This competition is open to collaborations only.

To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications.

If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.

Your project must:

• have total costs of between £250,000 and £750,000
• last between 6 months and 12 months
• start by 1 October 2026
• end by 30 September 2027

Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.

The aim of this competition is to enable Agri-tech innovators to advance their product performance and reliability and start development of their manufacturing and supply chain capability. Your project should aim to close technology gaps that prevent products being proven, demonstrated and accepted in end user conditions. This will promote commercial engagement and adoption to drive UK Agri-tech frontier industry growth and drive UK agricultural productivity and sustainability.

Your proposal must be a late stage project and demonstrate how it will develop your product to higher levels of performance, reliability and adoption readiness. You must also demonstrate how you will move your business, technologies and products closer to manufacturing readiness.

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

• technologies that enable automation to reduce labour demands and improve productivity and sustainability in agriculture, forestry, horticulture and aquaculture
• automation and robotic systems and equipment
• automated sensing and observation systems that must include associated data processing and intelligence systems to provide actionable management decisions or direct control actions
• identify specific technology or performance gaps, manufacturing, engineering or regulatory challenges to be addressed through this process
• outline how you will accelerate progress, attract investment, and expedite time to market
• you must be able to demonstrate that the product to be brought to market will drive productivity, sustainability and evidence of farmer or grower demand
• a long term market for the product or service; solutions that have the opportunity for global export would be considered advantageous
• demonstrate a robust business plan that supports production and market scale up
• your project must be seeking to develop and test your products to overcome known technical gaps, increase performance or reliability to levels that are acceptable for commercial end user operation

Technologies and project approaches can include but are not limited to:

• design and test of mechanical, electrical, electronic and software systems for robust and reliable function, operation, reliability and durability
• design for manufacture and assembly
• regulatory and safety compliance testing and approvals including food safety requirements, operational and functional safety, electromagnetic compatibility testing and compliance
• development and testing of software, navigation systems, safety systems, fleet management and deployment systems including cyber security
• software and hardware system optimisation to enable easy integration with existing business management and process hardware, software and systems
• fleet management and fleet deployment hardware and software including; battery, charging, operator interface, support and monitoring systems
• field, workshop and laboratory trials to develop and prove performance, reliability, endurance and machine up-time in end user environments to confirm end user acceptance and benchmark performance
• devices, technologies and systems to enable effective end user product support, diagnostics and repair

The following supporting events are now available:

Wednesday 8 April 2026, 10-11.15am: online briefing event. Click here to register for a place. A recording and slides will be available afterwards.

Wednesday 29 April 2026, 9am-3pm: live in-person AgriScale showcase and consortium building event in Coventry: register your expression of interest to attend. This event will not be recorded.

If you would like advice on what strand to apply for, or help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Agrifood team.