The Landing and UK’s leading agritech incubator Farm491 announce new partnership

The Landing, MediaCityUK’s tech hub specialising in high growth tech start-ups and scale-ups, has announced an exciting new partnership with Farm491, the UK’s leading incubator in the AgriTech industry, to become the only AgriTech business incubator specialist in the North of England.

Farm491 was launched by the Royal Agricultural University, a world-leading pioneer of teaching in the industry, to provide a space for innovators developing technology-driven agricultural solutions to critical environmental issues.

The new partnership will see its support expand into the North of England, with The Landing providing space and facilities to Farm491’s member businesses as well as access to exclusive events and collaboration opportunities.

Farm491 and The Landing will also co-host a number of events and workshops at both sites, extending the reach of both organisations to new areas of the UK and engaging with an even greater audience of AgriTech and Agrifood entrepreneurs.

James Summerton, Business Development Manager at The Landing, commented:

“We’re extremely proud and excited to be partnering with Farm491. The AgriTech industry holds the keys to unlocking solutions to today’s major environmental issues, and technologies currently being developed in Farm491 include biotechnology, robotics and bespoke software.”

“The Landing is a living lab for innovators and entrepreneurs working across all technologies. The Farm491 partnership and focus on AgriTech also crosses over with many of our other initiatives across green technology, AI and IOT and we are looking forward to collaborating and unlocking the potential of all those involved.”

Luke Halsey, Entrepreneur in Residence at Farm491, commented,

“The Landing has a great reputation with high growth tech companies and so we are excited to bring our AgriTech knowledge to complement this. We approached The Landing due to demand from our member businesses for a base in the North of England to allow them to develop across the UK, and we’re confident this collaboration offers the very best in terms of space, facilities, connections and opportunities.”

According to the United Nations, the world’s population is projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, with 68% of people living in urban areas, so food production, protection and transportation will become an even greater challenge for the agricultural industry – particularly in towns and cities.

James Summerton concluded:

“As the population expands and shifts, green technology will need play an even greater part in agriculture. Salford has set its intentions to be the biggest and best Smart City in the country and The Landing is home to the UK’s first 5G enabled immersive lab, so we are ideally placed to offer Farm491 members the space to create, collaborate and test.”

Find out more about The Landing, follow on Twitter @TheLandingMCUK

About The Landing

• The Landing is MediaCityUK’s dedicated technology incubator hub for high-growth technology & digital start-Ups, scale-ups and SMEs.
• It provides Workspace (office and co-working), Incubator programmes, User Testing Labs, Barclays Eagle Labs, Digital Catapult Immersive Lab and their exclusive lounge and bar Social7, along with incredible technical infrastructure and connectivity, to ensure its 100+ companies can turn new technologies into happy, sustainable businesses
• The Landing gives digital SMEs, start-ups and scale ups a place to work alongside large media and technology organisations, allowing them to be part of and benefit from the exciting and rapidly growing community at MediaCityUK. Spanning six floors, The Landing combines all cross-sections of the digital creative industry to create a unique environment where SMEs can thrive. From digital workflow, post production and interactive media labs to meeting, working and social spaces, we offer everything under one roof.
• The Landing has contributed more than £25m a year and 1600 jobs to the Greater Manchester economy and almost £100m to the UK economy, hosting over 10,000 delegates from all over the world every year at events, conferences, workshops and hacks.
• The Landing also has roots in community, supporting 600 jobs a year in Salford. Over 100 children from Salford schools over the past year have attended workshop sessions and over 450 Salford residents have taken part in digital skills programmes.