Deadline: 19-Oct-22
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £2 million for business focused innovation in the horticultural food and drink supply chain.
This competition is delivered on behalf of the Growing Kent and Medway (GKM) consortium, led by the National Institute for Agricultural Botany (NIAB). It is funded by the UKRI Strength in Places Fund to invest up to £2 million in innovation projects.
These projects will be to stimulate an uplift in the region’s economy through inclusive and innovation-led growth.
The aim of this competition is to support business focused innovation. Specifically, it aims to support transition to net zero, and deliver improved productivity and sustainability in horticultural food and drink production.
Focus Areas
- It focuses on:
- Horticultural production including the production of novel, high value compounds from plants
- Fresh produce packaging
- Food and drink processing
- Enabling technologies that underpin the supply chain
- Your proposal must demonstrate the potential to positively impact on the economy of the Kent and Medway (K&M) area.
Specific Themes
- Your project must focus on one or more of the following:
- Moving towards net zero carbon emissions targets
- Minimising waste and maximising recycling
- Improving resource use efficiency and sustainability
- Increasing productivity
- Resilient food production, for example: supply chain resilience, nutritional security
- Precision technologies, for example: sensor technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), robotics
- Addressing current and future labour shortages, supply or demand driven, within the K&M agri-food sector
Funding Information
- Whilst there is no maximum on total eligible project costs, you must request a grant of no less than £50,000 and no more than £350,000 for your project.
- Up to £2 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.
Eligible Projects
- Your project must:
- Provide solutions that tackle new or emerging needs
- Demonstrate a realistic potential to support business growth, scale-up, and job creation
- Deliver benefit to the region as well as further afield
Eligibility Criteria
- Lead Organisation
- To lead a project your organisation must:
- Be a UK registered business of any size
- Collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, public sector organisations or charities
- Include a minimum of 2 organisations in the consortium
- Intend to exploit the results from or in the K&M area
- The lead organisation must collaborate with at least one of the following research organisations or research and technology organisations in the K&M area:
- NIAB
- University of Greenwich
- University of Kent
- Canterbury Christ Church University
- Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.
- To lead a project your organisation must:
- Project Team
- To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
- Business of any size
- Academic institution
- Charity
- Not for profit organisation
- Public sector organisation
- Research organisation (RO) and research and technology organisation (RTO)
- To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
- Subcontractors
- Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
- Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
For more information, visit https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1283/overview/585a9009-2168-40ff-a8f8-c61ca6da04e1
