Round 2: Innovate UK Agri-Tech and Food Tech Launchpad - NOW OPEN
Now open - a very limited time offer for micro and small businesses, the closing date is 19th June 2024 for applications.
Innovate UK have confirmed that the next competitions under the £7.5m Agri-Tech and Food Tech Launchpad (covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Lincolnshire) has been launched offering £4.5m of funding over the two competitions:
- “New Innovator” funding for early-stage businesses to develop highly innovative ideas that have a clear route to commercialisation and business growth. Micro and small businesses new to Innovate UK funding support will be invited to apply for up to £50,000 of grant funding for their projects.
- Further grant funding for collaborative R&D projects, led by businesses building consortia with researchers, academics, charities and larger corporates, and requesting up to £300,000 of grant funding.
The details and eligibility can be found here:
To be eligible, projects must make a significant contribution to one or more of the following:
- enhancing the productivity of primary crops, the bioeconomy, livestock, aquaculture or ornamental plants
- biotechnologies related to agriculture, food and nutrition
- food that promotes safe, healthy and nutritious diets
- resource-efficient production methods for low-emission foods
The key thing to note is that this is wider than just agri-tech and food tech, and also supports agri-biotech and aquaculture.
For Suffolk, there are opportunities around food processing and manufacturing (including seafood); robotics, drones and satellite applications (for instance at Adastral Park); sustainability (perhaps the University of Suffolk); aquaculture (including Cefas); and protecting animal welfare (excludes equine on its own).
Projects can focus on one or more of the following:
- sustainability in the context of environmental challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity
- protecting, maintaining or enhancing animal welfare within current UK regulatory standard
- nutritional composition, food manufacturing and processing, packaging, and safety
- minimising negative effects such as pollution, food loss and waste
- resilience and responsiveness in the supply chain, mitigating risks, interruptions or disruptions
For the New Innovator competition, we have been informed that this is likely to include the adoption of new technology and kit. This links in with Space East, NAAME and Connected Innovation assets across both counties too.
We are encouraging companies from Norfolk and Suffolk to take advantage of free bid writing and grant mentoring support available through the Innovation Grant Mentoring Project – they supported successful applicants in round one: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/43314/Innovation-grant-mentoring-project
For further information, or to discuss potential applications, please contact Julie West on julie.west@suffolk.gov.uk (Suffolk) or James Allen on james.allen@norfolk.gov.uk (Norfolk)