Hydroponics company Phytoponics has just completed a £500,000 equity financing round. The company specialises in the design, development and supply of Deep Water Culture systems for large scale sustainable hydroponic crop production.
In Deep Water Culture (DWC) plants are located in the growing module and the roots of the plant are suspended in the water which has the crop specific nutrient recipe and the correct amount of dissolved oxygen.
In the Phytoponics system, the growing modules are kept oxygenated by built in aerators and serviced by a computerised nutrient control system. This maintains the nutrient and pH at optimum levels whilst also irrigating the rootzone of the plants.
Phytoponics has a number of controlled-environment glasshouses equipped with various configurations of its DWC hydroponics growing different varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, snack peppers and strawberries in additional to other experimental crops such as nutrient intensive vine crops, soft / exotic fruits and high value crops such as medical grade cannabis.
The company is also working closely with Edward Baarda Limited, a major produce grower and the first commercial grower in the UK to deploy Phytoponics technology at scale growing tomatoes hydroponically without a rockwool substrate.
Phytoponics Co-Founder Adam Dixon is thrilled to have secured the funding which provides the necessary operating cash to scale up trials of its technology whilst enabling it to innovate further. He says: “I’m excited for the future as we move a step closer to achieving our mission to deliver the sustainable benefits of hydroponic agriculture at scale through the global deployment of our substrate-less Deep Water Culture growing solutions”.
Established in October 2016, Phytoponics is headquartered in Abersytwyth and currently has a technical R&D facility in Yorkshire at Stockbridge Technology Centre, the renowned horticultural research and agriculture innovation hub.
The £500,000 investment comes from a number of existing shareholders with match funding provided by the Development Bank of Wales as the company’s first institutional investor. Investment Executive David Blake, comments: “We are delighted to support the scaling up and commercialisation of the technology. The potential reach for this exciting new solution is global with UK wide and international opportunities already evident and we wish the team every success.”
Mark Hindmarsh, Phytoponics Chairman, added: “I’ve backed many start-ups over the years and have seen very few that have got to the point Phytoponics has with so little resource, in comparison to some of their sector peers.
“Not only have we enhanced and broadened our technology offering since the early experimental trials with the support of Aberystwyth University, but we’ve successfully proven that it works across a number of crop types.
“To close any level of funding in these uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic is no mean feat and I therefore would like to personally thank our new investors and existing shareholders for their continued support and belief in the future potential of the business.”
The Phytoponics investment process was managed internally and supported by the company’s legal representative, Acuity Law and Blake Morgan on behalf of the Development Bank of Wales.
Information on Phytoponics can be found at phytoponics.com