How zero-equity IP grants work for startups (Adam Fox) | Talk IP to me Ep. 6

Adam Fox is a business leader and long-time IP industry operator. He is a Board Member at FundingIP, a UK nonprofit that helps innovators protect IP through zero-equity grants, funding support, and the CEO of Insperanto (global patent translation and foreign filing support).

In this episode, Adam joins David Breitenbach (CCO, PatentRenewal.com) to break down how FundingIP works in practice, how startups can get matched with the right attorney, and how founders can think more strategically about IP funding, filing, and foreign expansion without getting stuck in slow, complex grant processes.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

◼️ How FundingIP’s 90-minute IP strategy grant works

◼️ Why matching with the right attorney matters so much for startups

◼️ What happens after the first strategy session

◼️ What FundingIP’s filing grant covers (and what it does not cover)

◼️ How the innovation grant works and how the panel selects winners

◼️ How government IP grants typically compare in time, effort, and approval rates

◼️ Where founders most commonly overspend in IP

00:00 Intro

01:08 Adam’s path: from psychology to IP and startup funding

02:53 How FundingIP works: application, speed, approvals

04:00 Matching founders with the right attorney (tech niche + jurisdiction)

05:56 Who can apply? Geographic eligibility (global / “planet Earth”)

07:41 The 90-minute strategy session

09:50 Reimbursement: do you get it back even if you don’t continue with the attorney?

10:36 What comes after the strategy session: drafting, filing, foreign jurisdictions

12:07 Role of service providers in foreign filing & translation

13:05 The filing grant: what it covers (and what it doesn’t)

14:37 Innovation grants: what they are and how they can scale

17:49 The innovation grant panel: how winners are selected

19:55 Why some applicants get rejected (the ~20%)

21:48 Attorney matching and psychological fit

22:52 Insperanto’s network that supports attorney matching

24:56 Government grants for official filing fees: what’s available

26:00 Government grants vs FundingIP: timelines, effort, approval rates

28:40 Which grant should time-pressed founders prioritize?

30:42 Rapid fire “IP confessions”

Follow Adam

https://www.linkedin.com/in/insperanto/

FundingIP

https://fundingip.com/

Insperanto

https://insperanto.com/

Join PatentRenewal.com’s circle on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/patentrenewalcom

Follow David:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-breitenbach/

GET IN TOUCH

Our website: https://patentrenewal.com/

About us

At PatentRenewal.com, we believe IP renewals should be simple, transparent, and stress-free. We care about innovation and about making IP easier to understand and easier to use.

That’s why we created Talk IP to me, the podcast that brings fresh conversations to the world of intellectual property.In each episode, innovators, IP experts, founders, and legal minds share real stories, hard-won lessons, and practical insights you can actually apply in your work.

Our goal is simple: make IP feel human, practical, and accessible.