Why indoor farming needs to seize the energy efficiency opportunity
There is one area where indoor farming lags behind traditional agriculture: energy consumption. A few simple measures could change the game.
There is one area where indoor farming lags behind traditional agriculture: energy consumption. A few simple measures could change the game.
The Abu Dhabi-based startup said it will use the funding to expand its presence in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South Korea.
The Swiss startup will use the proceeds to “deploy pilot units with our prospective clients” in the commercial greenhouse space, CEO Henri Lalande tells AFN.
The chief marketing officer discusses the risks of CEA, the crops we’ll grow indoors in the future, and how indoor agtech will change.
Seattle-based IUNU will use the new funds to expand its platform, which provides computer vision and data analytics to CEA growers.
The startup recently raised $10 million in a seed round led by Acre Venture Partners.
Novel Farming Systems ventures – which include tech-enabled vertical farms and greenhouses – may be losing their luster for investors.
Better tracking around waste, water, and energy usage could help the CEA industry more accurately measure the sustainability of their operations.
Novel Farming Systems ventures raised a total of $911 million in funding during the first six months of the year, according to AgFunder data.
The indoor soil-based farming company will build new facilities with financing from real estate firm Decennial Group.
The Abu Dhabi-based company will add over 100 crops to its portfolio, as well as new CEA technologies, through its collaboration with PlanTFarm.
Artemis and iUNU will explore opportunities to offer more financing solutions to their CEA customers after the deal completes.
It will use a chunk of the funding to open its largest facility yet: a leafy greens and berries-focused greenhouse in Lockhart, Texas.
Novel Farming Systems – which includes CEA, aquaculture, and insect production – was the second best-funded agtech category last year, according to AgFunder.
The US startup said it plans to build a “national network of new high-tech farms that will accelerate the salad industry’s transition to indoor farming.”
The startup aims to grow its footprint across Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as US regions “where growing conditions are harsh.”
CropWalk CEO Charlie McKenzie said that his company’s clients “want us around more often; with iUNU, we can be there all the time.”
It claims to be the US’s largest indoor farming operation to be certified organic by the USDA – and the country’s leading supplier of fresh herbs.
The Montanan startup claims it can offer “superior unit economics” thanks to a “unique hybrid facility configuration” combining conventional greenhouses with vertical farming.
Fresh off the back of a $60 million growth round in March, the Middle East CEA startup claims it can achieve up to 15x the yield with a tenth of the water of incumbent solutions – and it’s targeting Southeast Asia next.
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