Momentum grows as AgriTech Cluster converges in Cambridge

You may haven noticed that there is a bit of an explosion of interest in AgriTech around Cambridgeshire at the moment. With AgriTech East, Cambridge University founding the CERES Knowledge Partnership with four other institutions, the Gates Foundation investing in UK AgriTech, Cambridge Judge has a successful AgriTech pathway, Cambridge AgriTech investing in AgriTech startups, John Shropshire OBE joining the Cambridge and Peterborough Independent Economic Review Commission, great companies like, Kisan Hub, Agrimetrics, Yagro and Hummingbird Technology, pioneering research organisations like NIAB and networks like AgriTech East – there is real momentum around the growing AgriTech Cluster in Cambridge.

 Those of you who have been around Cambridge a while will know that this is how the Cambridge Science Park got started. There was a converging of businesses and research in Cambridge, which meant the science park was needed to house them. From the initial vision has grown the Cambridge Phenomenon with all the economic benefits for our region. That is before we even start thinking about the impact innovations from Cambridge have had globally! 

It is the vision of Emma Fletcher, Hill and Russell Smith Farms who foresaw the growth of AgriTech globally as well as focussed in Cambridge. They also realised the need for both building space and agricultural land dedicated to progressing innovations to market and meeting some of the most complex needs of our society. SmithsonHill’s ARC facility is the response to that vision to be the home of this new cluster locally and globally. The AgriTech cluster is really taking form, Cambridge needs to act now to ensure that these exciting developments move forward in a way that benefits our region.