Agri-Tech Catalyst Competition: Develop Innovative Solutions for Global Agricultural Challenges

Deadline: 17 June 2015

The fourth round of funding is open for Agri-Tech Catalyst Competition!

The £70m ‘Agri-Tech Catalyst’ funding scheme has been launched to help businesses and researchers develop innovative solutions to global challenges in the agricultural technology (‘agri-tech’) sector.

About the Competition

The Agri-Tech Catalyst offers funding for collaborative projects, taking innovative ideas from any sector or discipline with the potential to provide an economic boost to the UK agri-tech industry, by tackling challenges in agriculture.

The scheme will help to take innovations all the way from concept to commercialisation, awarding grants for different research studies categorize below.

Award Categories

Early-stage awards – These projects will explore the commercial potential of an early-stage scientific idea through feasibility studies. Registration deadline: 17 June 2015. Submission deadline: 24 June 2015.
Industrial research awards – These projects will aim to develop innovative solutions, eg through technology development, lab-based prototyping, product development planning, field trials, and market testing. Deadline for stage 2 submission: 24 June 2015.
Late-stage awards – These projects evaluate or trial the commercial potential of an innovative conceptin a real-life environment ahead of deployment. This can be through pre-experimental feasibility studies or experimental development. Registration deadline: 17 June 2015. Submission deadline: 24 June 2015.

Priority Areas

The Agri-Tech Catalyst will fund proposals relating to:

primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture
non-food uses of crops including ornamentals (for example, for biomass)
food security and nutrition challenges in international development
Challenges in downstream food processing, provided the solution lies in primary production.

Eligibility Criteria