The RipenAI Team, led by Dr Xuechun Wang and Prof Lei Su in the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) at Queen Mary University of London, has been awarded £35,000 through the Innovate UK ICURe Explore programme to accelerate the commercialisation of their AI-driven smart sensing technology for precision and sustainable farming.

The ICURe Explore programme is an intensive, twelve-week initiative designed to help research teams evaluate the commercial potential of their innovations through structured market exploration and stakeholder engagement.

The RipenAI team has developed an AI-powered optical sensing system that enables real-time, non-destructive assessment of grape ripeness. Developed and tested in collaboration with Saffron Grange Vineyard and Extended Robotics Ltd., the technology aims to address key challenges in the viticulture sector, including labour shortages, the need for destructive sampling, and the growing impacts of climate variability.

This award marks an important step toward translating cutting-edge research from Queen Mary into impactful, real-world applications that support the sustainability and efficiency of agricultural production.