In this week’s episode of the UKTN Podcast, Vertical Future founder nad CEO Jamie Burrows discusses the many ways vertical farming can be used to address agricultural and environmental challenges, why space presents an exciting opportunity for farming and why VC funding isn’t for everyone.
Burrows founded Vertical Future in 2016. The company develops the technology to build automated vertical farms wherein robots tend to the needs of stacked crops in enclosed spaces. It has deployed eight farms in the UK and has projects in development overseas.
In this week’s podcast, Burrows explains why vertical farming should be better prioritised, along with unpacking some of the market’s challenges.
“I think with all the different priorities going on right now, farming should be up there, definitely alongside healthcare clearly,” he says.
Vertical Future has raised over £30m across grants and family office investments. The company is also working on a project to grow medicinal and material ingredients in orbit, with plans down the line to explore vertical farming on the Moon and Mars.
Listen to the full episode here, along with all previous episodes of the UKTN Podcast.
The UKTN Podcast is sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking, which offers flexible banking solutions for startups, scaleups, growth businesses, investors and those working towards IPO.
Throughout the series, the UKTN Podcast will be speaking to some of the key movers and shakers from UK tech. We’ll learn growth strategies from both seasoned and up-and-coming founders, hear market sentiments from investors, and question policymakers on the decisions impacting the country’s innovation economy.
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