Market Exploration Funding for Bioscience Researchers: BBSRC ICURe Explore 2026 — Up to £35,000 to Test Your Commercial Idea

If you have a bioscience idea that could matter beyond the lab bench — a new assay, a lab automation tweak, a biologically based material, or a software tool for life sciences — the BBSRC ICURe Explore 2026 programme gives you a short, sharp window to find out whether real customers will care enough to pay. This is not seed funding to build a finished product. Think of it as paid reconnaissance: money and time to validate assumptions, talk to potential users, and collect the evidence that convinces investors or your university tech-transfer office that your idea deserves the next round of investment.

The award tops out at £35,000 and is aimed at bioscience PhD students, researchers and technicians who have already completed ICURe Discover. That precondition matters; Discover is the primer that prepares teams for the kind of market-first thinking ICURe Explore expects. If you meet the eligibility requirements and you want a structured, coached route to answer the single most important question for any translational project — “Will someone buy this?” — this programme is worth serious attention.

This guide walks you through the programme essentials, what to prepare, and how to turn a brief market exploration into a persuasive commercial story. Expect practical tips on staffing your project (including the Entrepreneurial Lead role), designing customer discovery experiments, and writing an application reviewers can’t put down.

At a Glance

What This Opportunity Offers

ICURe Explore funds short, focused market validation projects for bioscience innovations. The funding break-down is deliberate: up to £20,000 can be used as salary support for the Entrepreneurial Lead — the person who drives the commercial work — while up to £15,000 supports the practical costs of testing assumptions and speaking to customers. That second pot pays for things such as travel to meet users, prototyping low-fidelity demos, subscription fees for data or analytics, recruitment incentives for interview participants, and small-scale lab work when required to demonstrate feasibility.

Beyond cash, ICURe Explore provides structured coaching and exposure to frameworks that help translate technical strengths into compelling commercial propositions. Participants often receive mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and access to networks in industry and investment communities. The programme is designed to produce measurable outputs: validated problem statements, customer interviews, purchase intent signals, and a clear set of next steps (e.g., follow-on funding, licensing conversations, or a spinout plan).

Put plainly, the award pays you to reduce risk. Instead of guessing if customers care, you’ll collect evidence. Instead of building a feature set on instinct, you’ll prioritize the functionality customers actually value. That saves time, money, and avoids the familiar death-by-feature trap many tech transfers fall into.

Who Should Apply

This is for people with bioscience-based intellectual property or know-how who want to know whether a commercial route exists and what shape it takes. Ideal applicants include:

• A postdoc who has created a novel sample-prep method and wants to know whether core labs or instrument makers would license it.
• A PhD student developing a bioinformatics pipeline who suspects industrial labs could pay for a hosted version.
• A technician who refined a low-cost reagent formulation and is testing if contract manufacturers, diagnostic labs, or agriculture companies would adopt it.

You must have completed ICURe Discover, so this isn’t the place to begin commercial thinking from zero. Discover should have given you an initial market orientation and introduced you to customer discovery techniques. Explore is the next step — deeper, funded, and with stronger expectations of deliverables.

The programme suits projects at a stage where some technical feasibility is shown but market evidence is thin. If you’ve got only a speculative idea with no prototype or data, take more time with incubation or institutional support first. If you already have paying customers or significant commercial traction, you likely need a different funding route (follow-on investment, commercial grants, or investor introduction).

Insider Tips for a Winning Application

Here are seven concrete, tactical moves that make reviewers sit up.

1. Hire the right Entrepreneurial Lead and justify it. The budget allows salary for an Entrepreneurial Lead; this person must have time and sensibility for customer-facing work. Recruit someone who can speak the language of both scientists and businesspeople, who will run the interviews, synthesize insights, and convert them into commercial hypotheses. In your application, explain the Lead’s relevant experience, expected weekly effort, and why they are uniquely suited to convince customers to engage.

2. Frame three clear assumptions and how you’ll test them. Reviewers want crisp experimental design for commercial risk: usually hypotheses about the customer, the problem, and willingness to pay. For each assumption, state the test (e.g., 20 interviews across three user segments; a pilot with a core lab; a willingness-to-pay survey), the metric that will count as success, and the fallback if the assumption fails.

