Agri-tech and food technology, Mid and North Wales - CRD

Overview

Innovate UK is working with Growing Mid Wales, Ambition North Wales, and the Welsh Government to invest up to £2.7 million in innovation projects through the Launchpad programme. The aim is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses that grow innovation activities in the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Mid and North Wales. The funding supports projects both during and after completion, helping businesses scale and commercialise innovation for local and global markets.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your project must help to grow your innovation activities in the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Mid and North Wales. For this competition, Mid and North Wales consists of Ceredigion, Powys, Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

Your project must contribute to growing your innovation activities in the cluster, both during and after your project. Your ongoing contribution could be demonstrated by:

• your local innovation activities
• the value that your innovation activities create in the cluster
• an increase in related innovation activity by ongoing partners or subcontractors in the cluster
• your engagement with other innovation active organisations in the cluster, such as Growing Mid Wales & Ambition North Wales with support from AberInnovation and MSPARC, this Launchpad’s cluster management organisation

Your application may be considered ineligible if you do not describe clearly how your main project activities and work packages meet the scope of this competition. This includes the main project activities of any subcontractors. If you do not describe how your innovation activities in the cluster will continue after your project, then you are unlikely to be offered funding in this competition.

The geographical requirement is to align this competition to the UK Government’s goals for local economic growth.

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

• productivity, quality, nutritional value, resilience, and resource efficiency
• food processing, manufacturing, and developing new markets
• sustainability, biodiversity and rural resilience

Key themes

Your project can focus on one or more of the following:

• Productivity, quality, nutritional value, resilience, and resource efficiency of crops, livestock, aquaculture, or food products
• Improving resource and supply chain efficiency through precision farming, logistics, circular models, smart tech, or biotech excluding biochar
• Food processing, manufacturing, and developing new markets
• Healthy, sustainable, regionally relevant novel foods or ingredients
• Rural or small-scale food processing, packaging, safety, by-product use
• Adapting produce to create new market opportunities
• Sustainability, biodiversity and rural resilience
• Livestock health through precision diagnostics, targeted therapeutics, antimicrobial stewardship
• Regenerative or nature-based practices that support landscape health or climate resilience
• Farming practices that support the future of farming
• Adaptive land management supporting changing land conditions

These lists are not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this competition you can focus on other specific themes.

Reflecting the bilingual nature of Wales, we and our partners on this Launchpad also encourage you to consider your opportunities to provide communications, materials, and engagement activities bilingually.

Project duration

• 6 to 16 months
• Must not start before 1 December 2025
• Must end by 31 March 2027

Award value

Your project’s grant funding request must be between £150,000 and £500,000.

Funding rates

For industrial research projects, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

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
• up to 25% if you are a large organisation

Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. Of that 30% they can get funding for their eligible project costs of:

• 100% of eligible costs if they are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation
• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if they are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic

Eligibility

• Projects must have a total grant funding request of between £150,000 and £500,000
• Projects must last between 6 and 16 months
• Projects must not start before 1 December 2025
• Projects must end by 31 March 2027
• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size
• Projects must include at least one grant claiming SME
• Collaborators can be a UK registered business of any size; an academic institution; a charity; a not for profit; a public sector organisation; or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs
• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• Subsidy control and state aid rules apply