In this Q&A, Eric Levesque – our co-founder and VP of Business Development and Sales – takes a few moments to discuss the indoor farming industry with AgriTech Tomorrow. More specifically, they discuss how to overcome obstacles when starting an indoor farm.
Q. Why is it important for AgTech companies to coexist and work together to improve the industry?
The world has a huge problem to solve in the coming decades; Growing more food, for more people, with less space and less resources. Localizing the supply chain is a global problem and AgTech companies are getting pretty good at solving some of these issues.
We are focused on helping projects become profitable and successful, by finding the best companies in the industry that are looking to help and be part of the solution. Those are the companies we recommend to our clients. There is a reason we work with the companies we do.
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to entry for a person or company looking to start up an indoor farm?
Cultivatd was founded with the goal of addressing what we feel is the biggest issue in entering the vertical farming industry; knowledge. We’ve seen too many people buy the wrong technology and be stuck trying to make a business work because they only spoke to one company – they simply didn’t know what else was available.
Capital is also a big barrier to entry for many. We get hundreds of calls from people that want to impact their communities with vertical farms only to be put off by the true cost of a system (CAPEX). We also work with partners to help lower this barrier to entry.
Q. How does your indoor farm brokerage work to help solve some of these start-up issues?
Our business model has a 3-pronged approach to solving the issues we see from our clients;
- Brokerage: We help clients’ select the best technology for their project.
- FAAS: We will send experienced farmers to our clients locations to help manage the farm.
- Funding: We have partnered with groups like Contain.ag to help our clients get off the ground with funding. We are also in the midst of setting up our own capital fund (announcement coming soon) that is specifically geared towards our clients and their capital needs.
Q. Where do you see indoor farming going over the next 10 years and how do we get there?
The global food supply need is getting bigger, while the ability to grow food outdoors is changing quickly. We see vertical farms solving a lot of the issues facing mankind in the next 10 years, and we are proud to be at the center of it. The farm of the future is a hybrid model with multiple technologies and we are positioning ourselves to be core to the industry’s evolution.
Read the complete article: Overcoming Obstacles in Starting an Indoor Farm.