Harvest London Secures DEFRA ADOPT Funding for Ani Production Planning Platform
Harvest LondonCompany
Crate to PlateCompany
Harvest London and Crate to Plate have secured DEFRA ADOPT funding to roll out the Ani production‑planning SaaS across their vertical‑farm sites, with early tests indicating roughly 10% resource savings.
Harvest London and Crate to Plate have secured funding from DEFRA’s ADOPT programme to deploy the Ani production‑planning platform, a SaaS tool that early pilots suggest can reduce resource consumption by about 10% across operations. The grant, announced on July 8, 2026, will finance deployments at Harvest London’s Canada Water and Lea Bridge farms and Crate to Plate’s Canary Wharf site, creating a joint testbed for demand‑driven crop scheduling in the UK’s controlled‑environment agriculture (CEA) sector.
The ADOPT programme, administered by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), provides non‑dilutive capital to accelerate climate‑tech solutions. While the exact grant amount was not disclosed, the partnership brings together Harvest London’s proprietary Ani software and Crate to Plate’s commercial vertical‑farm operation, linking confirmed customer orders directly to planting schedules. Both CEOs highlighted the strategic fit: Chris Davies of Harvest London called the link between demand signals and production “a major step toward more responsive and efficient food systems,” while Daniel Tristao of Crate to Plate said the software will “streamline operations, grow profits and improve sustainability.”
Ani differentiates itself from typical forecast‑based planning tools by working backward from real‑time order data. The platform integrates with existing farm‑management databases, automatically generating planting recommendations, crop allocation, and growth‑cycle adjustments to meet delivery commitments. Early internal estimates point to a 10% reduction in inputs such as water, nutrients, and energy, alongside lower waste and reduced working‑capital requirements—metrics that are especially critical for high‑density urban farms.
Deal Terms
The funding is structured as a grant under DEFRA’s ADOPT initiative; no equity was exchanged and the monetary value remains undisclosed. The programme’s objective is to support wider rollout of Ani across the CEA sector and to facilitate the sharing of operational insights with the broader UK agriculture community. Harvest London retains full ownership of the Ani IP, while Crate to Plate will act as an early‑adopter and co‑pilot.
Strategic Rationale
Deploying Ani at multiple London sites creates a live data set that can be leveraged to refine the algorithm and demonstrate tangible efficiency gains to other vertical‑farm operators. For Harvest London, the grant de‑risks further product development and positions the company as a SaaS leader in a niche yet rapidly expanding market. Crate to Plate gains a competitive edge by offering faster, order‑accurate deliveries, potentially boosting its net revenue retention and opening avenues for premium pricing. The collaboration also aligns with DEFRA’s climate‑tech agenda, signaling governmental support for technology‑driven sustainability in food production.
Why It Matters
For Harvest London, the ADOPT grant accelerates the commercialization of Ani, giving the company a demonstrable case study that can be leveraged when courting other CEA operators or seeking follow‑on investment. The real‑time, order‑driven planning capability narrows the gap between demand and supply, allowing Harvest to improve gross margins by cutting input waste and reducing inventory carrying costs. Crate to Plate, meanwhile, secures a proprietary tool that can differentiate its product offering in a crowded urban‑farm market, potentially increasing its average order value and customer stickiness. Competitors that rely on traditional forecast‑based planning may face pressure to adopt similar SaaS solutions or risk higher operational costs and lower net revenue retention.
The partnership also creates a data‑sharing pipeline that could set industry benchmarks for resource efficiency. As DEFRA plans to disseminate findings across UK agriculture, other vertical farms may be compelled to adopt demand‑driven SaaS platforms, reshaping the competitive dynamics of the sector.
Key Points
- Harvest London and Crate to Plate received DEFRA ADOPT grant to deploy the Ani SaaS platform across three London sites
- Ani works backward from confirmed orders to set planting schedules, aiming for ~10% resource savings
- The funding is a non‑dilutive grant; monetary amount was not disclosed
- Early pilots suggest Ani can lower waste, reduce working‑capital needs, and improve operational efficiency
Analysis
The DEFRA ADOPT grant underscores a growing appetite among public funders for SaaS solutions that tighten the link between demand signals and agricultural production. As vertical farms scale, the ability to convert order data into precise planting schedules becomes a lever for both margin expansion and sustainability—a combination that resonates with investors seeking climate‑tech opportunities with clear unit‑economics. While the grant amount remains undisclosed, the deployment creates a live test environment that can generate recurring revenue streams for Harvest London through subscription licences, professional services, and potential expansion into adjacent CEA markets. For venture capitalists, the deal illustrates a path to monetize SaaS in a traditionally hardware‑heavy sector, where recurring ARR can be anchored to measurable input‑cost reductions. If Ani’s early 10% efficiency gains are validated at scale, the platform could command valuation multiples comparable to other niche B2B SaaS tools that deliver quantifiable cost savings, making it an attractive target for growth‑stage investors looking to back climate‑tech with proven operational impact.