Global Business Innovation Programme in Australia - Agri-Tech

The Global Business Innovation Programme is structured around three main stages and each business will have a designated Innovate UK Business Growth innovation & growth specialist to support them for at least the duration of the offering, including developing a work plan to capitalise on the opportunities identified. The three main stages of the Global Business Innovation Programme are

• Get ready: A two-day workshop to build knowledge and understanding of the market and potential opportunities, including how to do business, cultural aspects, how to protect your IP, and training on how to better articulate your value proposition.
• Visit the market: Explore the opportunities first-hand through meetings with key companies, research organisations, and potential collaborators and partners, through pre-arranged meetings and organised matchmaking.
• Exploit the opportunity: An exploitation workshop and one-to-one support from an Innovate UK Business Growth innovation & growth specialist to help you follow up and maximise the opportunities identified through the programme.

To apply for this programme, you must:

• Be a UK based innovation-led company with ambitions to grow and internationalise
• Be a company with fewer than 250 employees
• Be CEO, Founder or senior decision maker and able to attend and complete all activities

The adoption of technology presents a significant opportunity for Australian agriculture to improve profitability and productivity whilst meeting the challenges of climate change and sustainability goals.

Australia’s agriculture industry is on track to be a $100 billion industry by 2030, creating a perfect launchpad for UK businesses to connect, collaborate and scale in a diverse and rapidly growing market. The Australian Agri-Tech and Food-Tech sectors are booming, with more than 2500 enterprises, including 488 Agri Tech start-ups. The industry has an incredible culture of partnerships and collaboration, with 15 Agri-tech incubators or accelerators to support innovation.

Companies can access R&D and commercialisation expertise through Rural Research and Development corporations, universities, Cooperative Research Centres, the national science agency CSIRO and dedicated agriculture and food innovation hubs. We anticipate leveraging this expertise during the market visit and hope this leads to bilateral funding opportunities between Australia and the UK.

The visit will include exploring the Queensland AgriTech ecosystems, and the evokeAG Conference will provide excellent opportunities to meet organisations from Australia, the Asia Pacific region and beyond, covering farmers, start-ups, innovators, accelerators, researchers, universities, businesses, Government and investors.

We invite applications from innovative companies actively developing new technologies and approaches that can drive efficient, sustainable, and profitable agriculture and food production systems for livestock, crop and horticultural sectors including:

• Regenerative agriculture including nutrient management, soil health, bio stimulants, integrated pest management, and cultivation techniques.
• Climate smart agriculture including carbon monitoring, capture and storage, smart irrigation, resilient crops and livestock, GHG and enteric methane emissions reduction, and controlled environment agriculture.
• Robotics and automation systems for plant and animal health and welfare monitoring, management operations and harvesting operations.
• Remote and physical sensing technologies plus associated data processing and decision-making tools including AI to drive efficient resource use and productivity.
• Livestock breeding, health, and nutrition.
• Plant breeding (including precision breeding), health, and nutrition.

• Explore joint opportunities to do business with Australia
• Find potential innovation collaborators and partners
• Improve company value proposition to global partners and investors

To learn more about the programme, watch the recording of the application briefing from the 17th September.

Application form can be found here.

• Closing date for applications: 27 October 2024
• Get Ready workshop: 13 – 14 January 2025
• Visit the market: 13 – 27 February 2025
• Exploit the opportunity workshop: 13 May 2025