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Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), a leading vertical farm technology provider, has secured £22.5m (€26.3m) in Series C funding to support major global expansion. The announcement comes after IGS confirmed at COP28 that it will join Dubai-based partner ReFarm to build a 900,000 square foot “giga farm” in the United Arab Emirates. Once completed, the farm will be able to grow 2 billion plants each year, representing enough fresh produce to replace 1% of the country’s current imports.
What is Series C funding?
Series C financing is initiated when a company is preparing for an acquisition, stock market listing, or significant expansion.
What is vertical farming and what are its benefits?
As you might have guessed, vertical farming is the practice of growing crops vertically rather than horizontally. This unique approach to farming involves stacking crops in vertical layers in a controlled environment. Among its many benefits, it provides plants with ideal amounts of water, air, light, soil nutrients and warmth, allowing for optimal growth. This method not only maximizes the chances of crop success, but also offers additional benefits, such as the use of soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.
“At its simplest, vertical farming means being able to grow crops in a smaller footprint, which will become even more important in a world where arable land is increasingly under pressure. “Each year there are more and more extreme weather events worldwide, where crops are damaged or destroyed by droughts, floods, unseasonably cold spells and bushfires,” said IGS CEO Andrew Lloyd.
“What makes IGS Vertical Farms unique is our patented integrated controlled environment farming technology, which allows farmers to control the growth cycle of their crops through software-controlled recipes built by world-leading crop scientists. Each element of the growing environment, from the amount and type of light to air flow, nutrients and water, is precisely controlled, making it possible to provide the exact weather conditions you need at each point in your growing Guaranteed yield of high quality produce per square foot compared to agriculture. ”
Additional benefits include the opportunity to maximize resource utilization, recycle up to 95% of water, and operate in a closed-loop system to avoid surface runoff throughout the production process. “Our patented control system uses ultra-low voltage power and ensures that each kWh of power is optimized.” The range of crop diversity is also a big advantage of vertical farming, and currently IGS Vertical More than 250 crops are grown on the farm.
Modular vertical farm can be built up to 12 meters high with a footprint of just 41 meters2. In contrast to traditional horizontal farming, vertical farms do not require high-quality arable land to thrive, so they can be built in urban or brownfield environments and allow crops to be grown closer to consumers. Masu. This not only allows us to maximize land use, but also minimizes the food miles and carbon footprint of the crops grown and reduces food waste.
“Our partner in the UAE, ReFarm, plans to use IGS’ vertical farming technology as a key part of its ‘GigaFarm’, which transforms waste into value. In conjunction with his five other technologies, 200 IGS growth towers with a height of 12 meters will provide a height of 87,000 meters.2Growing space as part of a self-contained ecosystem designed to maximize resource efficiency and keep waste out of landfills.
“Each year, 50,000 tonnes of food waste is contaminated with black soldier flies, along with by-products such as organic compost used in traditional agriculture, animal feed to replace unsustainable fishmeal and soybean oil, and water used in agriculture. The in-situ technology will also recover up to 90% of ammonia sulfate from wastewater for use as plant fertilizer, providing water and nutrients to crops in arid regions. It produces organic biodegradable polymers that are designed to be released gradually.”
Modern agricultural practices, including vertical farming, are supported by the European Commission, which states: It does not compete, but supports conventional agriculture against the many challenges and crises facing the world, and must become a complementary way to strengthen food systems in the near future. . ”
What are the downsides of vertical farming?
This farming method has some significant drawbacks, primarily its reliance on technology, which is also considered its greatest strength. The controlled nature of vertical farming means that the technology it relies on, providing heat, light, and irrigation, must function perfectly in order for the crops to survive. They do not have access to natural environmental sources such as rainwater or sunlight.
This heavy reliance on technology has led to increased vulnerability to rising energy costs, creating a struggle for the industry. There will also be greater reliance on a highly skilled workforce with sufficient knowledge of the required and used technologies.
Vertical farming also asserts that one of the major limitations to crop growth is plant height. Agreeing, Lloyd said: “For some crops, such as herbs and leafy vegetables, vertical farms provide an ideal growing environment from seed to harvest, but for other crops, fruiting crops, brassicas, potatoes, and even non-edible plants, Vertical farms provide an ideal growing environment, such as trees, which serve as ideal nurseries for young plants and seedlings, which are then planted in a more traditional environment. ”
Signs of potential for vertical farming
The vertical farming sector has struggled in recent years, with the Netherlands’ Grow Farms, UK-based Eider Vertical Farming and US-based Fifth Season ceasing operations. Infirm’s Dutch arm, headquartered in Germany, declared bankruptcy last year.
However, there are good news stories in the vertical farming space as well. Most notably, US AeroFarms emerged from voluntary Chapter 11 last year with support from existing investors.
Is vertical farming the future?
Vertical farming has the potential to play an important role in the future of global food production, but it cannot do it alone. “While we are always working to experiment with new crops and expand the range of varieties that can be grown in our vertical farms, there are many crops that are more practical in a more traditional field or greenhouse environment.” Lloyd he added. Operating alongside, rather than in place of, traditional farming practices, vertical farming is well suited to support a stable food production model of the future.
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