Arctic Farming raises EUR 150K to take vertical farming mainstream.
Arctic Farming, a Finland based AgriTech startup, has raised EUR 150K in a seed round to get its disruptive vertical farming technology to the market. Arctic Farming has developed a new vertical farming solution for the wholesale, restaurant and retail industries enabling hyperlocal food production in any indoor space. The company opened its new R&D facilities in May at the Aalto University campus in Otaniemi, and is preparing to ship its first production units in early August. The funding will be used for customer acquisition and to validate the technology in collaboration with a number of award winning restaurants in the Helsinki area.
Arctic Farming raised EUR 150K in seed funding in preparation for first product deliveries
Arctic Farming Oy has raised EUR 150K in seed funding – investing more into product development and to get its technology product to the market. The Finland based AgriTech startup has developed a new and disruptive vertical farming technology that enables Foodservice and HoReCA operators to grow their own fresh vegetables, herbs and berries in their own premises regardless of the time of year, or their geographical location. Combined with Farming as a Service, this technology enables Arctic Farming to take vertical farming mainstream by bringing food production right next to the end users, cutting the need for international logistics and traditional field farming. Unlike industrial vertical farming operators, the easily scalable plug-and-play solution developed by Arctic Farming will enable vertical farming to be done in any indoor space with access to water and electricity. The farming walls developed by Arctic Farming are fully automated and hands-off, and are ready to be used, straight out of the box.
Arctic Farming was founded late 2019 based on the belief that the global food system in in need of a wholesale redesign. Problems with conventional agriculture are numerous and they range from disruptions in the global food supply chains to the high levels of fresh water, fertilizers and pesticides consumed by agriculture worldwide. In addition, conventional farming is becoming more and more susceptible to changes in the climate and the geopolitical situation, posing a significant threat to global food-security today and in the future. “At Arctic Farming, we believe that the current way of producing food can no longer be considered sustainable. Instead of shipping fresh food for thousands of kilometres around the globe, we believe that localised indoor farming presents the future of the food production with hyperlocal vertical farming offering a novel solution to many of the problems faced by the industry”, says Oliver Rotko, CEO of Arctic Farming.
The company has spent the last two years focusing on product development and research, and the team at Arctic Farming has successfully tested their vertical farming technology with more than a dozen of different plants including fresh vegetables and herbs as well as with more exotic and protein dense products like soy beans. Arctic Farming has developed an in-house technology stack with the first patents already pending – and more on the way. These technologies include both a hardware and software solution as well as a smart IoT stack which functions as the brains of the product. With the technology tested, and with the Food industry returning back to normal after two years of harsh Covid restrictions, Arctic Farming is ready to take this technology to the market. “This new round of financing will enable us to deliver the first automated farming units to our customers in the Helsinki region while simultaneously developing our extensive in-house tech stack in preparation for international expansion”, Rotko says.
AF vertical farming walls (late prototype) on display at Gastro Helsinki 2022 fair in May.
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