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Sprout AI Inc. Vertical Farming Aims To Provide Sustainable Solutions To Global Food Production
Sprout AI is committed to both environmental and social sustainability
Begins Growth Initiatives After Completion of Go Public Transaction and Financing
July 29, 2021
Source: Sprout AI Inc
Calgary, Alberta, July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire – Sprout AI Inc. ("Sprout AI" or the "Company") (CSE: SPRT) is a technologically focused, sustainable vertical farming company that has developed scalable controlled aeroponic cultivation habitats. Sprout AI’s technology will provide solutions to the ever-increasing complexities surrounding the current and future supply of sustainable global food production and supply chain.
Sprout AI is committed to both environmental and social sustainability. With a lowered carbon footprint, Sprout AI provides solutions to many of the negative environmental impacts generated by conventional farming methods, including over-fertilization, long transport distances, and biodiversity disturbances. Social sustainability is enhanced through increased food security from a simplified supply chain, especially during Covid-19, higher density production in a world with declining arable land per capita, and a food supply less susceptible to drought, floods, wildfires, disease, and overall climate change.
The Company’s vision is to be a leader in sustainable vertical cultivation technology by ensuring each harvest is of high quality, high yield, and with minimal product variability. The adaptive AI monitored aeroponic system generates less waste and requires a fraction of the water needed for outdoor, aquaponic, or hydroponic farming. As growth statistics from across the globe are collected, the learning technology will continue to perfect the growing formula, reducing the growth cycle and increasing future output. Additionally, the self-contained habitats reduce cross-contamination and disease which reduces the risk of large crop failures.
The Sprout AI habitats are highly relevant in urban and remote areas alike, and can be assembled in any structure throughout the world that meets, or can meet, food-grade requirements, mitigating the need for a purpose-built structure and allowing it to take advantage of virtually any vacant indoor space.
The Value of Sprout AI
Local Availability. Achieve consistent, year-round local supply of indigenous and non-indigenous produce that is agnostic to seasons, climates, weather and geographies.
Environmentally Friendly. Up to 95% water savings(1), significant reduction in fossil fuel required to plant, sow, fertilize and transport crops, and reduces land use and biodiversity disturbances.
Risk Mitigation. Mitigation against natural disasters such as hail and wildfires that can wipe out entire crops, droughts and infestations that can adversely impact yields, and supply chain impacts such as Covid-19.
Consistent Quality. Controlled, repeatable growing conditions allow for consistent quality produce that can be rapidly delivered to local markets and reduces the number of perishables from long range shipping.
Meeting Organic Preferences. Consumer preferences are evolving to more natural, organic products(2). The controlled environment of vertical farming reduces the need for chemicals and pesticides.
Enhanced Food Safety. Tracking and recall of local produce serving a local market is more manageable than produce grown in international jurisdictions and shipped to a broad network of international markets.
Feeding a Growing Population. Up to 100x more productive than traditional methods(3), providing a solution to feed a growing global population amid a decrease in arable land per capita(4).
The Sprout AI Business Model and Growth Initiatives
Sprout AI is focused on a two-pronged approach to continue to commercialize its technology. Both paths are intended to provide ongoing, recurring revenue; (i) turnkey unit sales to third parties with ongoing support, and (ii) the construction of proprietary vertical farms owned 100% by Sprout AI or in a joint venture or partner format. These proprietary farms will utilize Sprout AI technology and be branded under Beyond FarmsTM, a trademark owned by Sprout AI.
Since completing the go public transaction and financing on July 5th, 2021, Sprout AI has aggressively expanded its resource base, and has begun to fulfill its first third party sales of Sprout AI units. Sprout AI has also begun discussions with potential partners for the construction of a sustainably operated Beyond FarmsTM vertical farming facility in Canada, and potentially other jurisdictions around the world.
More information about the business of the Company can be found in the final long-form prospectus of Sprout AI dated May 31, 2021, and the listing statement dated June 30, 2021, both available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
About Sprout AI
Sprout AI is a vertical farming technology company in the business of planning, designing, manufacturing and/or assembling sustainable and scalable AI-controlled vertical cultivation equipment for indoor vertical farming. The adaptive technology produces an environment with improved growing parameters and early detection of adverse conditions resulting in consistent and repeatable crops, with shorter cultivation cycles independent of geographic climates. The self-contained multi-level rolling rack technology increases the cubic cultivation area while mitigating the risk of outside and cross-contaminants.
For more information about Sprout AI, please visit http://sproutai.solutions
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Bolton
Sprout AI Inc.
