There was a real buzz at this year’s World Agri-Tech Innovation and the Future Food-Tech Summits held in London last month – a mixture of powerful presentations, invigorating panel discussions and sharply focused one-to-one meetings between startups, investors and advisers.  However, once all of the participants had departed, the stands had been taken down and the lights turned off, it was hard to determine exactly how much business had been done.

Some of the doubters will, of course, point out that part of the hype around agritech and foodtech has waned significantly over the past 5 years or so following a number of high-profile failures, including in the vertical/indoor farming and novel food spaces. So, should we simply write-off agritech and foodtech companies altogether? That would be a big mistake.

To begin with, it is quite understandable that the growth trajectory for any new technology is not necessarily a smooth one. Many of the agritech and food companies seeking to commercialise their products are startups/early-stage companies where the likelihood of success remains low. Accordingly, investors putting money into these companies recognise that they are taking substantial risks with a high prospect of losing their money.

Further, the UK is not the US with its greater number of major agribusiness and food players and a much larger pool of capital.

But the UK still has an important role to play in supporting work in this sector. And it is already doing so.  For example, Norwich has become a major European hub for agritech, agri-biotech and sustainable food production. In particular, the Norwich Research Park is now recognised as one of the largest research clusters in Europe, combining four independent internationally-renowned research institutes (John Innes Centre, Quadram Institute, Earlham Institute and The Sainsbury Laboratory) with the University of East Anglia and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with support and funding from The John Innes Foundation and UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

This collaboration focuses on areas such as agricultural biotechnology and crop biotechnology, addressing significant global challenges like food shortages, climate change and improving human and animal health.

One company based in Norwich is Tropic Biosciences, which earlier this year raised an over-subscribed US$105m Series C funding round, co-led by Forbion Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva Catalyst, to accelerate the global commercial scale-up of its bananas and rice portfolios and advance its pipeline of climate resilient crops. Tropic makes clear on its website that it is based in Norwich for “its huge advantages, including access to cutting-edge technology and a strong talent pool of plant and molecular scientists”.

Not to be outdone, London now has its first Food & Food Tech Innovation Hub. Based in King’s Cross, this shared workspace is supported by Forward Fooding and hosted within The Mills Fabrica.  Other foodtech hubs are dotted around the UK including ones in Cambridge and Wales, as well as West London.

The UK Government is also seeking to play a role. Last month, in partnership with Innovate UK, it announced the latest Farming Innovation Programme competition, totalling £13 million, to provide a small number of high potential projects with grants of £1-3 million to help researchers, farmers and agritech businesses develop new products and services to improve productivity, resilience and sustainability on farms.

At a time of heightened concerns around food security and supply chain risk, it is very encouraging to see these exciting developments in the UK. However, major obstacles remain.

One of the most significant is around the regulatory position. For example, the UK Food Standards Agency has worked hard in establishing sandbox frameworks and streamlined guidance for novel foods like cell-based proteins. However, it is unclear whether the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement will require UK foodtech companies to obtain European Food Safety Authority pre-approval. Further regulatory uncertainty has been created by the recent announcement made by the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, that he will set out various options for the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU prior to the UK-EU summit next month.

In addition, while the UK is relatively successful at funding early-stage startups and also offers a number of tax schemes to encourage individuals and companies to invest in early-stage startups and small businesses such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), it is more cautious when it comes to later-stage funding rounds. As a result, sourcing that funding from outside the UK, particularly the US, can be critical.

Further, the adoption by UK businesses of agritech and foodtech solutions can be quite challenging. Understandably, potential buyers are concerned about how to fund the expenditure involved and whether the results will justify them doing so.

There is no doubt that the UK agritech and foodtech sector is showing serious promise at a time when its success in responding to issues of food security and extreme weather is vital for us, but more support is needed.  If the Government can provide some regulatory clarity, enhanced tax incentives to promote investment in later-stage companies and greater financial assistance to farmers and other customers of agritech and foodtech products, then we could be onto a winner.