Deadline: 3-June-2026
The Innovate UK is inviting Agri-tech innovators to enhance product performance, manufacturing readiness, and market adoption to boost UK agricultural productivity and sustainability.
The program focuses on several specific themes designed to strengthen Agri-tech solutions. These include the development of technologies that enable automation to reduce labor demands and increase productivity in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, and aquaculture. Projects may also involve automation and robotic systems, automated sensing and observation systems, and associated data processing and intelligence systems that provide actionable management decisions or direct control actions. Additionally, applicants should identify specific manufacturing, engineering, performance, or regulatory compliance challenges and describe how their projects will address them to improve production and adoption readiness.
Applicants are also encouraged to demonstrate strategies for accelerating progress, attracting investment, and shortening the time to market. This includes outlining methods to overcome technical, regulatory, or supply chain hurdles, ensuring that innovations can be scaled efficiently while meeting industry standards. Projects must integrate a clear roadmap showing how technologies will be brought to production readiness, marketed to end users, and adopted within the agricultural sector.
Eligible projects must have total costs between £1 million and £3 million and must be carried out in the United Kingdom. All projects are expected to start on the first day of a month, even if it falls on a non-working day, and work must not begin until Innovate UK approves the Grant Offer Letter. Projects targeting primary agricultural producers are subject to the green box exemption under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, and applicants must ensure that all outcomes will be exploited within the UK.
This funding opportunity provides Agri-tech innovators with a platform to scale cutting-edge solutions, enhance manufacturing and operational efficiency, and contribute to a sustainable and productive agricultural sector in the United Kingdom. By combining technology development, market readiness, and business growth strategies, AgriScale supports the creation of resilient, high-impact innovations that benefit the industry and end users alike.
For more information, visit GOV.UK.
