Digital Catapult sets sights on boosting AI take-up in agrifood sector
Digital Catapult is ramping up its support for UK businesses in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, focusing on the agrifood sector with its latest startup accelerator program.
The 14-week accelerator program consists of nine AI-first startups tackling challenges in the agrifood industry. These include forecasting cattle milk volumes, optimizing feed schedules, and managing biomass conditions, dairy forecasting, and plant disease detection.
Participating startups like Rubik, Barefoot Lightning, Fiscrop, Crop Intellect, and others will develop innovative solutions to improve production quality, reduce carbon emissions, enhance disease management, and scale nitrogen dioxide removal offerings.
The program also involves collaborations with companies like Nestlé, Dale Farm, and Peacock Technology to define the challenges that startups will address.
Jessica Rushworth, Chief Partnerships Officer at Digital Catapult, emphasized the importance of collaboration in ensuring agrifood businesses are prepared for future challenges.
AI is revolutionizing the food sector by turning vast data into actionable insights – predicting disease outbreaks, regenerative farming, and integrating digital tools.
Ryan McNeill, Nestlé Confectionery
The accelerator program is part of the Innovate UK BridgeAI initiative, aimed at helping high-growth potential sectors like agriculture adopt AI technologies effectively.
Sara El-Hanfy, Director of AI and Digital at Innovate UK, highlighted the program’s role in helping agrifood organizations tackle challenges such as supply chain resistance and climate change.
Ryan McNeill from Nestlé Confectionery praised AI for its transformative impact on the food sector, providing solutions to climate and food security challenges.