Phone: +011 (507) 6384-8734
E-mail: mainweb@sproutai.solutions
Investor Relations Contact
Colleen McKay
Tel: (289) 231-9026
E-mail: cmckay@sproutai.solutions
Website: http://sproutai.solutions
Address: International Business Park, Unit 5B, Building 3860
Panama Pacifico, Republic of Panama
THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE, NOR HAS OR DOES THE CSE'S REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, with respect to the Company. The forward-looking information included in this news release is not based on historical facts, but rather on the expectations of the Company's management regarding the future growth of the Company, its results of operations, performance, business prospects, and opportunities. This news release uses words such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions to identify forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information reflects the current beliefs of the Company's management, based on information currently available to them.
This forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements relating to: the intentions, plans, and future actions of the Company; statements relating to the business and future activities of the Company and anticipated developments in operations of the Company. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate and are subject to risks and uncertainties.
Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Whether actual results, performance, or achievements will conform to the expectations and predictions of the Company is subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors, including: global or national health concerns, including the outbreak of pandemic or contagious diseases, such as COVID-19 and including the evolution of new variants of COVID-19, the duration and effect thereof and delays relating to vaccine development, procurement and distribution; risks relating to the effective management of the Company's growth; liabilities and risks, including environmental liabilities and risks associated with the Company's operations; the Company's ability to attract and retain customers; the competitive nature of the industries in which the Company operates; and the other risk factors described in the Company's final long form prospectus dated May 31, 2021.
If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results might vary materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or results, except to the extent required by applicable Canadian securities laws. Accordingly, potential investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, or the information contained in those statements.
All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.
Columbia University Earth Institute. “How Sustainable Is Vertical Farming? Students Try to Answer the Question”
Fortune Business Insights. “Organic Foods Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Raw Material/Commodity (Fruits and Vegetables, Cereals and Grains, Others), By End-use (Bakery & Confectionery, Ready-to-eat food products, Breakfast Cereals, Processing Industry, Others), By Distribution Channel (Direct Market, Processing Industry) and Regional Forecast 2019-2026”
Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production. Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu and Michiko Takagaki.
The World Bank
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Vertical Farms Are Overserved: Global Food Resilience Needs A Rebalancing Act
Recent moves by Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek in the food and agritech space have prompted a rethink of what the political economy of food could look like over the next decade
By Huiying Ng
Oct. 11, 2020
Focusing investment in agritech among a few, powerful corporations is not the right way to ensure the future of food security and agricultural sustainability, writes Huiying Ng.
Recent moves by Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek in the food and agritech space have prompted a rethink of what the political economy of food could look like over the next decade.
Urban farm models—which Singapore is intent on exporting—will stream proprietary genetic information, business profits, and property assets to the same companies and individuals at the expense of both people and global, diverse multi-crop ecosystems. Many urban farms in Singapore are receiving large amounts of state support—including nearly $40 million in funding announced earlier this month.
As Temasek increases its investments in the agricultural and food technology space, it is worth looking at how a state sovereign fund uses its wealth.
In the last few years, Temasek supported German company Bayer’s buyout of Monsanto in 2018, funded Impossible Foods and Just Food, and reinvested as Impossible’s third-largest investor in 2020. Some of these groups have stirred controversy: Monsanto, a seed and agrichemicals giant, is facing several ongoing class-action lawsuits in the United States from farmworkers stricken with cancer from the use of the herbicide Roundup. Bayer later paid $10 million in settlements, which comes down to an average of less than $160,000 per plaintiff not considering litigation fees—while continuing to sell the very same pesticide to farmers.
This year, Temasek expanded its agri-food investments by partnering with Bayer to set up a company, Unfold, to sell genetically modified seeds to vertical farms.
Merged with Monsanto, Bayer-Monsanto is one of the largest agri-food conglomerates supplying most of the world’s seeds and agrichemicals, controlling 30 percent share of the world’s proprietary seed genetic material and agrichemicals. This means that many farmers are at the mercy of seed-agrichemical pairings made by a limited number of agribusiness companies.
Bayer-Monsanto’s investment decisions actively create a world of petrochemical and genetic dependence. Their products narrow the range of genetic resources and make resources that exist in the commons into commodities we have to pay for.
This is done in the name of food security. But in practice, these companies drive capital towards commodity production lines that require scale and homogenization. Their work strips smallholders of land, knowledge, and agri-cultures, and propagates the inequalities that took root in the Green Revolution, the era after World War II when synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides were used to boost production, causing long-term chemical-based soil degradation.
