Hartpury’s Tech and Barclays Eagle Labs welcome SMEs to Tech Box Park
Twenty small and ambitious businesses are diving headfirst into agriculture with a boost from a Barclays Eagle Labs partnership.
Hartpury University and Hartpury College have welcomed the new members to their Tech Box Park SME Accelerator, offering scale-up support to SMEs from all over the UK to help them connect, grow, and scale into the agricultural industry.
Thanks to a special collaboration backed by the Barclays Eagle Labs Ecosystem Partnership Programme, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 20 SMEs have each landed fully funded virtual and associate memberships at Hartpury Tech Box Park.
New members operate across diverse sectors like sensors data and IoT, vertical farming, food and drink processing, cloud storage and compostable packaging.
Partnering each business, Hartpury University and Hartpury College have identified and created a tailored support package, including business planning, mentoring, one-one advice, testing, bespoke events and networking. This prepares each member with a plan to grow their business within the UK agriculture market.
Among these ambitious businesses are A Jar of Insights, Advantronix, AgriEnable, AgriMax , AgriDrone Services, Bio Natural Solutions, BioViron International Ltd, Carbon Magics Ltd, Dexdyne Ltd, Ento U.P Ltd, Equi-Pad by AJW Solutions Ltd, Forest Retrofit Ltd, JB Unmanned Aerial Systems (JBUAS), L4 Agriculture Ltd, MyOxygen Ltd, Smart Oasis Farm Ltd, Stonehealth Ltd, Stroud Brewery, The Wild Hare Group Ltd and VerFacil Ltd.
This new cohort of entrepreneurs and founders will be able to take advantage of Tech Box Park membership benefits over the coming months including testing and trialling at Hartpury’s commercial farm, one-on-one coaching, mentoring and support from business experts and scale-up specialists - plus events and ag road trips dedicated to fostering collaboration and innovation.
Over the next three months, this support programme aims to give a significant push to promising businesses throughout the region and across the UK while also nurturing the growth of Hartpury's vibrant agri-tech community.
Catherine Briggs, Tech Box Park Manager said: “We are thrilled to extend a warm welcome to this diverse cohort of startups and scale-ups to our Tech Box Park community. With backing from the UK Government and Barclays Eagle Labs, we aim to inspire our new members to dream big into the world of agriculture, nurturing their business expansion and providing a path into the agricultural industry. It’s an exciting journey ahead!”
Amanda Allan, Director at Barclays Eagle Labs: “This is yet another exciting partnership for us here at Barclays Eagle Labs in our mission to support UK tech start-ups. Using the funding from the Digital Growth Grant from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology we think Hartpury University is an ideal partner for us. This match-funding will help them continue their proven track record in supporting local start-ups at The Tech Box Park.”
Tech Box Park member Jonathan Brindley from JB Unmanned Aerial Systems (JBUAS) said: “Growing up around a farming community in rural Lincolnshire, I have seen first-hand how technology has become a facilitator for farming success. JBUAS aims to explore how the introduction of new drone geophysical sensor technology can provide practical solutions and deliver tangible value to farmers in their everyday operations. The Hartpury Tech Box Programme is clearly the enabler for JBUAS to achieve this aim - and we look forward to being a part of it.”