3. Show a customer outreach plan with numbers. “We will speak to customers” is vague. Say how many interviews you’ll run, which stakeholder roles you’ll target (principal investigator, lab manager, procurement officer, QA manager), how you’ll recruit them, and what channels you’ll use (conferences, existing collaborations, LinkedIn outreach, vendor partnerships).

4. Budget defensibly. Break down the £15,000 of testing funds line-by-line. Include travel, incentives for interview participants (if appropriate), prototyping materials, user-testing platforms, or small outsourced services. Don’t allocate the whole pot to equipment unless you explain why cheaper alternatives won’t work.

5. Demonstrate institutional support. A short letter or statement from your department, supervisor, or tech-transfer office that confirms access to lab space, IP ownership pathways, or commitment to licensing/spinout discussions signals readiness.

6. Plan for ethics and regulatory checks. If your customer discovery involves patient data, clinical settings, or work that could raise biosafety concerns, describe how you will comply. Even if formal approvals aren’t needed for interviews, showing you’ve thought about data protection and consent strengthens credibility.

7. Build milestones tied to decision gates. Funders want to see that the outcome won’t be a vague “we learned a lot.” Define decision gates: for example, if 60% of target users indicate willingness to pilot within six months, proceed to prototype; if under 20% show interest, change market focus or stop. These gates help reviewers see how funding leads to a concrete next step.

Application Timeline (Work Backwards from Deadline)

A realistic schedule lets you produce a polished submission and gives your institution time to review budgets.

• 6–8 weeks before deadline: Confirm eligibility (have you completed ICURe Discover?) and secure commitments from the Entrepreneurial Lead and any institutional sign-off. Contact the programme administrators if you have technical or eligibility questions.
• 5–6 weeks out: Draft the project plan, detailing assumptions, interview targets, test methods, and success metrics. Draft the budget and start the institutional costing process. Early draft of the Entrepreneurial Lead job description or CV.
• 3–4 weeks out: Solicit a support letter from your supervisor or tech-transfer office. Share the draft with at least two independent reviewers—one from your field and one with commercial experience—and incorporate feedback.
• 2 weeks out: Finalise budget justification and required attachments. Run a final internal compliance check (ethics, IP, procurement).
• 48–72 hours before deadline: Submit. Don’t risk last-minute upload failures.

Starting early also gives you time to pilot one or two customer conversations to refine your research instruments and projected timelines — a persuasive tactic to include in your application.

Required Materials

Applications typically require a clear, concise project description, a budget and justification, CVs for key personnel, and evidence of institutional support. Prepare the following items well before your deadline:

• Project description (usually 2–4 pages): Explain the problem you are solving, the target customer, the three key assumptions, the tests you will run, expected deliverables, and key milestones. Use straightforward language — reviewers come from different backgrounds.
• Budget and justification: Show how you will use both the Entrepreneurial Lead salary allocation and the testing funds. Be specific about unit costs and quantities.
• CV or biography for the Entrepreneurial Lead and Principal Investigator: Emphasize previous commercial or customer-facing experience where possible.
• Institutional statement or letter of support: Confirm access to facilities, IP ownership arrangements, and the institution’s stance on possible spinout or licensing.
• Ethical / regulatory notes: If applicable, include brief descriptions of approvals you will need and expected timelines.
• Any required forms from the programme page: Check the official call for templates or mandatory fields.

Don’t leave budget math to the last minute. Get costings verified by your university finance office early and attach any internal deadline dates you must meet.

What Makes an Application Stand Out

Strong applications are tight, evidence-focused, and commercially literate. Review panels are looking for a mix of technical credibility and a plausible commercial route. High-scoring proposals typically include:

• Clear, testable commercial hypotheses rather than vague aims. For example: “We hypothesise that core facility managers at UK universities will pay £X per sample for a kit that reduces hands-on time by 30%.” That is measurable and actionable.
• A credible recruitment plan for customer interviews with named channels or contacts. “We will interview 10 core facility managers sourced via the Core Facilities Network and three instrument vendors introduced by our tech-transfer office” is stronger than “we’ll reach out to customers.”
• Evidence that the team can execute: the Entrepreneurial Lead’s CV shows prior customer engagement, and the PI’s record shows technical competence.
• Risk management: direct acknowledgement of likely failure modes and realistic contingency plans.
• Realistic commercialization next steps tied to the findings: licensing discussions, follow-on funding applications, or a pilot agreement with an industry partner.

