GrowUp Farms secures £100m in funding for vertical farm

Agri-EPI member, GrowUp Farms, has secured £100m from US green investment firm Generate Capital to fund the construction of a major new low-carbon farming facility in Sandwich, Kent. GrowUp, which describes itself as a “pioneer in controlled environment farming”, previously supplied salads to wholesale, Foodservice and the likes of Wholefoods and Farmdrop via its now […]

Agri-EPI explores drone technology for precision spraying

Use of drone technology in precision agriculture has gained popularity in recent years, however there are still legislative barriers preventing widespread adoption, something which Agri-EPI explored in a recent webinar. Currently drones can be used for surveying, mapping, crop monitoring and disease detection. But advances in technology mean autonomous crop pesticide applications could be a […]

#19: Using low cost microphones to monitor biodiversity

Dr Casey Woodward, Founder of AgriSound, speaks with Thomas Slattery about the company’s use of low-cost listening technology to better understand biodiversity in the field and help farmers and growers to both target interventions and protect pollinators. AgriSound’s technology utilises bioacoustic algorithms to produce a user interface that shows deficits and offers high-level recommendations. With advice from growers about challenges […]

#18: ‘Fitbit of plants’ discussing crop health diagnostics using electrophysiology

Marina Martin Curran PhD, Sustainability Manager at Vivent speaks with Thomas Slattery about their exciting crop health diagnostic technology PhytlSigns, which uses plant electrophysiology, and has been dubbed the ‘Fitbit of plants’. They also talk about the journey for the company’s recent B Corp certification. Vivent’s technology leads to increased yields, improved crop protection effectiveness, and encourages the adoption of environmentally preferable […]

Investbridge Capital launches specialised Agricultural Technologies fund

Agri-EPI member, Investbridge Capital, has launched a specialised Agricultural Technologies (AgTech) fund with the goal of creating a market leading VC fund investing in the most scalable and innovative technology companies revolutionising global food production. Unity Technologies Founder, Nicholas Francis, has made a career predicting how software will develop in the face of massive hardware […]

#17: Driving towards optimising crop production for yield and carbon sequestration

Bill Miller, Senior Customer Development Manager of LI-COR, spoke with Les Hurdis about how the organisation aims to transition solutions from research level to producer level, and how they can iterate technologies on a long-term scale. LI-COR has been around for over 50 years, doing agricultural research and measurements, and partnering with agronomists to better understand plant […]

New tech to transform global agriculture – 2021 Excellence Awards winners announced

New technology is set to transform global agriculture, and two agtech companies recognised for their importance in animal health and environmental protection are making rapid progress. The first – awarded for its contribution to British agriculture – focuses on animal health. Pruex is using non-infective bacteria to improve air quality in poultry units, reducing ammonia […]