Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership.

What is the grant available for?

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to invest up to £5 million in innovation projects.

This funding is linked to Defra's Farming Innovation Programme delivered by Innovate UK.

The competition opens 2nd June 2025. 

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

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

To be offered grant funding your project must be assessed as eligible for grant funding and must have secured aligned investment with a lead investor from the pool.

Successful UK registered SME’s will receive:

• grant funding from Innovate UK
• aligned investment funding with one of the programme’s pool of investors acting as the lead investor.

 

Any eligibility criteria

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

Read the full eligibility here. General guidance for Innovate UK funding can be found here. 

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so they may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but they are still unable to fund it.

What grant amounts are available?

Your project’s total costs must be between £750,000 and £3 million. 

Who provides the grant?

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Innovate UK. 

How to apply for the grant?

For further information or to apply please click here.

An Applicant Briefing will take place on 5th June 2025 at 11am. Register for the application briefing here.