Some vertical farming systems can be as much as 170x more productive than traditional agriculture and use 97% less water!
With the world population projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the current food production system is unsustainable without causing environmental damage. Vertical farming, which involves growing plants in multiple layers in a controlled environment, is a potential solution.
Vertical farming uses up to 98% less water than traditional farming, eliminating the need for harmful pesticides and fertilizers. Growing crops in vertically stacked layers significantly reduces the land required for farming.
Additionally, it allows year-round local production while being a more sustainable and environmentally friendly method of food production.
This article details five innovative startups offering vertical farming solutions in 2024.
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1. Seasony increases yields using automated farming
| Founding Year | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Hovedstaden, Denmark |
| Total Funding Amount | $3.9M |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed/€1.5M |
| Website | www.seasony.io |
Seasony is addressing the challenge of making vertical farming profitable, scalable, and sustainable.
Seasony’s robot, Watney™, automates core processes in vertical farming, reducing labor costs and increasing yields by up to 30%. It also reduces costs by up to 65% by automating repetitive transportation tasks within cultivation rooms.
Christopher Weis Thomasen is the founder and CEO of Seasony. He graduated from the Technical University of Denmark.
The company has raised $3.9M in funding, with its latest seed funding round on December 11, 2023.
2. Urban Farmers Pro is 170x more efficient than traditional farming
| Founding Year | 2021 |
| Headquarters | Distrito Especial, Colombia |
| Total Funding Amount | $225K |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Pre-Seed/$120K |
| Website | www.urbanfarmerspro.com |
Agricultural water extraction in Latin America represents 74% of total water withdrawal, making agriculture the highest resource-consuming activity. This startup can reduce water consumption by 95%, enabling people to grow fresh food anywhere.
Urban Farmers Pro is a Latin-American AgTech start-up that provides vertical indoor farming solutions using smart hydroponics. Their growing systems/vertical farms are 170x more efficient than traditional farming, use 95% less water, and require minimal space. They achieved this with a circular irrigation system that uses 100% potable, doubly filtered water.
The startup’s founder, Klaus Hergett, graduated from Harvard Extension School, where he studied eco-entrepreneurship.
Urban Farmers Pro has raised $225K in funding. Their latest funding was pre-seed, which raised $120K on Oct 1, 2022.
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3. SweGreen gives locally grown vegetables all year round
| Founding Year | 2019 |
| Headquarters | Stockholms Lan, Sweden |
| Total Funding Amount | $8.5M |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed/$1.5M |
| Website | www.swegreen.com |
SweGreen is a Swedish AgTech startup and a vertical farming innovation venture based in Stockholm. It offers the world’s most efficient and automated in-store farming solution and the most hyper-local greens grown in its sustainable, climate-controlled systems.
No pests or weeds exist in a controlled and protected environment, so pesticides or herbicides are unnecessary. Furthermore, by recycling all irrigation water, their systems need 99% less water than traditional agriculture.
With their in-store-grown plants, customers have access to locally grown vegetables all year round. Additionally, retailers can become self-sufficient in leafy greens and herbs.
Their CEO, Joakim Rytterborn, has over a decade of experience designing and running vertical farms.
Joakim has raised $8.5M in funding for SweGreen. In Nov 2022, they raised Seed funding of $1.5M.
4. LeaFood grows and ships green salads on the same day
| Founding Year | 2021 |
| Headquarters | Vilniaus Apskritis, Lithuania |
| Total Funding Amount | €6.5M |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed/€6.5M |
| Website | leafood.com |
Leafood is a vertical farming company that produces sustainable and high-quality leafy greens. It seeks to reduce the strain on the ecosystem and farmed land to promote the sustainability of food production.
They do not need pesticides and ship the greens in resealable and recyclable packaging. Vertical farming allows them to deliver freshly harvested produce on the same day.
LeaFood grows 12 kinds of green salad and herbs all year round, a variety uncommon among vertical farming startups. Their farm has 12,600 square meters of effective growing area, producing 15 harvests yearly. Because it’s seeded daily, plant bed by plant bed, it’s harvested more than 300 times a year, guaranteeing customers a regular supply of greens.
“While building the largest vertical farm in Europe, we remain committed to our mission: encouraging and enabling consumers to enjoy locally grown greens every day, all year round.”
– Valentinas Civinskas, founder and CEO.
The startup raised €6.5M in seed funding in Jun 2022.
5. Groots is 40x more productive and uses 97% less water
| Founding Year | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Catalonia, Spain |
| Total Funding Amount | €600K |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed/Undisclosed |
| Website | groots.eco |
Groots is the first large-scale urban vertical farm in Spain. They grow all of their produce in controlled environments so that the plants grow with exactly what they need, nothing more.
Their system is 40x more productive per square meter than traditional agriculture. The water circulates inside a closed circuit. So, the unused water goes back to the main tank and is recirculated. That way, they save up to 97% of the water that would otherwise be lost on the ground.
They’re self-sufficient via solar panels and produce 25% less greenhouse gas emissions. Groots controls all the environmental parameters, giving the plant the right temperature, light, water, and humidity to get seasonal products all year.
The startup’s CEO, Alessandro Calcagno, has over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience.
Under his leadership, the startup has raised €600K in funding. Their latest Seed funding was raised on Oct 3, 2023.
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Authored By – Hemanth Shenoy, Market Research
