Four new funding competitions are now open for individuals and organisations in the AgriFood sector, and a call for investors, as part of Transforming Food Production.

With Transforming Food Production, UKRI is investing £90 million of funding to help businesses, researchers and industry to transform food production, meet the growing demand and move towards net zero emissions by 2040.

Here’s a round up of each funding competition and call for investors, who it’s for and how you can find out more.

Farming Innovation Programme

There are three funding competition within this programme:

• Feasibility Projects
• Small R&D Partnership Projects
• Research Starter Pilot

These funding competitions are for farmers, businesses and research organisations who want to help to increase productivity and environmental sustainability in the agricultural and horticultural sectors in England. 

The Farming Innovation Programme supports groups of farmers, growers, businesses and researchers to get involved in collaborative research and development. This funding is part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme which is delivered in partnership with UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge.

1. Feasibility Projects

• Now open – Closes on Wednesday 1 December 2021 11:00
• For companies and research organisations who want to test the feasibility of early-stage solutions that have the potential to improve overall productivity, sustainability and resilience and inform decisions on subsequent larger scale R&D projects. 
• Projects up to 2 years, total projects costs between £200k – £500k.

Find out more 

• Watch on replay –  Briefing Event for Feasibility Projects & Small R&D Partnership
• Read the full funding competition page

2. Small R&D Partnership Projects

• Now open – Closes on Wednesday 1 December 2021 11:00
• For businesses and academics who want to carry out R&D for innovative solutions that have the potential to substantially improve overall productivity, sustainability and resilience of the sector
• Projects up to 3 years, total project costs between £1m – £3m

Find out more 

• Watch on replay – Briefing Event for Feasibility Projects & Small R&D Partnership
• Sign up for our Consortia Building Workshop for Small R&D Partnership Projects – 27th October 
• Join our Transforming Food Production Consortia Building Group on LinkedIn
• Read the full funding competition page

3. Research Starter Pilot

• Now open – Closes on Wednesday 24 November 2021 11:00
• For farmers and growers who have a bold, ambitious, early stage idea to increase productivity and environmental sustainability in agriculture or horticulture
• Projects up to 12 months, total project costs between £28k – £56k

Find out more 

• Watch on replay – Briefing Event for Research Starter Pilot
• Read the full funding competition page

Transforming Food Production: Series A Investor Partnership

The aim of this Programme is to encourage investment in innovative companies with developed technologies that are working towards net zero emission productive food systems.

• Series A Investor Partnership – SMEs Competition
• Series A Investor Partnership – Call for investors 

1. Series A Investor Partnership – SMEs Competition

• Now open – Closes on Wednesday 17 November 2021 11:00
• For UK AgriTech SMEs that are transforming food production towards net zero and looking to raise series A investment
• Apply for a share of up to £5 million in grant support. This must align with a series A investment and must be led by one of the lead investors selected for this competition.

Find out more 

• Watch on replay – Briefing event for SMEs Competition
• Read about the investors who are ready to invest in AgriTech SMEs as part of the programme 
• Request access to our Investor Readiness Resource Bank covering key topics such as robust financial models, intellectual property, due diligence, valuations and asset finance. 
• Read the full funding competition page

2. Series A Investor Partnership – Call for Investors 

• • Now open – Closes on Wednesday 10 November 2021 11:00
  • For equity investors who are interested in series A investment into UK companies working to transform food production towards net zero production systems by 2040
  • Investors can apply to partner with Innovate UK to align their investment alongside grant funding coming from the Transforming Food Production Programme.
    

  Find out more

  • Watch on replay – Information Webinar for Investors
  • Red the full investor call page