Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on innovative solutions for the agriculture sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, you will discover 5 promising hydroponics startups.
Heat Map: 5 Top Hydroponics Startups
Using our StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally, we looked at innovation in the field of AgriTech. For this research, we identified 247 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & scaleups developing hydroponics solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 247 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
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Easy Urban Garden – Industrial Hydroponics
While traditional farming involves soil, hydroponics uses water to cultivate vegetables and greens. Some benefits of hydroponic systems include healthier plants, higher yields, and elimination of pests. Hydroponic systems also have the advantage of being vertically stacked, which significantly saves space and increases the yield per square meter. Startups develop scalable hydroponic systems to fit large-scale industrial requirements.
Swedish startup Easy Urban Garden provides the Gaia Grow System, a vertical industrial vegetable farming solution. This modular solution is capable of growing 180-200 low growing plants per square meter . To grow these plants, the solution utilizes automated systems for water filtration and nutrient infusion. The Gaia Grow System uses a 60-liter tank fortified with the necessary nutrients for the plants and automatically distributes them in a closed-loop, to every grow box stacked on top.
WallFarm – Automated Hydroponics
Owing to agricultural practices such as monoculture and the resulting top-soil erosion, the arable land available for agriculture is rapidly reducing. To this end, hydroponic agriculture provides an alternative that allows the soil to regain its health. Moreover, the hydroponic systems eliminate the possibility of weed growth since they use only water for the crops to grow. Startups develop automated smart solutions that cultivate, control, and nurse crops in hydroponic systems to ensure higher yields.
Italian startup WallFarm creates automation solutions for hydroponic systems. Lean Intelligent Agriculture (LIA), the startup’s flagship solution, is a patented, scalable, and versatile management device that enables growing up to ten different lines of plants at the same time. With the help of a stream selector and the external sampling principle, the startup analyzes the nutrient dosage cycles on multiple differentiated lines. WellFarm’s smart dispensers are compatible with the spigots of the nutrient tanks and allow up to twelve for each LIA unit. Further, each dispenser is compatible with three different sizes of peristaltic pumps.
Oasis Biotech – Indoor Hydroponics
The option to grow crops indoors opens up opportunities for farmers to produce throughout the year, regardless of weather conditions. Controlling the various parameters such as humidity, irrigation routines, nutrient levels, and lighting enables farmers to grow high yield crops anytime they want. Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled sensors and automated control systems also allow farmers to monitor their crops remotely.
The US-based startup Oasis Biotech develops indoor hydroponic farming facilities. With the help of vertical agricultural technology platforms, the startup cultivates crops at a significantly faster rate compared to traditional growing methods. The startup uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and hydroponic systems to ensure crops receive optimal light spectrums and nutrient mixes. Oasis Biotech also recycles 100% of unused water and nutrients, leading to a significant reduction of their environmental impact.
HydroGreen Global Technologies – Livestock Feed
Crops for animal feed take up a considerable portion of the available arable land for comparatively low nutrition. Using hydroponics for livestock feed results in faster output and highly nutritious feed that keeps the livestock healthy. Startups and scaleups use automated hydroponic systems that cultivate livestock feed with minimal human intervention to further boost productivity.
The US-based startup HydroGreen Global Technologies manufactures fully automated hydroponic growing systems to produce nutrient-rich livestock feed. The startup automates seeding, watering, lighting, and harvesting, thus enabling farmers to cultivate 5 tons of fresh livestock feed per day. The system uses a water jet to harvest the feed that later allows farmers to mix the product with livestock ration to feed the livestock.
Ponix Systems – Consumer Hydroponics
Urban farming is fast becoming a popular concept, with people investing in terrace gardens and indoor vertical cultivation setups. It meets the needs of consumers who wish to grow high-quality and organic produce. Startups are developing hydroponics systems that fit inside households to enable consumers to grow their food. These systems also eliminate the need for pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Austrian startup Ponix Systems builds Herbert, a patented hydroponic system. It is a wall-mountable system for cultivating vegetables and herbs. Herbert is designed like a picture frame and features Malina, an energy-efficient and adaptive LED lighting system, to enable users to grow herbs and other vegetables in all weather conditions. With the help of sensors, the startup monitors the chemical parameters in the water quality and connects with other users using ‘the internet of plants.’ Also, the startup develops a comprehensive mobile application that allows users to control Herbert through their smartphone.
What About The Other 242 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview, provide actionable innovation intelligence, and enable you to achieve your goals faster. The 5 hydroponics startups showcased above are promising examples out of 247 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
