Supporting UK farmers: ARRevolution’s robots enabling new and diverse crop farming systems
Follow the journey of ARRevolution as they develop autonomous agro-ecological robots to support diverse cropping systems, made possible through help from the Innovate UK Business Connect AgriFood team and grant funding from Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered by Innovate UK.
Creating AgriTech for sustainable farming systems
Dale Holloway, Founding Director of ARRevolution, is developing autonomous agro-ecological farming robots aimed at eliminating agrochemicals and synthetic fertilisers while maintaining high yields, regenerating the soil, and sequestering carbon.
The Innovate UK Business Connect AgriFood team provided critical support by reviewing the project idea and offering advice and feedback on funding applications. This support enabled ARRevolution, who were new to the Innovate UK funding system, to secure two grants from the Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered by Innovate UK; a smaller Research Starter pilot project and then a larger Farming Futures feasibility study.
The ability for Dale to jump from a smaller to a larger project in quick succession was also due to the great research partnership that was built with experts at Harper Adams University. As a result, the grants helped ARRevolution hire their first employees and stay on track to prove the concept of a polyculture cropping system within two years, both instrumental in transforming ARRevolution from an idea into a new business start-up.
It is great to see the success that Dale has been able to achieve in a short space of time. We are proud to have been able to help Dale win Innovate UK funding for the first time. This is a good example of how farmers can work with Innovate UK Business Connect to navigate the funding ecosystem to accelerate their development.
– David Telford, Head of AgriFood at Innovate UK Business Connect
Discover the Innovate UK collaborative innovation ecosystem to accelerate business growth
Pedro Carvalho, Knowledge Transfer Manager – Plants & Crops at Innovate UK Business Connect supports farmers to develop their ideas into the products of the future by guiding them through the innovation ecosystem and highlighting relevant grant funding opportunities.
To help communicate your research idea well within your application, we highly recommend reading the Innovate UK Good application guide and then reaching out to the Innovate UK Business Connect AgriFood team to discuss your project idea further.
Watch the below video to find out more about the support available to help turn your idea into reality:
Are you interested in collaborating with us?
If you would like project support for your business, we highly recommend that you:
- Read the Innovate UK good application guide for those interested in applying for an upcoming funding opportunity.
- Subscribe to our Innovate UK AgriFood newsletter for updates on the latest agriculture news announcements, funding opportunities and networking events.
