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Two projects led by the University of Liverpool are set to receive £23.7m from the Government’s Local Innovation Partnership Fund.
The funding, agreed locally by the Liverpool City Region Local Innovation Partnership Group, is the first allocation from £30m earmarked for the City Region in July 2025.
Led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national £500m Local Innovation Partnership Fund is designed to support the development and scaling of high-potential, existing and emerging innovation clusters across the UK.
All projects must involve academia, industry and government, and deliver real-world impact, advancing knowledge, improving lives and driving growth.
The two cutting-edge projects will further boost the City Region’s distinctive, world-leading capabilities in Materials Chemistry, Infection Prevention and Control, and AI Solutions and Emerging Technologies, and their convergence.
The announcement comes at the start of the Liverpool City Region Innovation Investment Fortnight at which more than £2bn of investment opportunities will be showcased across over 25 events.
The University’s AIM-HI programme has received £15m to build on the success of the Materials Innovation Factory and create a new high-growth chemical super cluster in the City Region, and is matched by £30m of industry funding.
Critical to the UK’s manufacturing base and accounting for 9% of manufacturing jobs in the North West, the chemical sector faces challenges including translational gaps. AIM-HI will address these, bridging academic work on AI for chemistry and industry to ensure its full commercial exploitation.
The second project is the National Biofilms Innovation Centre: Liverpool Engine (NBIC-LIVE) programme which has received £8.7m to establish the world’s first centre of innovation excellence dedicated to AI and machine learning-enabled rapid innovation of antimicrobial and anti-biofilm surfaces.
The NBIC-LIVE programme will establish the City Region as a global leader in this critical field. Tackling biofilms – which are responsible for 80% of infections and major industrial costs – it will accelerate development and commercialisation of next-generation materials, reinforcing LCR’s leadership in advanced manufacturing and innovation.
Both projects showcase strong, mature partnerships between industry and academia and coordinated local ecosystems.
In the Liverpool City Region (LCR), as well as involving academia, industry and local government, LIPF projects are required to ensure local communities are directly involved and benefit. This reflects the City Region’s UK-leading approach to inclusive innovation and its drive to open up science, technology and R&D to everyone.
The £23.7m investment is expected to unlock new opportunities for businesses to scale, support high-value job creation, and drive forward the development of new technologies with global impact.
It also reinforces the City Region’s long-term commitment to building an innovation-led economy – one that connects its academic excellence with industry demand to deliver tangible economic growth.
Announced at the start of Innovation Investment Fortnight, an annual two-week programme, led by the Combined Authority, showcasing the distinctive world-leading assets, partnership-driven approaches, and £2bn investment opportunities that put the LCR at the forefront of UK place-based innovation.
Innovation Investment Fortnight, running from 1st to 12th June, is bringing together international investors, businesses, researchers and policymakers to explore LCR’s distinctive place-based innovation assets, capabilities and other competitive strengths, UK-leading partnership-driven approach, and associated investment opportunities, in order to raise the LCR’s profile, create new linkages, and contribute to driving inclusive growth.
More than £2bn of investment opportunities will be showcased across the two-week festival, which will feature more than 25 events covering topics ranging from the City Region’s strengths in life sciences innovation to maritime, games development, AI and sports science.
The programme also includes the fifth annual LCR Innovation Investment Summit at The Spine (on Thursday, 4 June) a Dragon’s Den-style pitching event, an LCR Innovation Zone Showcase, and the UK Innovation Districts Group Annual Summit.
The Liverpool City Region has been at the UK forefront of place-based innovation since creating the UK’s first regional Innovation Board in 2013, highlighting the City Region’s collaborative partnership-based approach, and with a “North Star” Mayoral ambition to invest 5% of GVA in R&D by 2030.
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of UKRI said:
“The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund exists to ensure that world-class research gets into the hands of local organisations and businesses to create real economic value in communities across the UK.
“Liverpool City Region is demonstrating exactly how that works: taking deep scientific expertise in areas like AI-enabled chemistry and antimicrobial innovation and connecting it directly to industry and global markets.
“This is how UKRI’s investment in places becomes investment in the nation’s future and helps achieve our mission to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth.”
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:
“This funding is a major vote of confidence in the Liverpool City Region and our position at the forefront of global innovation. We’re already building real strength in areas like artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, and this investment will help us accelerate that progress – turning cutting-edge research into high-quality jobs and opportunities for our communities.
“It also comes at an important moment, helping us to launch our Innovation Investment Fortnight and put a spotlight on the scale of opportunity here. We have the talent, the assets and the ambition – and with backing like this, we can continue to lead from the front, both nationally and internationally.”
Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool said:
“This new funding recognises the power of partnership between universities, industry and civic leaders. Through AIM-HI and NBIC-LIVE, the University of Liverpool will help accelerate world-leading advances in AI-enabled materials chemistry and life science, while creating new opportunities for businesses, researchers and the LCR workforce.
“The LCR LIPF projects will foster long-term economic growth and support high-value jobs whilst securing our region’s reputation as a global centre for scientific and technological innovation.”
The Local Innovation Partnership Group, convened by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, is made up of representatives from civic institutions, universities, industry, and the social economy. The group makes funding decisions locally on the Local Innovation Partnership Fund.
