In this month’s edition, we at Bure Valley Group are proud to announce our partnership with Agri Tech; a dynamic, innovative new startup which is bound to interest EIS investors. Agri Tech is leading the way in the global revolution in “modern farming techniques”, offering new ways to deliver sustainable farming solutions and food sources to the globe’s increasing population.
The company does this in a highly-efficient and environmentally-friendly way, namely via “vertical farming”. Here, Agri Tech provides the technology to enable nutritious plants to be grown indoors even in highly urbanised areas. Not only does this leverage greater use of space in modern farming techniques, but it also contributes to public health by helping plants to grow in “pesticide-free and disease-free conditions”.
A bit of background
IAG has a clear objective to “raise awareness and find solutions to the challenges faced by the agricultural sector”. It is no secret that the world’s growing population in the coming decades is likely to struggle with sustainable food supplies, without pioneering new agricultural technology. By 2050, for instance, it is estimated that the current population of 7.7bn will grow to 9.8bn. Demand for food, moreover, is likely to be 60% greater than it is today.
Moreover, globally, agriculture occupies 50% of the world’s entire habitable land and consumes 70% of the planets accessible freshwater, contributing to 11-15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In IAG’s opinion, the ability to produce more food with fewer resources is a challenge that is posed to all nations and simply cannot be addressed without combined efforts.
IAG believes that through the implementation of novel techniques, combined with an arsenal of technological innovations” it can contribute to “delivering positive outcomes to environments, ecosystems and promise food security.
How it works
IAG is pioneering the utilisation of indoor farming technology with vertical aeroponics technology for commercial use within the UK. Indoor farming allows for the production of up to ten times more crop than regular farming per square foot. This is due to the vertical direction of most indoor farms, meaning that produce can grow on multiple levels per square foot of space.
This approach allows organic crop to become more accessible. In traditional farming, chemical pesticides are commonly used when environmental factors aren’t beneficial for the crops. Indoor farming means that these pesticides are not required, making it far easier to produce certified organic crops.
The opportunity ahead
No other company is currently using aeroponics with vertical farming; a gap in the market IAG believes it can fill to enable the growth of a new type of urban farming in Britain.
There are two main revenues from the development and implementation of its technology into “intelligent farming”: supermarkets (the primary target revenue steam) and retail of technology (i.e. to potential agricultural businesses worldwide for a profit).
Strategic alliances have already been forged with leading organisations such as Co-Alliance (one of the largest agribusinesses within the Midwest region in the US, with multi-billion dollar turnover). The State of Indiana alone has over 56,000 private farming operations, most of which will be attracted to Agri Tech’s value proposition due to the likely pressures of falling produce and crop yields (due to rising temperatures and volatile precipitation).
IAG has also had several interested partners in Europe seeking to invest in agri-tech. An example of this was a Milan-based real estate developer seeking to re-energise derelict warehouses within the city into an income revenue. They want to do this by supplying multiple local businesses with produce fresh supply; an imperative part of the Italian cuisine. Agri Tech has a fully designed proposal for this interested company.
Use of Proceeds
The use of proceeds will be used to transform the Berkshire facility into a fully automated indoor vertical farm, which will produce, in the Company’s opinion, premium produce.
The main purpose of the indoor vertical farm will be to grow premium produce. The secondary usage will be to showcase IAG’s end-to-end indoor agri-tech solutions to potential agricultural businesses worldwide for a profit.
Given the high-tech method, IAG will be utilising within the facility, the Company estimates the construction and acquisition costs will be up to £1million. Operational, transportation and general business overheads costs will be up to £2 million. The indoor vertical farming technology costs will be up to £2 million.
Find out more
Are you an investor interested in finding out more about Agri Tech? If so, then fill out the form below to request the full Investment Memorandum from Bure Valley Group.
