Concretene
Supporting Concretene’s Commercial Breakthrough with Strategic Innovate UK Funding.
Concretene is a graphene-enhanced concrete admixture designed to reduce embodied carbon and speed up curing without compromising strength.
Like any early-stage R&D company, Concretene needed funding to optimise their formulation, strengthen their product, and explore new market opportunities. Iconiq supported the company to identify the right funding opportunities, design a clear bid strategy, and secure two Innovate UK projects with grants totalling over £1.3 million. This strategic, hands-on support helped them move from lab-scale manufacture and proof-of-concept demonstrators to pilot-scale volumes and commitments from major UK asset owners to deploy Concretene in their infrastructure projects.
funding details
We helped Concretene secure two Innovate UK projects that played a defining role in their next stage of growth:
Programme Name
Innovate UK ReFoRMM Competition
Project name
GRAPHenhance
Grant value
£596,975
Project duration
October 2023 – December 2024
Programme Name
Innovate UK Smart Grant - Open
Project name
GRAPHcast
Grant value
£752,418
Project duration
December 2023 – July 2025
Together, these projects helped Concretene progress towards accreditation, strengthen commercial partnerships, and build confidence in the material’s potential across multiple applications.
The challenge
Concretene had strong early demonstrations of the technology, but as with many breakthrough materials, the path to market wasn’t straightforward. They needed funding that:
- Strengthened the UK-based supply chain by optimising and scaling local graphene oxide and graphene nanoplatelet production, reducing dependence on overseas imports and mitigating logistical and quality risks
- Opened pathways into new markets such as precast concrete by supporting product adaptation and early-stage validation
At the same time, competition for public R&D funding had intensified, with recent Innovate UK data showing successful applications frequently scoring in the high-80s to mid-90s percent range. Concretene needed applications that truly reflected the full value and strength of their technology, ones that were clearly articulated, aligned to scope, and structured for high assessment performance. With multiple partners and evolving workstreams, they needed expert support to bring their strengths together in a clear and compelling way.
Iconiq's role
Iconiq acted as a long-term partner, combining strategic insight with hands-on proposal delivery:
1. Funding Strategy & Opportunity Matching
We mapped Concretene’s ambition against upcoming Innovate UK competitions, helping them see where each project could meaningfully advance their commercial timeline. This ensured their submissions built on one another and formed a logical, fundable sequence.
2. Proposal Development
- Working closely together, we challenged and supported the Concretene team and helped them articulate their vision with confidence and credibility, through:
- Shaping complex technical information into compelling narratives
- Strengthening the proposals’ commercial positioning through market analysis and business case development
- Connecting partners’ contributions into robustly designed workplans with well-defined budgets and risk management plans
Lessons learned
This collaboration highlighted the value of long-term partnership. By working together across several calls, we were able to provide continuity and momentum. As such, we could strengthen each new proposal and help Concretene respond quickly when the right opportunities emerged.
Longterm engagement also enabled deeper insight into their technology, challenges and ambitions. As Concretene’s commercial maturity grew, so did Concretene’s funding requirements. This allowed us to evolve alongside them and shift from early-stage-oriented funding support toward identifying larger, more industrial-focused opportunities.
Looking ahead, we continue to keep Concretene in view for major collaborative programmes, including Horizon Europe Cluster calls, where they can play a valuable role as an industrial partner within wider innovation ecosystems.
Iconiq Innovation supported us through a key phase in Concretene’s development, enabling us to achieve market-leading understanding of the graphene supply chain and vital insights into market entry for precast products. Their knowledge of the application process and meticulous delivery helped us secure the funding needed to accelerate our technology from lab to pilot scale.
Alan Beck, Head of Product, Concretene
Further information
Get in touch with Ian Gee, Managing Director
Iconiq Innovation
Ian.Gee@iconiqinnovation.com