Croissants and Questions - April

After years of heavy capital and high valuations, 2026 has become the "Year of Reckoning" for AgTech. As the industry recalibrates, the gap between "zombie startups" and truly scalable solutions has never been wider. In this session, Luke breaks down the current state of UK agricultural investment, identifying who is winning, who is losing, and why.

We’ll explore:

• The 2026 Winners: Why "Physical AI," field-proven robotics, and biologicals are securing capital while others stall.

• The UK Opportunity: How British innovators are leveraging international expansion and climate-resilience stacks to stay competitive.

• Investor Sentiment: What "smart money" is looking for right now—moving past AI-polished pitch decks toward capital efficiency, measurable farm-level impact, and clear paths to profitability.

• Common Pitfalls: Why "fit-for-farm" reality is often the biggest hurdle for tech-heavy solutions.

About the speaker:

Luke has over 15 years experience spanning innovation, investment and agricultural innovation. Luke developed Farm491’s strategy at the Royal Agricultural University, helping build one of the UK’s leading rural and agritech clusters, and worked with UKRI and GFirst LEP to include agri-tech as part of the Industrial Strategy. He was most recently Partner at Silicon Valley fund AiiM Partners and is now focused on catalysing Gloucestershire as a globally competitive innovation leader.

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