Forge.Foundry — public and impact sector open innovation

Forge.Foundry opens procurement routes for startups selling into government, cities and the impact sector. Most of what sits here is work Forge does alongside a ministry, so the intake usually belongs to the scheme rather than to Forge.

What you get

• On iDEX, the Ministry of Defence's innovation programme, Forge says it onboards, mentors and manages projects; it also says it devised the iDEX framework and the procurement steps that led to the Innovation category in the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020. Forge reports 76 iDEX projects onboarded, mentored and managed, and five procurement contracts won
• On City Innovation Exchange, Forge is the named knowledge and capabilities partner to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and co-authored the SmartProcure policy that lets cities buy directly from startups. Forge reports more than 800 urban tech startups and more than 100 cities on that platform, with more than 30 procurement orders issued
• Pilot grant support for impact startups, and policy work to open direct procurement routes for them

Who can apply

• Defence-tech startups, through iDEX's own process — not through Forge
• Urban-tech startups, by listing on the City Innovation Exchange platform run by the Ministry and NIUA
• Deep-tech startups with an impact solution and a public or private buyer, through the two grant programmes listed separately

How to apply: Applications for iDEX challenges are made on the Ministry of Defence's own iDEX platform, which Forge's page does not link to. City Innovation Exchange onboarding happens on that platform. For Forge's own impact programmes, use its general enquiry page.