Simon Baty

I started work in pharmaceuticals, then brewing followed by bulk chemical cargo inspection, animal feed and food safety. I joined Innovate UK Business Connect in 2013, to help drive innovation, by powerfully connecting people, before guiding them through funding schemes.

I created the Food Innovation Network from scratch, for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), that converted £50,000 of innovation grant into £250,000 of research value, facilitated £650,000 of business for SMEs from large companies and influenced Government policy.

My recent focus has been filling the funding gap between prototype and scale up by accessing Series A investment. Via the Innovate UK, Transforming Food Production: Series A Investor partnership and Defra Investor partnership, I have prepared multiple SMEs for investment and managed a group of investors. This has resulted in private investment of over £60 million in addition to the public impact investment of £15 million, into innovative AgriTech businesses.

I can help you find connections to drive innovation in food manufacture.