Digital Catapult sets sights on boosting AI take-up in agrifood sector | Computer Weekly

Digital Catapult is doubling down on its efforts to support UK businesses in the successful adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, with its latest startup accelerator programme targeting the agrifood sector.

The organisation’s 14-week accelerator programme is made up of nine AI-first startups tasked with solving specific challenges in the agrifood sector, such as working out ways to accurately forecast cattle milk volumes and optimise feed schedules.

“The UK’s agrifood supply chain is highly complex and this new intervention will support the drive for greater digital supply chain resilience and adoption of deep tech applications, including biomass condition management, dairy forecasting and plant disease detection,” said Digital Catapult, in a statement.

The nine participating startups include manufacturing sector-focused cloud technology provider Rubik, which will be trialling its Data Mule business intelligence platform during the programme.

Another participant is Barefoot Lightning, which will feed data from farmers into its platform to boost production quality and cut carbon emissions, while fellow participant Fiscrop will develop a modelling tool to improve disease management and feed efficiency.

Crop Intellect is also taking part in the accelerator, and will focus on developing a monitoring, reporting and verification system to assist with the scaling up of its nitrogen dioxide removal offering.  

Carbon Rewild will be using the accelerator to test an AI bird classifier, while Wilder Sensing will be championing a technology that can validate habitat classifications and improve environmental impact assessments. 

Meanwhile, Data Dynamics will be using geospatial monitoring to test and validate capabilities on cocoa farming data in West Africa, and Mozaic Earth will seek to scale its smartphone-enabled Scope 3 emissions reporting tool.

The final programme participant is FarmSmarter, which is building a tool to aid the early detection of cocoa swollen shoot virus in West Africa to accelerate crop disease diagnoses in low-connectivity regions.  

Digital Catapult has collaborated with a host of companies working in this space, including Nestlé, Dale Farm, Hartpury Digital Innovation Farm and Peacock Technology, to define the challenges the accelerator’s participants will need to solve.

Jessica Rushworth, chief partnerships officer at Digital Catapult, said working closely with the likes of Nestle and Dale Farm on the programme is critical to the success of the accelerator itself.

“What underpins the importance of this intervention is the need to ensure that agrifood businesses will be future-ready and as adaptable as possible to fluctuating yields and unprecedented environmental challenges like we’ve seen this year,” said Rushworth.

“Critical to the continued success of this programme is effective collaboration and partnership … to jointly demonstrate how AI can help to solve some of the sector’s most significant challenges and ensure continued growth in the years to come.”  

AI is revolutionising the food sector by transforming vast data streams into actionable insights – tracking regenerative farming, predicting disease outbreaks and integrating digital tools into cohesive systems

The accelerator programme is part of the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme, which is geared towards helping businesses in high-growth potential sectors – such as agriculture – successfully adopt AI technologies.  

Sara El-Hanfy, director of AI and digital at Innovate UK, said the programme aims to help organisations in the agrifood market overcome significant challenges such as supply chain resistance and climate change.

“By supporting AI-first startups through the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme and specialist accelerators, we are giving them the tools, partnerships and confidence to transform bold ideas into scalable solutions,” said El-Hanfy.

“This programme demonstrates how innovation, when coupled with industry expertise, can unlock new growth, sustainability and global leadership for the UK’s agrifood industry.” 

Ryan McNeill, research and development sustainability lead at Nestlé Confectionery, said AI is shaping up to provide a way through many of the challenges facing the agrifood sector.

“AI is revolutionising the food sector by transforming vast data streams into actionable insights – tracking regenerative farming, predicting disease outbreaks and integrating digital tools into cohesive systems,” said McNeill.

“As climate and food security pressures mount, AI stands as the backbone of resilient, data-driven agricultural transformation.”