Agri-Tech Opportunities

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For businesses driving innovation in agri-tech, accessing the right support can make all the difference. Discover the latest opportunities across the agri-food supply chain to create a strong foundation for growth and accelerate your organisation’s journey.  

  • Business support programmes 
  • Farmer-led innovation trials 
  • Latest UK funding opportunities 

Read on to find out about current funding opportunities to help accelerate your business’ aspirations:

 

ADOPT – Farmer-led innovation trials 

ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies) is a funding competition designed to support farmer-led, on-farm trials and experiments across England. Funded by Defra and delivered by Innovate UK, it aims to generate, test, and demonstrate innovative solutions to challenges in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry.  

Grants available: 

ADOPT Round 6 is officially live – the biggest round to date, with up to £5 million available to support farmer-led trials, with projects starting from 1 September.  

Funded projects so far have explored soil and nutrient management, livestock systems, arable trials, equipment and technology and new ways of collaborating to improve resilience and productivity. 

Learn more and apply

ADOPT Support Hub 

The ADOPT Support Hub delivered by ADAS, UK Agri-Tech Centre and The Soil Association, is here to support farmers and facilitators from early ideas through to live projects. Support is free and available at any stage. 

 

Learn more

 

Overcome technical and commercial challenges with business support programmes 

Our business support programmes deliver specialist, expert support to tackle business growth challenges and move your innovation closer to market, quickly.  

 

Global Growth Accelerator – International pilot projects to validate UK-developed agri-tech solutions with end users 

‘Global Growth Accelerator – Australasia’ is an international programme designed to fast-track UK agri-tech businesses by validating technologies for dairy and livestock in New Zealand’s innovation-driven farming systems. 

Delivered in partnership with Agnition Ventures and AgriTech New Zealand, GGA provides agri-tech businesses with structured access to early-adopter farms for third-party validation, farmer feedback and investment opportunities.  The programme will help UK businesses remove barriers to investment and open commercial pathways globally. 

Registrations are now open.

 

Find out more

 

FASTA – Accelerator for agri-tech solutions enabling Net Zero agriculture 

Backed by the UK Agri-Tech Centre and delivered in partnership with the Carbon Trust, FASTA provides expert-led support to accelerate solutions that enable a more sustainable, productive and resilient UK agriculture sector. Agri-tech businesses can benefit from a range of support including tailored mentorship, access to validation facilities, investor readiness sessions and more.  

Visit the FASTA page to learn more and register your interest for the next cohort. 

 

Find out more

 

Agri-Tech Solution Sprints – Fast-paced innovation sprints 

Agri-Tech Solution Sprints supports micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to overcome hurdles and progress agri-tech solutions forward to commercialisation. Delivered in short, fast-paced programmes, you will work with experts to create a bespoke programme to support your business to overcome its innovation challenge. 

If you would like to receive updates about the next round of Agri-Tech Solution Sprints, click the button below

 

Register your interest and find out more

 

 

UK funding opportunities 

Funding Opportunity: Advanced manufacturing supply chain innovation FS 

Deadline: March 11 

UK registered businesses and research and technology organisations (RTOs) can apply for a share of up to £5 million for feasibility studies. These will make supply chains more resource efficient and resilient through addressing cross cutting challenges. 

 

Funding Opportunity: Robotics Adoption Hubs

Deadline: April 15

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will work with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to invest up to £38 million. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

 

Funding Opportunity: Horizon Europe 2026-27: EU Missions – Adaptation to Climate Change

Deadline: September 2026

The European Commission has published all of the 2026-27 Horizon Europe Work Programmes, which list the funding opportunities under the 2026-27 call topics.

 

Funding Opportunity: SMART: Scotland grants

Deadline: Ongoing

The SMART: SCOTLAND grant is one of our research and development (R&D) grants that aims to support high-risk, highly ambitious projects. It provides support to conduct feasibility studies. It’s only available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based in Scotland, and supports activities that have a commercial endpoint.

The SMART grant aims to support our priority areas for economic transformation. These are:

  • Creating an internationally competitive energy transition industry in Scotland
  • Scaling the impact of Scotland’s innovation strengths into high-growth industries of the future
  • Driving capital investment to deliver a step-change in Scotland’s productivity

 

Funding Opportunity: TMAF

Multiple grant opportunities available for: 

  • Arable research relevant to East Anglia that improves productivity while reducing negative impact on the natural environment.
  • PhD projects – in collaboration with other funders and partners.
  • Individuals and their continual professional development (CPD) at all levels.
  • Initiatives to inform a wide audience – from school age children to adults – about agricultural practices.

Projects that make use of TMAF farms, complement current or previous TMAF-supported projects, contribute long-standing data sets, or offer clear ways to share information and demonstrate results are welcomed.

 

How the UK Agri-Tech Centre can help you 

At the UK Agri-Tech Centre, we connect high-potential agri-tech businesses to commercial success. We are a UK-wide organisation dedicated to helping agir-tech businesses become market-ready, scale effectively and achieve real-world adoption. Our expert team ensures customers receive tailored support, access to testbeds and a pathway to market to accelerate growth in the UK and beyond. 

  

If you have any questions about the above funding opportunities or want to find out how we can help your agri-tech business grow, get in touch with us at [email protected]  

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