News & Insights

Northern startup using AI to spot crop disease early secures £2.1m investment

L-R: Dr Charles Veys, Founder and CEO of Fotenix with Neil Vose, CEO of EHE Venture Studio

AI-powered crop diagnostics company Fotenix has secured £2.1 million in new funding to help farmers detect disease and protect yields – weeks before symptoms appear.

The Greater Manchester startup received a six-figure investment from EHE Ventures’ AI Growth Fund, unlocking a £1.6 million Innovate UK grant. The round was led by River Capital and marks one of five investments from the EHE fund during Q1 2025.

Fotenix uses a combination of multi-spectral imaging, robotics, and AI to create 3D digital twins of crops – enabling growers to identify stress and disease long before visual symptoms emerge. By giving farmers real-time insights into crop health, the platform helps boost yields, reduce losses, and cut reliance on pesticides.

Neil Vose, CEO of EHE Venture Studio, said:
“Fotenix is applying AI to one of the world’s most urgent challenges – food security – and doing it in a way that’s already delivering value on the ground. This is exactly the kind of practical, scalable innovation our fund was built to back.”

EHE Ventures launched its AI Growth Fund in October 2024 to back early-stage UK startups using AI to solve real-world problems – from agriculture and health to industry and infrastructure. With a planned £5 million to be deployed in its first year, the fund combines capital, product development support, and hands-on strategic guidance to help founders go further, faster.

Fotenix already works with customers including GrowUp, Agrii and Bayer, and is forecasting over £500K in ARR in 2025. The new funding will support hiring, expand UK deployments, and further develop the platform’s diagnostics engine.

Dr. Charles Veys, founder and CEO of Fotenix, said:
“We’re proud to be building a homegrown solution that gives farmers earlier, better insight – and helps them meet the challenge of sustainable food production head-on. This funding is a major step forward in getting it into more growers’ hands.”

With fresh funding and strategic backing, Fotenix is now positioned to scale its AI platform across UK farms – supporting a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable food system.

Media contact:
Simon Landi, CMO, EHE Group
📩 [email protected]
🌐 www.ehe.ai
🔗 EHE Ventures on LinkedIn

ENDS

Tags: AI investments, Funding, Press Release, Venture Studio