Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership

Who can apply

Your project

If you are successful, any awards given to primary agricultural producers are subject to the green box exemption under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.

See further guidance on green box subsidies here WTO guidance for support in agriculture. Applicants receiving this type of support must ensure that there is minimal to no distortion of trade and comply with the requirements of Annex 2 of the Agriculture Agreement.

Your project must:

• have total eligible costs of between £750,000 and £3 million

• last 18 months

• carry out all of its project work in the UK

• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

• not start before 1 April 2026

• be able to demonstrate how it will benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME)

• be prepared to negotiate heads of terms for an aligned private investment

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Number of applications

An SME can only lead on one application.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project

• an overdue independent accountant’s report

• failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must always make sure that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or actually distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or De Minimis allowance.

Funding

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has allocated up to £5 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. This competition is delivered by Innovate UK and funding will be in the form of a grant.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

The balance between your total eligible project costs and the amount of grant awarded must be funded by the organisation receiving the grant.

For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Aligned private investment

You must agree the private investment through a lead investor and reach heads of terms by 3 December 2025.

The aligned private investment:

• must provide you with suitable capital at least twice the amount of the grant requested to complete your project, support company growth and scale ambitions

• can be directed for use in your company, whereas the grant is to support the project only

• can be used to fund additional costs typically ineligible for support by Innovate UK

• must be provided under commercial terms negotiated with the lead investor and not Innovate UK

The investment can be in the form of either direct equity investment or a convertible loan. It must come from a lead investor from the pool of investors associated with this programme. The lead investor may decide to syndicate with other investors from within or outside of the pool.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to:

• develop ambitious late stage innovative solutions, technologies, systems or approaches that will make significant steps towards improving productivity, profitability, increasing sustainability and resilience

• help the agriculture sector move towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050

• support commercialisation of late stage experimental development projects that are close to market and ultimately their adoption by farmers

Your project must:

• demonstrate your ambition to finalise a late stage innovation

• show your potential to grow and scale your business through successful negotiation of investment from a lead investor associated with the competition

• provide a coherent project plan which integrates into your business strategy

Your solutions must significantly improve farm focused:

• productivity

• sustainability and environmental impact

• progression towards net zero emissions

• resilience

Your project must be able to demonstrate how the project will benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England.

Portfolio approach

We will show preference to applications and investments that demonstrate greater added value and reduced risk alongside those with a higher ratio of investment to grant. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project must address a significant industry challenge or opportunity in at least one of the industry subsectors:

• livestock

• plants

• novel food production systems

• bioeconomy and agroforestry

Research categories

We will fund experimental development projects only as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

• are not carried out by single SMEs

• are collaborative research and development (R&D) projects

• are not part of a company’s growth plan

• are unable to prove there is potential for return on investment and growth

• are equine specific

• involve wild caught fisheries

• involve aquaculture for fish production or human consumption​

• involve cellular expression of proteins or cultivated meat​

• involve cellular or acellular production systems, fermentation systems for bacteria, yeast or fungi for human consumption​

• have the primary focus being Total Controlled Environment Agriculture​ (TCEA)

• are for the production of crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use​

• do not benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country

• dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

5 June 2025

Online briefing event: join at 11am

Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event.

8 August 2025

Notification of Innovate UK grant eligibility

3 December 2025

Deadline to reach heads of terms with lead investor

19 December 2025

Applicants notified

1 April 2026

Project start from

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct

• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria

• all sections of the application are marked as complete

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

Projects will be notified of their eligibility following the Innovate UK assessment and their potential opportunity to receive grant funding. This will be conditional on reaching heads of terms with an eligible investor partner and the availability of Innovate UK funding.

What we ask you

The application is split into three sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application team

Decide which people from your organisation will work with you on the project and invite those people to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 5. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess.

You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation.

We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement.

You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in.

You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Question 5. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Question 6. Need or challenge

What is the business need, technological challenge, or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Explain:

• the main motivation for the project

• the business problem, need, technological challenge or market opportunity identified

• how your project will support the development of ambitious late stage innovative solutions to technologies, systems or approaches that will make significant steps towards improving productivity, profitability, increasing sustainability and resilience

• how you will help the agriculture sector move towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050

• how your project outputs link to farmers, growers, agri-businesses, and other potential end users and must clearly demonstrate likely benefit or application of the project outcomes in the English farming sector

• the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity

• how the grant and aligned private investment will enable you to grow and scale beyond the project

Question 7. Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

Explain:

• how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified

• how you will improve on any similar innovation that you have identified

• whether the innovation will focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas, or a totally disruptive approach

• the freedom you have to operate

• how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings

• how it will make you more competitive

• the nature of the outputs you expect from the project, for example, reports, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design, and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 8. Team and resources

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Explain:

• the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking

• the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them

• the details of any vital external parties, including subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project

• any roles you will need to recruit for

You can submit one appendix, with a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 9. Market awareness

What does the market or markets you are targeting look like?

