Small and medium-sized businesses will soon be able to apply for a share of £5 million in grant funding to “scale up agricultural innovation”.
The Farming Innovation Investor Partnership Competition will open for applications on Monday, July 24.
The competition seeks to support pioneering projects across the agricultural sector that have demonstrated the potential to grow and generate revenue, supporting the commercialisation of on-farm technologies that can then be rolled out across the industry.
Projects are encouraged to apply from across the livestock, arable, horticulture, bioeconomy and agroforestry sectors and should focus on solutions that support productivity, environmental sustainability, progression towards net-zero emissions and farming resilience.
The competition combines private investment with grant funding; projects can bid for up to 45% of project costs in grant funding which must be matched by at least twice the amount in private investment.
Investors for the programme will be selected from the pool of Innovate UK Investor Partners which currently comprises 80 partners and growing. There is also no limit to the level of private investment for projects.
Commenting on the competition, Mark Spencer, Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries said: “Supporting a resilient, sustainable and innovative agriculture sector that puts food on our tables while safeguarding the environment is my priority, and we are working with farmers to deliver this through our new farming schemes and grants.
“By bringing together cutting-edge agri-innovation and public and private investment, we can unlock new technologies that help make our farm businesses as productive as possible.”
The Farming Innovation Investor Partnership Competition is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and run in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and delivered by Innovate UK.
In order to apply, projects must be led by a sole UK registered micro, small, or medium-sized business and exhibit clear and tangible connections to farmers, growers, agri-businesses, and other potential end-users.
