20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (2024)

Urban farming startups and scaleups enable innovative practices that are reshaping food production in cities. One notable advancement is vertical farming, which cultivates crops in vertically stacked layers within urban structures. On the other hand, hydroponics and aeroponics systems utilize nutrient-rich water and mist, respectively, to nourish plants without soil. This enables round-the-year cultivation and optimizes land usage. Urban farmers are also leveraging aquaponics, an integration of fish farming and hydroponics, to create a mutually beneficial relationship between plants and fish.

This symbiotic system promotes efficient resource utilization and enhances sustainability. Further, IoT sensors and automated systems monitor and optimize the growing conditions of such systems to maximize yields. These advances address food security and scarcity and also reduce transportation costs and carbon footprint. As a result, novel urban farming solutions make cities more self-sufficient and resilient in the face of future challenges. Let’s check out the 20 innovative urban farming startups advancing these technologies in 2024 and beyond!

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024

  • vGreens – Automated Vertical Farms
  • DeepBlue Greens – High Voltage Crop Growing Systems
  • Myriad – Wall-mounted Indoor Farming
  • HRVSTS – Indoor Farm as a Service (iFaaS)
  • GroHo Garden – Aeroponic Vertical Garden
  • Novafarm – Modular Hydroponic Farms
  • HarvestX – Plant Factory Robots
  • Agrisiti – Smart Agri-Pyramid System (SAP-Sys)
  • ingarden – Microgreens Growing Kit
  • Aejou – Plug & Play Microfarms
  • Greenhub – Real-time Farm Monitoring
  • FARM.NOW – Rooftop Farms
  • Spacefarm – Autonomous Vertical Farms
  • Agriplay Ventures – Smart Farming
  • Virtual Farm – Mobile Hydroponic Farming System
  • Leafood – Soilless Farming
  • Raiz Vertical Farms – Hybrid Farms
  • VIF SYSTEMS – Vertical Farming Equipment
  • OUR GREENERY – Indoor Gardening Solutions
  • Amplefresh – Automated Vertical Farming System

Global Startup Heat Map highlights 10 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2023

Through the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 3 790 000+ startups & scaleups globally, we identified 345 urban farming startups. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the 20 urban farming startups you should watch in 2024 as well as the geo-distribution of all urban farming startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research.

Based on the heat map, we see high startup activity in the USA and India, followed by Western Europe. These urban farming startups work on solutions ranging from vertical farms and aquaponics to real-time farm monitoring and automated farming systems.

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As the world’s largest resource for data on emerging companies, the SaaS platform enables you to identify relevant technologies and industry trends quickly & exhaustively. Based on the data from the platform, the Top 5 Urban Farming Startup Hubs are in Singapore, Bangalore, London, New York City & San Fransisco. The 20 hand-picked startups highlighted in this report are chosen from all over the world and develop solutions for food security, sustainable farming, hyperlocal food production, and more.

Meet 20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch (2024)

vGreens offers Automated Vertical Farms

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (2)

German startup vGreens develops fully automated vertical farms for strawberry production. The startup uses advanced farm-management software that autonomously controls environmental factors. This ensures strawberries grow under optimal conditions. The system features movable racks, an integrated scanning robot for health monitoring, and a harvesting robot for picking ripe strawberries.

Further, a hydroponic nutrient system delivers nutrients directly to the roots, promoting growth. The farm’s energy management integrates intelligently, adapting to fluctuations in the external energy market. These farms provide a sustainable solution for high-quality, year-round strawberry production near urban centers.

DeepBlue Greens develops High Voltage Crop Growing Systems

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (3)

Canadian startup DeepBlue Greens develops indoor farming systems that significantly enhance crop yields. The Voltaponic Garden, a versatile indoor vertical farm solution, and the VoltaGrow Tower, a hydroponic grow tower, are part of these systems.

The VoltaRoot Charger provides an electrostatic nutrient mist for healthier roots and better yields. The VoltaDrip Plasma, designed for greenhouses, produces plasma-activated irrigation water, enhancing crop productivity. These systems serve indoor, greenhouse, rooftop, urban, and vertical farmers, integrating seamlessly into existing farming setups.

Myriad supports Wall Mounted Indoor Farming

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (4)

Myriad, a German startup, creates an indoor gardening system that automates plant care for the efficient cultivation of vegetables and herbs. The system integrates ecological seeds, requires monthly water refills, and has a self-sufficient nutrient and water supply mechanism. It supports the growth of over 60 plant varieties. The garden design features a user-friendly interface, energy-efficient LED lighting, and a sustainable water usage approach. Myriad’s technology prioritizes convenience, sustainability, and accessibility, catering to urban indoor gardening needs.

