Industry Leaders September 2019

crops in the near future.

“This partnership means we will grow delicious, local, real food at huge scale,” Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Square Roots, said in the release. “We’re so happy to be working with a mission-aligned partner in Gordon Food Service — leveraging technology to bring real food to a huge number of people across the country, while delivering real social impact by empowering thousands of young people to become our country’s future farmers.”

The global vertical farming market is expected to peak $9.96 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing automation in agriculture and increasing use of big data is likely to drive the market. Despite the high costs and limited yield range, the potential is not lost on investors. After all, vertical farming ensures the stability in the yield production and maintaining reliability even in adverse climate conditions. Besides, it promises multiple benefits over traditional outdoor farming, such as less use of water, low dependence on agricultural labors, and lesser need of agrochemicals.

Square Roots is not the only major US player in the sector.

Recently, AeroFarms, a producer of leafy greens, raised $100 million from Ingka Group, Ikea’s parent company. Another player, Bower Farming, raised $95 million in a funding round backed by Google Ventures and Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.

The future is here, and it’s green.

PHOTOS: SQUARE ROOTS Industry Leaders Magazine - September‘19 | 051