigerian lead organisation per project (subject to T&C).
• Technology Demonstration & Scale-up for a 6-month project: UK/Nigerian lead organisation per project (subject to T&C).
• Access to international collaboration and innovation through UK- Nigeria partnership.
• Support in facilitating industry engagement to seize future commercialisation opportunities and enhance market access.
• Sector expertise support from Innovate UK and Lead Country Partner
• Access to grant funding of up to £40,000

Before you start

• You must download the Application Template and Project Plan and Finances Template. 
• Register on the application portal by clicking the Apply Now button below. 

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct;
• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria;
• all sections of the application are marked as complete; and
• that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs).

PLEASE ENSURE YOUR APPLICATION INCLUDES THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED: COMPLETED APPLICATION TEMPLATE, PROJECT PLAN & FINANCES TEMPLATE, AND LETTER OF SUPPORT (ADD THESE AS ATTACHMENTS).

You can reopen your application once registered, up until you submit the application. You must submit the application before the competition deadline on GMT 17:00 Friday 12th August 2024. 

Your submission must include the following attachments:

• Completed Application Template
• Completed Project Plan and Finances Template
• Formal Letter of Endorsement from at least one top tier fashion sector organisation.

What we ask you

The application is split into five sections:

1. Nigeria Applicant details.
2. UK Applicant details.
3. Details of top tier customer.
4. Project Details.
5. Project Plan and Finances

Accessibility and inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. 

You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least  10 working days before the competition closing date to ensure we can provide you with the most suitable support possible.

You can contact us by emailing chidubem.ejezie@iuk.ktn-global.org

Finances

Each organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. UK Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.

For full details on what costs you can claim see our project costs guidance. You can also view our Application Finances video.

The aim of this competition is to create new or improved circular fashion technologies for the sector through UK-Nigeria partnerships.  

Your application must:

• Focus on the innovations to improve of the adoption of circular fashion practices in Nigeria and/or the UK, within the thematic areas of:

a) Innovating Sustainable Materials for Sustainable Fabrics, or

b) Recycling and Upcycling of Textiles or

c) Redefining Chemicals in Production/Manufacturing

• Be a collaboration with at least one UK partner and one Nigerian partner.
• Propose an innovative technology solution or business model that is feasible, reliable and with tested proof of concept.
• Present demonstrable deployment route(s) with support/commitment from a Nigerian and/or UK fashion company or top tier future customer (called the Lead Customer).

• 10 July 2024 - Competition Launch 
• 12 August 2024, 17:00 GMT - Deadline for applications
• August 2024 - Selection and due diligence of finalists
• Aug/Sept 2024 – Notification of funded finalists, projects launch

We are not funding projects that:  

• Are below Technology Readiness Level 4.
• Have no interest from an end-user or top tier future customer. 
• Do not have at least one UK participant and one Nigerian participant within the LCP Consortium.

We cannot fund projects that are: 

• dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country. 
• dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product. 

Your project must meet the following requirements: 

• The lead applicant must be a registered business.
• Universities, RTOs and other organisation types may be involved in consortia, but may claim a maximum of 25% of the total project costs.
• Your project must be a partnership between a registered Nigerian or UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation.
• Your application must involve at least one participating organisation per country.
• Your application must include an endorsement letter from a UK or Nigeria fashion industry sponsor/top tier future customer (non-grant recipient), indicating the challenges your proposed project may solve and possibility of commercial route.
• Your technology must be between Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 4 and 8. Your project should last 6 months and finish before the end of February 2025.
• All project work either to be carried out either in the UK or in Nigeria. 

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must: 

• be a registered business.
• be one of the collaboration partners that is a UK registered organisation or a Nigerian registered organisation.
• register to apply on the application platform.
• manage the project execution plan and its deliverables.

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.  

Project team 

Your consortium must include:

at least one technology lead from both the UK and Nigeria.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK or Nigeria registered: 

business of any size

research and technology organisation (RTO) and universities as secondary partners in business-led consortia.  

Lead Customer

The Lead Customer can be any organisation type (academic institution, government body or commercial entity etc) that will be a credible end – user of the solution developed in the project. Credibility, name – recognition and organisation size will be considered during the selection process. 

Non-funded partners 

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK or non- Nigerian businesses. 

Subcontractors 

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. 

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK or Nigeria and you must select them through your usual procurement process.  

You can use subcontractors from other countries but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK or Nigeria.  

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors or Nigerian contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use another country as a supplier subcontractor. 

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.  

Number of applications  

A business or research and technology organisation (RTO) can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications. 

If an RTO is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.

A fashion industry sponsor (lead customer) can collaborate on any number of applications.

Subsidy Control 

All funding supplied by Innovate UK is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) 

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage. 

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see our general guidance to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must always make sure that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or actually distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This competition is operated by Innovate UK.

Innovate UK are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies.  Accordingly, Innovate UK, will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application. Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy is accessible here.  

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of GDPR, and is committed to upholding the data protection principles, and protecting your information.  The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Data includes any relevant information submitted and generated and stored by Innovate UK during the application process concerning your application. This would include, but is not restricted to:  

• the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants  
• scoring and feedback on the application 
• information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Officer reports and Independent Accountant Reports

PLEASE ENSURE YOUR APPLICATION INCLUDES THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED: COMPLETED APPLICATION TEMPLATE, PROJECT PLAN & FINANCES TEMPLATE, AND LETTER OF SUPPORT (ADD THESE AS ATTACHMENTS)