While the Green Revolution is said to have lifted smallholders out of hunger and poverty, in practice it was a war on smallholders across the world, orchestrated over half a century by companies in Western Europe and the United States. Temasek’s choices indicate the state’s investment in dependence on big agritech at a time when global agriculture needs to be nourished and our knowledge capacities rebuilt, and its protective and regenerative functions renewed.
Seed laws, genetic diversity, and organic farming
Seed laws
Many seed laws such as the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) define seeds as a “creation and invention” belonging solely to seed corporations.
This effectively prohibits farmers from the free breeding and exchange of certain seeds.
Dietary diversity
Currently, no more than 120 cultivated species provide for 90 percent of human food supplied by plants, and 12 plant species and five animal species alone provide for more than 70 percent of all human food. Seed laws, which are generally used to develop standardized, homogenous crops to meet the demand of urban populations, have the effect of limiting genetic diversity in farmed crops. This negatively impacts the range of foods in our diets.
Crop uniformity
Seed corporations have asserted the need for crop homogeneity in response to industrial agriculture’s application of chemicals to control pests, diseases, weeds, or to fertilisers. This makes them less able to cope with continuously evolving pests and diseases. Organic farmers, however, tend to grow diversified crops as a way to adapt to the same challenges, but which do not threaten food resilience.
The global political economy of food
It’s clear that food security cannot be achieved through production alone. What is more important is the continued viability of our living environments to sustain and renew themselves. A political economy is needed that supports regenerative agriculture and ensures the fair distribution and management of resources—including financial capital.
Financial support for a narrow range of companies will create a market where people will eventually depend on a particular brand of farm, and increasingly that will mean indoor, ‘hi-tech’ vertical farms.
The global indoor farming market size was worth US$100 billion in 2018. By 2030, innovation in food and agriculture could be worth $700 billion. Hi-tech farms designed to grow a single crop will guzzle energy for air-conditioning, use up land, and give up on the land’s ability to be restored. Even with the new jobs high-tech farming will create, workers will have no real power to disengage from a system that narrows the planet’s genetic seed stocks, land, and knowledge resources.
In Asia, where so much of the future of food is at stake, we need to have public conversations about agritech to get greater clarity and transparency about the impact of new farming models on people and the planet, and how to create socially responsible products.
Companies can either increase social inequality and environmental degradation or join a global community working to increase our shared human access to land, knowledge, food resources, and peace. Agritech firms play an important role in shaping where investors put their money, and if 2020 makes anything clear, it is that neither business-as-normal nor the new normal can achieve food long-term security and sustainable agriculture.
Agritech’s climate responsibilities
Businesses have always had the power to look after the needs of people—and they are under more pressure than ever to do so today.
This decade will see more transboundary environmental disasters. Agritech and its funders would be wise to consider how their investments shape greater transboundary resource renewal, including the regeneration of lands and waters.
What agritech can do
There are five things agritech and agrifinance can do to redistribute equity in the food system:
1) Invest in solutions that increase the amount of arable non-monocrop food forest and arable land that commits to using regenerative multi-cropping techniques
2) Commit to working with national or regional seedbanks to increase genetic diversity, encouraging clients and customers to use saved, native, and heirloom seed varieties in gardens and urban farms
3) Broker regional peace and trust by improving food distribution logistics and addressing bottlenecks in the food supply chain. More food production is nothing if we do not address this.
4) Ensure food is grown with the principles of nutrition, diversity and equity in mind, by bringing the food insecure into the conversation, ensuing profits are redistributed among local communities to develop relationships in neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools.
5) Begin real dialogues with food sovereignty organizations and networks.
Seeds produced for vertical farms are highly profitable for the companies that produce them. But it is not in these companies’ business interests to replenish the arable land and water resources that we need to live on this planet.
We need to invest in practices that renew agricultural knowledge across our generations, reforest degraded and degrading lands, and redistribute resources that have been taken from elsewhere.
And we need to invest in technologies that support seed banks, enable innovation in the use of available low-carbon resources, and help people make the right choices about what to plant locally.
Now is the time to create the pathways that will afford us better solutions for the planet, not profit—and these solutions need to bear fruit within our lifetimes. Let’s invest appropriately.
Huiying Ng is partnerships and research lead at the Soil Regeneration Project.
The sidebar was written by Edmil Chue and Amanda Foo from Project Rewild.
