Seven British businesses have won a share of £560,000 in government funding to develop space and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that could transform British farming, drive economic growth and nature recovery.
The funding was awarded after a pioneering ‘hackathon’ that was run jointly by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Innovate UK, bringing together government, industry, and academia.
The projects were challenged to use satellite data and artificial intelligence to tackle real-world agricultural and environmental challenges.
The seven winning companies will each receive £80,000 in Space Commercialisation Credits that will provide the hands-on business and technical support needed to accelerate their technologies to market.
According to Defra, investment in space technology delivers great economic returns, stating that for every £1 invested, up to £8.20 can flow back into the wider economy.
This makes it a “cost effective way to drive economic growth, support British businesses and create high skilled jobs in the UK’s thriving space sector”, Defra said.
The competition winners include the following:
- x10NI, which builds digital farm simulations to give farmers real-time data to manage soil health, cut input costs and keep environmental reporting on track;
- Gentian, which uses AI-powered satellite analysis to track wildlife habitats and biodiversity changes, making environmental risk assessments faster for developers and reducing reliance on expensive site visits;
- Ocean OS, which uses satellite data to automatically map marine habitats and species, giving regulators the information they need to approve offshore wind farms faster and get clean energy projects built sooner.
Defra’s Science Minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “Space data and AI are transforming how we produce food and grow our economy.
“These seven teams have shown what is possible when government, industry, and academia work together.”
Executive director for Digital and Technologies at Innovate UK, Gary Cutts said that by backing businesses that apply space and AI technologies to real agricultural and environmental challenges, it will strengthen food security and support nature recovery.
The announcement builds on the £120 million in productivity and innovation grants announced by Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds at this year’s National Farmers’ Union Conference.
The funding, shared between the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund and the Farming Innovation Programme, will boost productivity and innovation across the agricultural sector.
