Innovate UK Funding For Energy Efficient Aeroponic Farming Systems

This content is hosted by Agri-TechE as part of its service to its members. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individual/organisation that supplied the content and not those of Agri-TechE or its employees. This content is hosted by Agri-TechE as part of its service to its members. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individual/organisation that supplied the content and not those of Agri-TechE or its employees. Aponic International has secured Innovate UK funding to commercialise its super efficient aeroponic farming system developed with help from the Eastern Agri-TechE Growth Fund. The vertical farming market has been slowed by high capital outlay and high energy costs. Aponic International has developed a design that dramatically cuts manufacturing and energy costs. Drawing on 9 years of commercial experience in the vertical farming market they have designed a new system that can be run from just two solar panels and a pair of deep cycle batteries. “We originally developed the system so that our farms could be run off grid, anywhere in the world and in the age of net zero, this thinking is paying dividends.”

We have a turnkey system that converts unused barn space and commercial units into controlled environment farms that grow abundant produce 365 days a year and creating full time jobs rather than seasonal labour. Taking the experience gained over a decade of developing this technology, we know that with our new design, we can improve the power usage, workflow and scalability of aeroponic growing by redesigning the aeroponic food factory system to be more labour and energy efficient and more easily rolled out at large commercial scale. The new design has all of the advantages that our previous designs excelled with, and still benefits from the energy and space efficient vertical tower design, but it comes in a package that creates great ROI for large commercial food production operations.

We obtained funding to develop the new design prototypes and run trials over lockdown. These proved successful and we are now attracting investors to create commercial scale production facilities and equipment. CEO Jason Hawkins-Row said “The Aponic International Food Factories are perfectly placed to plug the gaps in todays food production market by enabling ultra-local food production 365 days a year using 95% less water, renewable energy and 60% less nutrient to produce above organic quality, fresh produce in urban and rural farms.”

The Innovate UK funding will be used to create the tooling and processes to manufacture this new design which will be available in the New Year. Details will be released on our web site www.aponic.co.uk.

In a net zero environment, we need to continually move towards clean, efficient ways to meet the demands for high quality, nutritious food. Sustainable food only works if there is a sustainable business model and that is why we have made every effort to get an efficient product at the right price to the right people.