More funding coming for UK video game and creative tech businesses in 2027
Key Points
- Innovate UK will launch new Next Wave funding rounds in 2027
- The £10 million pilot attracted around 700 applications
- Film and TV, video games, music and advertising are the four target sectors
- Funding amounts, dates and criteria have not been published
- The news came with the launch of the Creative Trade Forum in Edinburgh
Innovate UK will open new funding rounds in 2027 through its Next Wave programme, following a £10 million pilot that drew around 700 applications from creative technology businesses.
The announcement came alongside the launch of the Creative Trade Forum at the Edinburgh International Festival on Wednesday (26 August), a new partnership between government and industry leaders aimed at helping UK creative businesses sell overseas.
Next Wave is aimed at micro businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises building products at the intersection of creativity and technology, including next-generation gaming platforms and AI tools for film production.
The 2027 rounds will back four sectors:
- Film and television;
- Video games;
- Music and the performing and visual arts,
- Advertising and marketing.
Innovate UK has not yet published the funding total, application dates or eligibility criteria for the new rounds.
“The UK is home to extraordinary R&D infrastructure, creative talent and technological ideas. Next Wave is about backing the people pushing the edges of creativity and technology,” said Joanna Choukeir, Deputy Director for Creative Industries at Innovate UK.
She added that connecting createch SMEs with funding, expertise, markets and investment is intended to make the UK the leading place for the next generation of creative businesses to start and scale.
The Creative Trade Forum itself brings together leaders from trade bodies and companies including YouTube, the British Film Institute, WPP, the British Council, BBC Studios and Goalhanger.
Its stated role is to give government industry-led insight, identify barriers to growth, champion creative exports and attract investment.
Members include Alison Lomax, Managing Director of YouTube UK and Ireland, and Nick Poole, Chief Executive of UK Interactive Entertainment, the trade body representing the British games industry.
The forum is co-chaired by Francesca Hegyi, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh International Festival, and Michael Frohlich, Chief Marketing Officer and Corporate Affairs Officer at WPP.
It reports to the Creative Industries Council and delivers a commitment set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, part of the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy launched in June 2025.
“Britain does not have a creativity challenge. It has a scale challenge. We already produce world-class ideas, talent and intellectual property,” said Frohlich.
He said the opportunity is to help more UK creative businesses turn that advantage into export growth and commercial success in major markets worldwide.
Government figures put the contribution of the creative industries to the UK economy at over £145 billion in 2024.
Minister for Reindustrialisation Blair McDougall, who launched the forum in Edinburgh, will also take part in a “Closer to Europe” roundtable with industry leaders during the visit.
