Agritech Employment Snapshot 2025

Based on the UK trends and our experiences at ADLIB we have created an insight into the agritech space for 2025.

Sector Overview:

Looking back, 2024 saw an increase in start-ups gaining funding within the agritech space with an increase in government funding and incentives within the space. For example, Innovate UK has invested a total of £223.6m into the agritech sector so far. Although global funding for the agritech sector has fallen since 2022 the UK is the second highest funded country within the space, behind the US which shows huge promise for the coming years. It seems that areas such as Vertical Farming have seen the largest decrease in funding in 2024 with a larger focus on precision agriculture.

Agritech and smart farming has become far more common in the last few years with a real focus on farm management software and the use of AI to improve farm efficiency and ultimately improve yields and sustainability.

The main areas that we have seen increased funding and focus on in 2024 have been:

• Precision Agriculture: using sensors and AI to improve data gathering
• Electric Farming equipment and robotics: reducing emissions and minimising fuel and costs
• Cloud-based systems: drones and IoT sensors to collect data from soil, water and crops
• Automation: more machinery becoming automated to reduce labour costs and time
• Renewable Technologies: technologies that reduce water, nutrient, and fertiliser use while minimising environmental impacts are gaining traction.
• Alternative Proteins: plant-based and lab-grown proteins have increased due to ethical and environmental consumer focus.
• Biotechnology: using natural and engineering science to improve crops, enhance animal health or modify natural products.
• Aquaculture technologies: automated feeding, fish tracking and water quality monitoring.

UK Locations:

Agritech hubs tend to geographically be located near the UK science scenes and therefore have a strong foothold in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxfordshire.

Agritech Skills in Demand:

• Plant Scientists and Geneticists
• AI and Machine Learning Data Scientists
• Engineers – mechanical, electronic and robotics
• Microfluidics
• Bioinformatics and computational Biologists
• Synthetic and cell biologists.
• Fermentation Scientists/Engineers

Why work in Agritech:

Positive Impact – you can make a huge difference to local and global food chains, health and climate.

Be at the Forefront of Innovation – some truly novel and unique ideas are coming out of the agritech sector currently, so it is great time to add your skills.

Career Growth – there are lots of jobs, and once you build up a skillset you can follow a path to promotions and lots of specialist roles.

Diversity – most agritech company requires a range of skills and talent – scientists, engineers, data scientists, software teams, leadership, project managers etc – so teams are diverse.

2025 – What is to come:

With increasing demand for sustainability there is an expectation that the agritech industry will increase focus on precision agriculture, reducing environmental impact whilst preserving productivity. Soil health and organic/natural farming methods are likely to see an increase due to heightened customer demand, along with an increase into research and production of plant-based and cell-based meat alternatives.

Climate-resilience is expected to be a focus in 2025 developing farming practices that utilize modern tech to reduce impact.

The boom in sustainable farming and agritech should be funded by increased government grants and funding to support companies and farmers moving into new practices.

Conclusion:

Agritech is predicted to grow over the next 12 months and beyond with an expected largest increase in precision agriculture and livestock monitoring globally. Now is a great time to join the agriech industry making a difference to the way farming is conducted for future generations.