Funding competition Launchpad: Agri-tech and food tech in Eastern England - R1 MFA

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for business led projects that grow activities in the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Eastern England. This funding is from Innovate UK.

This competition is now closed.

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Competition sections

Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is to invest up to £2 million in innovation projects.

The funding will support projects across the three Launchpad competition strands that target the innovation cluster in Eastern England.

The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the agri-tech and food technology innovation cluster in Eastern England. Eastern England is defined as the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership area, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk and Suffolk.

This Launchpad competition supports the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.

The projects will contribute to Eastern England’s ambitions for the agrifood cluster.

Your proposal must align to the scope criteria for this competition.

This competition is split into three strands:

It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project’s grant funding request must be between £25,000 and £100,000.

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

  • have a total grant funding request of between £25,000 and £100,000
  • last between 6 and 12 months
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
  • start at the earliest on 1 April 2024
  • end by 30 April 2025

Projects must always start on the first of the month and this must be stated within your application. Your project start date will be reflected in your grant offer letter if you are successful.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.

You will be made ineligible if you exceed the Minimal Financial Assistance limit. You must submit a complete declaration as part of your application.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
  • be active or growing your work activities in the agri-tech and food technology innovation cluster in Eastern England
  • have a demonstrable ambition for business growth

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Their contribution must add to the innovation led growth of the cluster.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

We expect all subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Number of applications

A business can lead on only one MFA strand application for this competition.

If you apply to the CR&D strand of this competition, as well as this MFA strand, each project must be clearly distinctive and separate. We will monitor closely for this separation if you are awarded funding in both competition strands.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

We will not award you funding if you have:

Minimal Financial Assistance (and De minimis where applicable)

Grant funding in this competition is awarded as Minimal Financial assistance (MFA). This allows public bodies to award up to £315,000 to an enterprise in a 3-year rolling financial period.

In your application, you will be asked to declare previous funding received by you. This will form part of the financial checks ahead of Innovate UK making a formal grant offer.

To establish your eligibility, we need to check that our support added to the amount you have previously received does not exceed the limit of £315,000 in the ‘applicable period’.

The applicable period is made up of:

(a) the elapsed part of the current financial year, and

(b) the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year.

You must include any funding which you have received during the applicable period under:

You do not need to include aid or subsidies which have been granted on a different basis, for example, an aid award granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation.

Further information about the Subsidy Control Act 2022 requirements can be found in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

EU Commission rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see our general guidance to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

Further information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, you should take independent legal advice. We cannot advise on individual eligibility or your legal obligations.

Funding

Up to £2 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects across the three strands of this Launchpad competition for the agri-tech and food technology innovation cluster in Eastern England.

The total funding available for this Launchpad competition can change. The funders have the right to:

  • adjust the funding allocations between all Launchpad competitions and strands
  • apply a ‘portfolio’ approach

Your total project costs will be funded at up to 100%, to the maximum grant of £100,000. Your project costs can be higher than your grant funding request. The total grant funding request detailed within your application must not exceed £100,000. If your grant funding request exceeds £100,000 then your application will be made ineligible.

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the Company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under European Commission Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the Agri-tech and food technology innovation cluster in Eastern England.

Eastern England is defined as the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership area, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The geographical requirement is set to align this competition to the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.

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

  • enhancing the productivity of primary crops, the bioeconomy, livestock, aquaculture or ornamental plants
  • biotechnologies related to agriculture, food and nutrition
  • food that promotes safe, healthy and nutritious diets
  • resource efficient production methods for low emission foods

Your project must lead to increased investment into research and innovation. It must contribute to growing business activities and economic impact in the cluster.

Your proposal must explain how your team and project will contribute to equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in the cluster.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different durations, locations, and themes. We call this a portfolio approach.

