Defra's Farming Innovation Programme, delivered with Innovate UK, opened Round 2 of its Automation and Robotics R&D fund on 3 August 2026, offering UK businesses a share of up to £20 million. Projects must be collaborative, have total eligible costs of £500,000 to £2.5 million, run 12-36 months, and can claim up to 70% of costs; applications close at 11am on 30 September 2026.
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Defra opens £20m automation & robotics farming R&D round, closing 30 Sep 2026
Why this matters for founders
UK agritech, robotics and hardware founders should line up an eligible collaboration partner now and submit through the Innovation Funding Service before the 30 September 2026 deadline to access non-dilutive R&D funding.
Source: GOV.UK (Defra Farming blog)
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