Cultivating vertical farming’s full potential – Jamie Burrows, founder, Vertical Future

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UKTN

Technology, Entrepreneur, Tech, Business, Hr, Sales, Uktech, Investing, Funding, Entrepreneurship, Marketing

5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jamie Burrows, founder and CEO of Vertical Future, discusses the many ways vertical farming can be used to address agricultural and environmental challenges, why space presents an exciting opportunity for farming and why VC funding isn't for everyone.

Burrows founded Vertical Future in 2016. The company develops the technology to build automated vertical farms wherein robots tend to the needs of stacked crops in enclosed spaces. It has deployed eight farms across the UK and has projects in development overseas. Vertical Future has raised over £30m across grants and family office investments. The company is also working on a project to grow medicinal and material ingredients in orbit, with plans down the line to explore vertical farming on the Moon and Mars.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think with all the different priorities going on right now,
0:09.1	farming should be up there, definitely, alongside healthcare, clearly.
0:16.6	It doesn't matter how much tech you have,
0:19.4	if you have drones flying over a field or whatever.
0:21.6	If the temperature is 40, 45 degrees outside, then you're not going to be able to grow many crops.
0:31.6	We don't have any VC backing. We have found it difficult talking to VCs for some of the reasons
0:39.5	that I've outlined, i.e. unreasonable return expectations.
0:50.8	From the first time founders to the funds that back them, innovation needs different.
0:56.5	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and
1:02.3	life science businesses, creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity
1:07.5	for entrepreneurs and investors alike. Discover more at www.h.hsbc Innovationbanking.com
1:15.2	slash EN-GB.
1:21.6	Hello and welcome to the UKTM podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and shakers of the UK tech industry
1:28.6	and the destination for all things UK tech related. I'm your host, Jane Wakefield. And joining me
1:35.1	this week is Jamie Burroughs, the founder and CEO of Vertical Future, a firm that designs and
1:41.1	deploys autonomous vertical farms across the world.
1:45.0	Welcome, Jamie.
1:45.9	Thanks very much.
1:46.9	I'm happy to do this podcast.
1:49.0	So let's start off.
1:51.7	I've written quite a bit about vertical farms,
1:53.4	so I've seen the pictures of them.
	...

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