Around £50m of public and private investment will be used to turn new technologies into practical tools for farmers, said Farming Minister Angela Eagle.
The funding will deliver up to 12 innovative tools to farms, using technologies spanning from robotics to AI. It is hoped the innovations will help farmers produce more while cutting labour, energy and fertiliser use, backed by £8m in government funding and £40m in private investment.
Delivered through the Government’s Farming Innovation Programme in partnership with Innovate UK, the Investor Partnerships initiative uses public funding to co-invest alongside private backers.
Several of the technologies focus on delivering practical, nature-based solutions for farmers. FA Bio’s project is developing a ‘living’ biopesticide that uses fungi to protect wheat and oilseed rape from pests. Applied at planting, it could provide season-long protection while reducing the need for repeated chemical spraying.
The investment also backs innovations to boost the resilience of trees and landscapes. Rhizocore is identifying the most effective native fungi to help trees establish and thrive, improving survival rates in forestry and agroforestry while accelerating carbon capture and supporting woodland recovery.
On top of this funding, Eagle also confirmed a further £5m government springboard funding round for 2026 to 2027, seeking to drive more private investment into agritech growth.
Opening this spring, it will support the next generation of high-potential agritech businesses to scale up and deliver for farmers.
“The Investor Partnerships programme enables us to fast-track a biological alternative to chemical insecticides for two of the UK’s most important crops,” says Angela de Manzanos, CEO and co-founder at FA Bio.
“By aligning public funding with private investment, it supports the commercialisation of biological innovation that reduces reliance on synthetic inputs, protects yields and improves farm sustainability. This approach will strengthen UK food security while building a competitive, innovation-led agritech sector.”
