RootWave wins Horizon 2020 grant

The European Commission has awarded RootWave the second phase of their prestigious Horizon 2020 SME Instrument programme to develop electrical weeding technology.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available between 2014 and 2020, €3 billion of which is dedicated to the SME Instrument programme.  In addition to private investment, the purpose of Horizon 2020 is to deliver more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

Andrew Diprose, Executive Director of RootWave, comments: “We are delighted with this news and look forward to working with the European Commission over the coming years.  With the extension of the license for the world’s most widely used herbicide only extended by 18 months rather than the 15 years that was applied for, it is critical that innovative technologies are given the necessary support to ensure that the agricultural industry has viable options in the future.  We have received a huge amount of interest and look forward to delivering an alternative technology to the market which is cost competitive with herbicides and offers a host of additional environmental benefits.