In support of the Government's Levelling Up goals, we reserve the right to prioritise projects that:

  • are shorter in duration
  • significantly advance innovation in agri-tech and food technology
  • are led by businesses already based in the innovation cluster
  • have greater levels of activity outside the Greater South East

Specific themes

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

  • sustainability in the context of environmental challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity
  • protecting, maintaining or enhancing animal welfare within current UK regulatory standard
  • nutritional composition, food manufacturing and processing, packaging, and safety
  • minimising negative effects such as pollution, food loss and waste
  • resilience and responsiveness in the supply chain, mitigating risks, interruptions or disruptions

This list is not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this Launchpad competition you can focus on other topics.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

  • do not contribute to innovation activity in the agri-tech and food technology cluster in Eastern England
  • are aimed solely at equine markets
  • involve wild caught fisheries
  • are within scope of the Cluster management strand of this Launchpad competition
  • request grant funding of less than £25,000 or more than £100,000

We cannot fund projects that:

  • involve primary production in fishery and aquaculture
  • involve primary production in agriculture, meaning the project must be undertaking research and development, the solution must be for exploitation by the wider business community and the funding cannot be used for capital asset acquisition
  • have activities relating to the purchase of road freight transport
  • are not allowed under De minimis regulation restrictions
  • are not eligible to receive Minimal Financial Assistance
  • are dependent on export performance, for example giving an award to a baker on the condition that they export a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • are dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example if we give an award to a baker on the condition that they use 50% UK flour in their product

23 October 2023
Competition opens
27 October 2023
Online briefing event: watch the recording
6 December 2023 11:00am
Competition closes
9 February 2024
Applicants notified

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

  • all the information provided in the application is correct
  • your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria
  • all sections of the application are marked as complete

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

  1. Project details.
  2. Application questions.
  3. Finances.
  4. Project Impact.

Accessibility and inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least 15 working days before the competition closing date to ensure we can provide you with the most suitable support possible.

You can contact us by emailing support@iuk.ukri.org or calling 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application team

Decide which people from your organisation will work with you on the project and invite those people to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Public description

Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. You must also outline, how your project will grow your business activities and economic impact in the innovation cluster.

If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1, 2 and 3. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation, any confirmed or potential subcontractors and the work location for the project if different to the registered addresses.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all applicants.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 2. Minimal Financial Assistance declaration (not scored)

You must download the declaration template. You must complete this, declaring any funding received under Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) or De minimis awards, (from any source of public funding) in the applicable period.

You must complete all the fields on your form before uploading.

You must write “declaration attached” in the question text box.

You must upload the completed declaration as an appendix. It must be a PDF and the font must be legible at 100% zoom.

You must keep all documentation relating to Minimal Financial Assistance (previously referred to as Special Drawing Rights) and other De minimis awards for a period of 6 years and be prepared to release it to any public funding body which requests it.

Question 3. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (not scored)

How have you incorporated equality, diversity and inclusion into your project delivery and project outcomes?

Describe the details relating to methods and approaches used:

  • during project delivery
  • for governance
  • for project team and advisory boards
  • for stakeholder and end-user engagement

Please note: Questions relating to equality, diversity and inclusion will not form part of the funding decision but will be used to inform the development of EDI activities for the competition cohort.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 4. Need or challenge

What is the business need, technological challenge, or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Explain:

  • the main motivation for the project
  • whether you have identified any similar innovation and its current limitations, including those close to market or in development
  • any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example, if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one
  • the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations and using our Horizons tool if appropriate

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 5. Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

Explain:

  • how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
  • how you will improve on the nearest current state-of-the-art identified
  • whether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
  • the freedom you have to operate
  • how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings
  • how it will make you more competitive
  • the nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 6. Team, resources and delivery

Who is in the project team, what are their roles, and how will they deliver the project?

Explain:

  • the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking
  • the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them
  • the details of any vital external parties, including sub-contractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
  • any roles you will need to recruit
  • the main work packages of the project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each
  • your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome
  • the management reporting lines
  • your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as one appendix to support your answer. The appendix must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

You can also submit one further appendix with a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 4 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 7. Market awareness

What does the market you are targeting look like?

Describe:

  • the target markets for the project outcomes and any other potential markets (domestic, international or both)
  • the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available
  • the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes
  • the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist
  • the current UK position in targeting these markets
  • the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

  • what the market’s size might to be
  • how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 8. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase long term productivity as a result of the project?