FOOD & AGRICULTURE
Vertical farms ‘underserved’ when it comes to new seed varieties
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Lead photo: A vertical farm. Are investments in seeds for vertical farms being concentrated among fewer, large corporations? Image: SkygreensThanks for reading to the end of this story!
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Is The Future of Farming Indoors?
The global population is predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, and to feed everyone, it’s estimated that global food production will need to increase by up to 70% in the next 30 years
July 14, 2020
Brian Kateman Contributor
I write about sustainable and ethical technology and consumer trends.
The global population is predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and to feed everyone, it’s estimated that global food production will need to increase by up to 70% in the next 30 years.
There are many challenges to overcome before fears of a worldwide food shortage can be allayed, including rising temperatures and more frequent droughts caused by global warming. These obstacles are making traditional farming methods increasingly inefficient and unpredictable.
Traditional farming has also been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the FAO, border closures, quarantines and disruptions to supply chains are limiting some people's access to food, especially in countries hit hard by the virus or already affected by high levels of food insecurity.
There’s an emerging consensus that the agriculture industry needs to adapt to use less water and chemicals, make crops less vulnerable to changes in the climate, and produce more reliable yields. Part of the answer may lie in the emerging start-ups growing produce in indoor environments, where growing conditions can be better managed.
The indoor farming technology market was valued at $23.75 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $40.25 billion by 2022. Yields are typically much higher than traditional farming methods. Crops from indoor farming are grown in three dimensions, rather than two – and can be grown all year round, independent of external weather conditions.
Square Roots next-generation farmers growing basil. CRAIG VANDER LENDE
One of Square Roots’ indoor farms, for example, produces the same amount of food as a two- or three-acre farm annually, just from 340 square feet. This yield is achieved by growing plants at 90 degrees, and by using artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure the environment is optimal for each specific plant, including the day and night temperatures and amount of CO2 needed.
“Our indoor farms are living biosystems, constantly adapting to maintain optimal climates for growing specific crops. We’re then able to understand how changes in the climate can impact yield taste and texture,” says Tobias Peggs, Square Roots’ chief executive.
Not only could indoor farming help adapt to a warming planet, but it has the potential to help slow down climate change by being more sustainable – using less water and producing fewer emissions. While estimates vary widely, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture accounted for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2018; it is also highly dependent on, and a pollutant of, water.
Square Roots’ pop-up farms are built in shipping containers in cities, often in parking lots. They serve local communities, which means reduced emissions compared to traditional agriculture, which often involves transporting food much further. For example, it has 10 farms in Brooklyn that serve 100 retail stores all within five miles of the farm.
At the Plenty headquarters in South San Francisco, leafy greens use up one percent of the land and five percent of the water compared to traditional outdoor farms, says Matt Barnard, the start-up’s Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder.
AeroFarms’ indoor farm in New Jersey grows greens including baby kale, baby arugula, and baby watercress using 95% less water than conventional agriculture on just one percent of the land required. The crops grow under LED light with no pesticides and a fraction of the fertilizer used on traditional farms.
AeroFarms environmentally-controlled indoor farms can grow all year round independent of climate and ... [+] AEROFARMS
Marketing director Alina Zolotareva says being able to produce have ready-to-eat produce that doesn’t require rinsing helps to reduce water usage.
“This is a transformational innovation for agriculture at large,” she says, “as access to fresh water for growing food is one of the most pressing challenges of our time.”
As well as fewer miles and less water, indoor farming doesn’t require pesticides. This is better for the environment and human health as it eliminates the risk of water contamination due to run-off, and is in line with increasing consumer demand for non-GMO produce.
Plenty eliminates the need for pesticides with LED lights, which are synced with the crop’s growth, Barnard says, to provide the ideal spectrums and exposure and minimize energy usage.
“Our sensor system ensures each plant gets exactly the amount of purified water it needs, and any excess water is recycled through a closed-loop irrigation system resulting in greatly reduced water consumption and zero waste,” he says.
Nanobubbles super-saturates the water with oxygen, making the plant roots healthier. This promotes ... [+]
MOLEAER
Other farms are using nanobubble technology, such as Moleaer, which has allowed more than 100 indoor farms to connect their irrigation systems to generators that provide oxygen via sub-micron gas-containing cavities to the plant’s roots to provide chemical-free water. These nanobubbles result in healthier roots, more resilient plants, and increasing crop yields, says Nick Dyner, CEO of Moleaer.
