AgTech & Food Systems grants
Defra, Innovate UK and Horizon Europe funding for agriculture and food innovation
Defra and Innovate UK run distinctive UK agrifood funding streams with a strong preference for demonstrable benefit to producers, and the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund increasingly backs regional agrifood consortia. It is less crowded than health or AI funding and consistently overlooked by venture-backed founders.
£190m+ won by our team
PhD-level specialists who have won these awards themselves.
Funders funding agtech & food systems
- Defra
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Programmes that fit agtech & food systems companies
Local Innovation Partnerships Fund
Regional consortium funding spanning agriculture, food systems and rural innovation.
Innovate UK CR&D competitions
Sensing, robotics and biological platforms applied to agriculture.
Horizon Europe Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources cluster
Feedstock, biofuel and sustainable food-system research.
What assessors actually score
- Producer benefit quantified in yield, cost or input terms
- Letters of support from actual growers or cooperatives
- Field-season timing built into the project plan
Where we work in agtech & food systems
AgTech & Food Systems grants in our directory
Live programmes from the UK grant directory that suit agtech & food systems projects. Deadlines move between rounds, so each listing links through to the current detail.
Innovate UK
[IUK] ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant: Round 12
Defra Farming Innovation Programme grant of £2,500 for an English farming, growing or forestry business to engage an external Project Facilitator to develop a Full ADOPT Grant application (agriculture, horticulture, agro-forestry). Up to £100,000 available. Opens 1 October 2026, closes 11 November 2026 11:00am.
UK Space Agency
[UK Space Agency] Unlocking Space for Business: Environmental Intelligence & Emissions Grant Call
UK Space Agency grant call (£2M pot, up to £400k per project, 9 months) for UK end-user businesses leading a consortium with a UK space supplier to pilot space-enabled environmental intelligence and emissions solutions. Closes 11 December 2026 at 16:00 GMT.
Innovate UK
[IUK] Farming Futures research and development fund: soil and water
Expected to open. Defra Farming Futures R&D Fund competition (Farming Innovation Programme, delivered by Innovate UK): Healthy Soils and Water for a Sustainable Environment. Up to £28 million for collaborative development projects delivering ambitious, commercially deployable solutions to soil, water and environmental management challenges in farming and growing, enhancing farm productivity, environmental sustainability and the resilience of agriculture in England. Projects must benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England; total project costs £1 million–£5 million, up to 36 months. Opens…
Horizon Europe
[HORIZON - Agriculture] African Union – European Union Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FN…
Expected to open. Due to the scope of this topic, legal entities established in all African Union member states* are exceptionally eligible for Union funding. * "African Union member states" includes countries whose membership has been temporarily suspended. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are exceptionally eligible for funding.
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Food & Bioeconomy] Biotechnology application for Carbon Capture & Utilisation (CCU)
Expected to open. Consortium; UK eligible (Assoc. Country); SMEs as partners
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Food & Bioeconomy] Circular systemic solutions via living labs in cities & regions (two-stage, CCRI)
Expected to open. Consortium; UK eligible; SMEs as partners
Relevant client wins
Grants our team has won for companies solving comparable technical problems.
£1,170,000
£1.17M secured for emissions reduction platform
Supply chain emissions platform
Clean tech: supply chain decarbonisation
Read the case study
£350,000 match investment unlocked
Grant funding plus £350K match investment
BIRL
AI / retail tech: circular economy
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