Explain:

  • your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be consolidating, extending or establishing your market position
  • your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example, why they would use or buy your product
  • your route to market
  • how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction
  • how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term
  • how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model
  • your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 9. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Describe:

  • the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks
  • how you will mitigate these risks
  • any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data sets
  • any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage this

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Costs, value for money, and added value

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer? What impact would this award have on the organisations involved?

In terms of the project goals, explain:

  • the total eligible project costs
  • the grant you are requesting
  • how you will finance any contribution you are making to the project
  • how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
  • how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise
  • any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to the project
  • what advantages public funding would offer your project, for example: appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market (this list is not exhaustive)
  • the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved
  • what other routes of investment or means of support you have already approached and why they were not suitable
  • how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding
  • what your project would look like without public funding
  • how this project would change your R&D activities

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

3. Finances

You must complete your project’s own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.

Your project’s total grant funding request must not exceed the maximum of £100,000. If your grant funding request does exceed this maximum, then your application will be made ineligible.

For full details on what costs you can claim see our project costs guidance. You can also view our Application Finances video.

4. Project Impact

This section is not seen by assessors and is not scored but will provide background to your project.

You must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Background and further information

Supporting more than 150,000 jobs, the food chain in Eastern England is underpinned by the largest food logistics sector in the UK. The region is the national leader in fresh produce, meat, poultry, fish and seafood processing. It has a strong drinks and convenience food sector as well as leading niche and speciality food producers.

In considering the eligibility of your proposal you are encouraged to review:

Further information about the cluster will be provided in the online briefing event that will be available for you to view.

The requirement to be active or growing your work activities in the innovation cluster in Eastern England is to align this competition to the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.

For further guidance on your eligibility, you can contact Innovate UK by email.

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (New Anglia LEP), Greater Lincolnshire LEP ltd and the Greater Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (each an “agency”).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to the New Anglia LEP, Greater Lincolnshire LEP ltd and the Greater Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

  • the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants
  • scoring and feedback on the application
  • information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Officer reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK, the New Anglia LEP, Greater Lincolnshire LEP ltd and the Greater Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, the New Anglia LEP, Greater Lincolnshire LEP ltd and the Greater Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application:

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN, or business support teams in the cluster:

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK EDGE

If you receive an award, you will be contacted about working with an innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK EDGE. This service forms part of our funded offer to you.

These specialists focus on growing innovative businesses and ensuring that projects contribute to their growth. Working one-to-one, they can help you to identify your best strategy and harness world-class resources to grow and achieve scale.

We encourage you to engage with EDGE, delivered by a knowledgeable and objective specialist near you.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by up to 5 independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria.

Next steps

If you are successful with this application, you will be asked to set up your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your IFS Set Up portal, the tool that Innovate UK uses to gather necessary information before we can allow your project to begin.

You will need to provide:

  • the name and contact details of your project manager and project finance lead
  • a redacted copy of your bank details
  • an exploitation plan

In order for us to process your claims, you must make sure you have a valid UK business bank account. It can take several weeks for a new account to be created if required. We recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to your project start date.

The bank account which grant is to be paid into must:

  • be a business account in the same name as the organisation listed in IFS
  • be from a UK bank regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)
  • have a cheque and credit clearing facility

Online accounts are eligible as long as they meet the above criteria.

Innovate UK will accept most banking societies apart from:

  • Viva Wallet
  • Intesa Sanpaolo
  • Equals Money UK Limited

If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate UK's funding criteria, you can use the sort code checker. If you input the sort code and find a tick next to the ‘BACS Direct Credit payments can be sent to this sort code’, this will give you an indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable.

Finance checks

We will carry out checks to make sure you are an established company with access to the funds necessary to complete the project.

You must check your IFS portal regularly and respond to any requests we have sent for additional information to avoid any delays.

Failure to complete project setup may result in your grant offer being withdrawn.

Your Grant offer letter (GOL)

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your GOL.

The GOL will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve. Once approved we will send you an email with permission to start your project on your confirmed start date.

You must not start your project before the date stated on your email and GOL. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your grant.

If your GOL is approved on or before the fifteenth of the month it will be dated from the first of that month. If your GOL is approved after the fifteenth, it will be dated the first of the next month.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Need help with this service? Contact us