UK-registered SMEs can apply for grants of up to £1.35 million to develop late-stage farming innovations, paired with aligned private investment from a lead investor in Defra’s investor pool.
Innovate UK and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are investing up to £5 million through the Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership, part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme.
The competition backs late-stage experimental development projects that will improve productivity, sustainability and resilience in English farming, while supporting the sector’s journey to net zero by 2050. Every funded project must also secure aligned private investment from a lead investor in Defra’s dedicated investor pool.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
Find Out if You’re Eligible Now
To find out if you and your project are suitable for this grant, book in a free Competitiveness and Eligibility Assessment. In just 25 minutes, I’ll tell you:
- Whether you’re a strong candidate for this competition
- Other grants you may be eligible for
- What other sources of funding we can help you secure
Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To lead a project, you must be a UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). You must apply as a sole applicant. Each SME can only lead one application.
You must also be prepared to negotiate heads of terms for aligned private investment with one of Innovate UK’s approved list of investors, and to secure capital of at least twice the grant you’re requesting.
You can apply before approaching investors, but Innovate UK strongly encourages early dialogue with potential lead investors.
Subcontractors are allowed. You should select them through your usual procurement process, and prioritise UK suppliers. You can use overseas subcontractors, but you’ll need to make the case for why a UK supplier isn’t suitable, and cost alone won’t cut it.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Have total eligible costs of between £750,000 and £3 million
- Last 18 months
- Not start before 1 April 2027
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
Your project must also:
- Address a significant industry challenge or opportunity in at least one of the eligible subsectors: bioeconomy and agroforestry, livestock, novel food production systems, or plants
- Be a late-stage experimental development project, close to market
- Benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England
- Demonstrate how the grant and aligned investment will help you grow and scale beyond the project
- Secure aligned private investment of at least twice the grant requested, from a lead investor in Defra’s investor pool
Innovate UK won’t fund projects that:
- Are collaborative R&D projects
- Are equine-specific
- Are for the production of crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use
- Don’t form part of a company’s growth plan
- Involve aquaculture for fish production or human consumption
- Involve cellular or acellular production, fermentation or cultivated meat for human consumption
- Involve wild-caught fisheries
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your organisation’s type and size and the sort of research your project involves.
Individual grants range from £262,500 to £1.35 million.
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| Experimental Development* | 45% | 35% |
*Experimental development is closer to market. It involves using existing knowledge to develop or improve products, processes, or services.
Large companies aren’t eligible to apply or be funded, and the table above reflects that.
Funding Example
If you’re a small company with eligible project costs of £2 million, you can apply for a grant of £900,000.
You will need to fund the remaining £1.1 million from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans. On top of that, you’ll need to secure aligned private investment of at least £1.8 million (twice your grant request) from a lead investor in Defra’s pool.
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 17 June 2026
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK’s Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into three sections:
Project Details
This section gives the assessors background on you and your project, and isn’t scored. It covers:
- Application details, including project title, start date and duration
- Application team, with the people from your organisation who’ll help complete the application
- Project summary, with a clear statement of what makes your project innovative
- Public description, written so it can be published if you’re funded
- Research category, which for this competition will be experimental development
- Scope, explaining how your project fits the competition’s aims
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 17 questions in total:
- 6 unscored administrative questions covering topics like animal testing, applicant location, export controls, international collaboration, permits and licences, and trusted research and innovation
- 11 scored questions covering your business need, technical approach, team, market awareness, route to market, competitors and barriers, wider impacts, project management, risks, value for money, and the case for added value and investment
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the approach, team, project management, and risk questions. Question 17 also requires a one-page investment profile, which Innovate UK shares with all investors in Defra’s investor pool.
Finances
You’ll complete your own project costs, organisation details and funding details. Costs associated with the aligned private investment aren’t included here.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If your application passes the initial assessment, you’ll be notified by 24 July 2026 that you’re eligible for grant funding. From there, you have until 2 December 2026 to reach heads of terms with a lead investor from Defra’s pool, and final award decisions will be communicated by 16 December 2026.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a ‘portfolio approach’ by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won’t necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
Maximise Your Chances of Success
In our 15 years of operation, we’ve helped startups, scaleups and established businesses secure over £500 million in innovation funding. Our deep experience of the Innovate UK process can significantly increase your chances of writing a winning application.
We offer a Full Service Write, where our grant writers build your application from scratch with you; a Grant Review, where a current Innovate UK assessor reviews your draft before submission; Grant Matching, which identifies the competitions you’re best placed to win; and Elevate, a bespoke package that combines writing, review, and coaching to suit your specific needs and budget.
To find out how we can help, just get in touch.