Describe:

• the target markets for the project outcomes and any other potential markets, either domestic, international or both

• the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available

• the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes

• the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist

• the current UK position in targeting these markets

• the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

Question 10. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase long term productivity as a result of the project?

Explain:

• your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position

• your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example, why they would use or buy your product

• your route to market

• how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction

• how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term

• how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example, through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model

• your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project

Question 11. Competitors and barriers

Who else is operating in this space and what barriers may limit your ability to exploit your project output?

Explain:

• the process you have completed to evaluate the work of competitors including those near market, or in development

• who your main competitors are and how does your proposal build on, or differentiate from their offerings

• what regulatory, cultural or other barriers exist both in the UK and internationally, where applicable, and how you will overcome them to fully exploit this opportunity

Question 12. Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside the project team?

Describe and, where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:

• external parties

• customers

• others in the supply chain

• broader industry

• the UK economy

Describe and, where possible, measure:

• any expected impact on government priorities

• any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative

• any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative, on, for example:

• quality of life

• social inclusion or exclusion

• jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them

• education

• public empowerment

• health and safety

• regulations

• diversity

Question 13. Project management

How will you manage your project effectively?

Explain:

• the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one

• your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome

• the management reporting lines

• your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 14. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Explain:

• the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks

• how you will mitigate these risks

• any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, and data sets

• any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and other requirements identified, and how you will manage this

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 15. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

In terms of your project goals, explain:

• your total eligible project costs

• the grant you are requesting

• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

• how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise

• any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project

Question 16. Added value and investment requirement

What impact would the public funding and secured investment have on the businesses involved?

Explain:

• whether the project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as a faster route to market or reduced risk

• why you are not able to fund the project from your own resources and why you are seeking private sector aligned investment, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessful

• how the project would change the nature of R&D activity and subsequent ability to grow and scale

• your activities to enhance your investor readiness

• any existing or past investment in your business

• any discussions underway with investors, including for this round or for future funding

You must submit a one page investment profile as an appendix to support your answer. This must describe your investment requirements and supporting information including all of the following and any additional relevant information:

• funding received

• ask or use of funds

• team

• traction

• problem and solution

• market

• business or revenue model

• financial projections

• contact details

This profile will be shared with all the investors associated with this Investor Partnership competition. Do not include any confidential information.

If you need help to prepare a one page investment summary, contact Innovate UK Business Growth or follow their guide.

It must be a PDF and must be one A4 page long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

3. Finances

You must complete your own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. This does not include costs associated with the aligned investment.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance please see the eligibility section in this competition. You can also view our application finances video.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership - assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

Background and further information

Lead investor pool

Innovate UK has carefully selected lead investors that:

• have established agri-tech, food-tech, social, impact and clean growth knowledge

• have demonstrated the necessary capability, capacity, investment appetite and interest in novel, resource efficient, low-emission food production systems

• have demonstrated good financial standing

• are from the UK and overseas

Defra’s partnership with UKRI

This funding is from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Farming Innovation Programme, and is being delivered in partnership with Innovate UK’s Transforming Food Production (TFP) Challenge.

The Farming Innovation Programme will fund ambitious research and development projects to overcome barriers and create a more productive and sustainable sector.

Projects will benefit England’s farmers, growers, foresters and other businesses to conduct R&D. This will help boost productivity, enhance sustainable practices, improve environmental outcomes and reduce carbon emissions in England’s agricultural and horticultural sectors.

The programme provides a key means to deliver against the government’s goals. The goals are set out in the Agricultural Transition Plan, 25 Year Environment Plan, Environmental Improvement Plan and Net Zero targets. It aims to develop a renewed agricultural sector, producing healthy food for consumption at home and abroad, where farms can be profitable and economically sustainable without subsidy.

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project set up process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS).

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project.

Watch our video on what steps there are before a project starts or read more about Project Setup in our general guidance.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

We would like to remind you that eligible non-funded business can still benefit from fully funded and bespoke support from the Innovate UK Business Growth service.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Our innovation and growth specialists provide our fully funded and bespoke support to clients nationwide. Please visit the service’s website to discover whether you could benefit from this advisory support, which is available to Innovate UK funded and non-funded businesses alike.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK and The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) (each an “agency”).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s regional UK third parties. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to Defra and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

• the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants

• scoring and feedback on the application

• information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Service Provider reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK and Defra are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect and Defra will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

Defra’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.