In short, the best applications read like a small commercial experiment rather than an extended research proposal.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (and How to Fix Them)

Many strong ideas falter because applicants miss basic practicalities. Avoid these common traps.

• Mistake: Vague success metrics. Fix: State specific measures (number of interviews, percent indicating purchase intent, pilot partners secured).
• Mistake: Understaffing the project. Fix: Use the Entrepreneurial Lead allocation and explain in detail how the Lead will spend their time on customer discovery.
• Mistake: Over-budgeting on equipment and under-budgeting outreach. Fix: Prioritise low-cost, high-value tests (interviews, landing-page tests, quick mock-ups) before expensive prototypes.
• Mistake: Ignoring institutional IP pathways. Fix: Engage your tech-transfer office early and include a short statement about IP ownership and commercialization intent.
• Mistake: Submitting a polished science narrative but weak commercial logic. Fix: Re-balance your application so the commercial questions take center stage; reviewers want market evidence, not more technical detail.
• Mistake: Waiting to recruit interviewees until after funding is awarded. Fix: Start informal outreach early — even a few preliminary conversations strengthen your plan and estimates.

Fixing these issues before submission often only requires an extra 10–20 hours of focused work, but it dramatically improves your chance of funding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I have to be the Entrepreneurial Lead if I’m the PI? A: Not necessarily. The Entrepreneurial Lead is a role funded within the grant and should be the person driving the commercial activity day-to-day. If you, as PI, will take on that role and are committing the time, that’s fine, but many teams appoint someone with specific commercial or customer-facing skills.

Q: Can the funds pay for lab reagents and equipment? A: Yes, to an extent. The £15,000 testing pot can cover small-scale lab work needed to demonstrate feasibility for customer testing. However, reviewers expect the bulk of funds to go toward customer discovery, prototyping for user feedback, and travel to meet stakeholders. Large equipment purchases are usually out of scope.

Q: What counts as completing ICURe Discover? A: Completion is defined by having taken part in the ICURe Discover programme. If you’re unsure whether your past participation qualifies, contact the programme administrators listed on the opportunity page to confirm.

Q: Will ICURe Explore support regulatory submissions or clinical trials? A: No. This is a market-exploration award. It’s designed to answer commercial questions and validate assumptions. Higher-cost regulatory work and clinical trials require different funding mechanisms.

Q: Can international collaborators be part of the project? A: The scheme is for researchers based at eligible UK institutions. International collaborators can be involved, but the award and primary activity should be UK-focused. Clarify roles and funding flows in your proposal.

Q: What happens after Explore? Is follow-on funding available? A: Explore is intended to produce evidence for next steps: licensing negotiations, investor conversations, institutional spinout consideration, or follow-on grants. BBSRC and other UKRI programmes may be relevant for follow-on, but Explore itself is a discrete market-validation stage.

How to Apply / Next Steps

Ready to prepare your submission? Take these concrete steps now:

1. Confirm you completed ICURe Discover. If you’re unsure, email the contacts on the programme page.
2. Draft a short project summary that lists your three commercial assumptions and how you will test them.
3. Identify and secure an Entrepreneurial Lead and get a short CV or bio that demonstrates their customer-facing experience.
4. Contact your tech-transfer office for a letter of support and to confirm IP controls.
5. Build a line-item budget that separates the Entrepreneurial Lead salary and the testing funds. Get institutional costing sign-off early.
6. Run at least three exploratory customer conversations before finalising the application — those early learnings will make your plan sharper.

Ready to apply? Visit the official opportunity page for full guidance and the application portal: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/bbsrc-innovation-to-commercialisation-of-university-research-icure-explore-2026/

If you have administrative or eligibility questions, email the programme contacts:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]

Make a small promise in your application and then show how funding will let you test whether it holds. Do that and you’ll have given reviewers exactly what they want: a clear experiment, executed by a capable team, with an outcome that determines whether your bioscience idea is worth turning into a business.