Rothamsted Enterprises has recently joined forces with Farm491 to offer enhanced support services to both of our growing number of members.

Farm491 is part of the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester. Farm491 members have access to the business support and a knowledge network that includes farmers, investors and expert advisers, as well as open access to farming data. Members can test, refine and grow their propositions.

Farm491’s members will have access to spaces and services at Rothamsted Enterprises’ Harpenden campus. These include state-of-the-art labs and offices within 30 minutes of central London, Rothamsted Research’s world-leading scientists, a vibrant calendar of business, innovation and agri-tech events and seminars, and use of Rothamsted’s 300 hectares of experimental farmland, glasshouses and controlled growth environments, microscopy and analytical chemistry team, amongst other services.

The partnership between Farm491 and Rothamsted Enterprises will also extend and enhance the services available to Rothamsted Enterprises’ tenants. This will enable AgriTech and AgriFood start-ups at Rothamsted Enterprises to accelerate their innovations through dedicated one-to-one support and mentoring provided by the Farm491 team.

“After meeting some of the fantastic, innovative tenants that are part of the Rothamsted Enterprise ecosystem, it made complete sense to partner and create a more cohesive approach to tackling the many barriers that agri-entrepreneurs face when trying to scale in the agri-food sector. Rothamsted is a place of exciting scientific innovation and we are excited to combine our knowledge of scaling AgriTech businesses to support tenants on the path to commercial viability” commented Sarah Carr, Outreach Officer at Farm491.

Asmaa Shariff, Head of Client Services and Innovation Programmes at Rothamsted Enterprises, commented, “We’re really excited to have joined forces with Farm491 to offer even more support to our tenants. Luke and Sarah’s extensive experience in AgriTech start-ups and scale-ups, as well as their contacts around the UK and internationally, will open up many more opportunities to our community of AgriTech SMEs. We’re also looking forward to welcoming their members to Harpenden to meet our scientists and use our facilities.”

To find out more about becoming a tenant with us, please contact Asmaa Shariff on 01582 938679.