“Our oxygen transfer efficiency provides the most cost-effective solution to elevate oxygen levels in the water, which in turn promotes beneficial bacteria and root development,” he says.
The company is also working on a new NASA-approved space farming research project, exploring how astronauts on the International Space Station can grow their own food in microgravity using nanobubble technology.
There are concerns that it’s an expensive investment, but Dyner says Moleaer has various systems so it’s accessible to all sizes of indoor farms, high- and low-tech. Some products do, however, require growers to connect an external source of oxygen, which must come from a gas supply company or an onsite oxygen generator, which Moleaer provides.
“In many cases, traditional farmers may have more to gain by using our technology, since the capital investment is significantly less than the most advanced growing technologies available today, which are often out of a typical farmer’s budget,” Dyner says.
“Nanobubble technology is a cost-effective, chemical-free, and scalable solution that allows growers to increase crop yields and shorten cultivation time - which will be much needed to feed our growing population in the future.”
Peggs says Square Roots is also focused on ensuring its technology makes farming an accessible career path for young people who live in urban areas.
“If you’re a new young farmer at Square Roots, our app will guide you through what to do; what’s growing, what state is in it, what do we need to do today based on where things are in the growth cycle. Through our app and our training program we’re able to bring new people into our team, even folks with zero horticulture experience, and get them ready to go in about six weeks.”
Indoor farming is putting the youth back in agriculture. PLENTY
But despite being an emerging option for youth in the city, Barnard predicts most will remain traditional farmers.
“The world still needs the field and will need the field forever. We support the field by growing in addition to the field. Over time, [indoor] farming systems will become more accessible and affordable. Both field and indoor farming will be necessary to support global food demand.”
Viraj Puri, Co-Founder, and CEO of Gotham Greens, a pioneer in urban indoor agriculture that operates over 500,000 square feet greenhouses in 5 U.S. states, echoes this sentiment: “Growing produce indoors certainly has an increasing role to play in the future of sustainable food production. While indoor farming may not represent the future of all fresh produce production, for certain types of crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens, and herbs, it will become more prevalent. Customers are increasingly recognizing the reliability, consistency, and high quality of greenhouse-grown produce that’s grown in close proximity to large population centers using fewer natural resources. Other agricultural commodities like grains or fruits or root vegetables, however, can’t yet be produced.”
However, Dyner predicts that, eventually, the majority of agriculture will move to indoors, in vertical farms— the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers—in urban areas.
“These settings enable traditional farming to shift to controlled growing conditions, using new technology and automation, and reducing the risk of exposure to harsh climate conditions,” he says.
Plenty's goal is to build vertical farms in urban hubs and distribute each farm’s harvest locally ... [+]
PLENTY
Start-ups like Square Roots, Plenty, and AeroFarms currently practice vertical farming, which is a form of indoor farming that relies on artificial lighting such as LEDs instead of drawing on natural sunlight.
Other indoor farming companies like Gotham Greens grow produce in high-tech glass-clad greenhouses that primarily rely on natural sunlight for plant photosynthesis. According to Puri: “vertical farming is a more nascent technology within the indoor farming sector and the costs of running a vertical farm with artificial lighting and air conditioning is currently not as cost-effective as relying on natural sunlight in greenhouses.”
Gotham Greens takes a different approach, relying on natural sunlight rather than the artificial ... [+]
GOTHAM GREENS AND JULIE MCMAHON
“Greenhouse indoor farming technology has been in operation globally for 20 to 30 years and is proven to be commercially viable. That being said, the costs around artificial lighting and other vertical farming technologies have been coming down significantly in the past few years,” he adds.
Nonetheless, indoor farm technology start-ups, broadly speaking, don’t see themselves as disruptive, but as being on the same side of traditional farms, for the wider cause.
“The common enemy is the industrial food system, shipping food from one part of the world to the other, rather than locally produced food,” Peggs says.
Indoor farms don’t work in competition with each other, either; they work collaboratively by forming a network that shares data. For example, AeroFarms is collecting data on a research project with the non-profit Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research to understand the sensory and nutritional characteristics of leafy greens for the benefit of the entire agriculture industry.
However traditional and AI-based indoor farming work together in the future, there’s little doubt that indoor farming is helping to meet the needs of a growing global population and support traditional farming, which is both at the mercy of and exacerbating a warming planet. Only one method will find itself in space – but there’s space for them both.
I am co-founder and president of the Reducetarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing consumption of animal products.
Lead Photo: The world’s current agricultural practices are unsustainable, and indoor farming may offer solutions ... [+] PLENTY