HRVSTS provides Indoor Farm As A Service (iFaaS)

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (5)

USA-based startup HRVSTS creates a platform for pre-purchasing produce from indoor vertical farms. Buyers submit fresh food orders via the site, specifying variety, quantity, delivery location, and date. The startup oversees the custom crop order from seed to harvest and delivers fresh produce within 24 hours of harvesting.

The platform offers produce grown to order, with no minimums or seasonal price spikes. It ensures year-round availability, extended shelf life, and superior quality produce. HRVSTS addresses the food service industry’s need for fresh, year-round produce of superior quality and variety.

GroHo Garden offers Aeroponic Vertical Garden

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (6)

Portuguese startup GroHo Garden provides an aeroponic vertical garden system for efficient home cultivation of herbs, fruits, and vegetables. The system requires a square meter of space and roughly ten minutes of weekly upkeep. It accommodates up to 32 plants at once, with over 150 plant types possible. The product features an automated timer, a water pump, and nutrient supplies for user convenience. GroHo Garden, designed for accessibility, serves gardening enthusiasts of all experience levels.

Novafarm provides Modular Hydroponic Farms

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (7)

Italian startup NovaFarm offers vertical indoor farming solutions with products like Microfarm, Minifarm, and Multifarm. Microfarm, a compact, modular farm, fits any home and is easy to assemble. Minifarm serves as a smart garden for homes, suitable for kitchens and living rooms.

Further, Multifarm caters to the large-scale needs of restaurants, bars, and hotels. These systems promote sustainable, efficient urban agriculture in compact spaces. They cater to various needs, from small home setups to larger commercial spaces. Schools, workplaces, and communities leverage these solutions, fostering a greener lifestyle and urban farming education.

HarvestX develops Plant Factory Robots

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (8)

Japanese startup HarvestX focuses on automating strawberry production in plant factories. The startup’s solutions include plant management, pollination, and harvesting, facilitated by advanced robotics and data technologies. A key product, the XV3 robot, serves plant factories, automating processes and enhancing production stability. Designed for high precision in pollination and data collection, it improves yield and reduces costs.

HarvestX aims for sustainable agriculture, utilizing robotics and AI to address challenges in sterile and stable strawberry production. The startup also prioritizes creating a hygienic factory environment and reducing labor risks. Its technology offers significant advancements in agricultural automation.

Agrisiti builds Smart Agri-Pyramid System (SAP-Sys)

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (9)

Nigerian startup Agrisiti specializes in urban agriculture technology. It offers a Smart Agri-Pyramid System (SAP-Sys) that enables efficient farming in confined spaces. This system integrates poultry, aquaculture, and hydroponics within a single, circular, space-saving setup. It operates with minimal water and soil, making it an eco-friendly solution.

Solar-powered pumps and oxygenators form an integral part of SAP-Sys. It also leverages an additional detachable hardware device for environmental monitoring and data analysis, further enhancing its functionality. Moreover, the startup also offers standalone hydroponics and aquaponics systems.

ingarden provides Microgreens Growing Kit

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (10)

ingarden, a USA-based startup, provides an indoor garden system that simplifies the process of growing microgreens. The system’s operation involves three easy steps: seed pad placement, water addition, and timer setting for ideal light cycles. The startup’s design ensures fresh microgreens sprout within a week. The system prioritizes user convenience, featuring a brightness adjuster and requiring minimal upkeep. These attributes make ingarden’s solution suitable for urban gardening enthusiasts.

Aejou designs Plug & Play Microfarms

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (11)

Singaporean startup Aejou manufactures GrowFridge, an IoT-enabled micro-farm for indoor cultivation of microgreens, leafy greens, and herbs. This compact system is designed for seamless integration into homes and operates with minimal effort. The startup’s system ensures efficient growth by automating light intensity and watering cycles tailored to the seed type. The GrowFridge operates with a power outlet and internet connection, controlled via an app. Aejou provides a straightforward method for the indoor cultivation of fresh greens.

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Greenhub enables Real-time Farm Monitoring

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (12)

German startup Greenhub develops data mining technology to enable real-time monitoring and management of the indoor cultivation process. The startup controls multiple growth parameters through a farm management application to make data-based decisions. It helps farmers to set lighting, irrigation, nutrient dosing, and proper ventilation to ensure efficient operations. Also, the application maintains desired electrical conductivity (EC) and pH values. Further, Greenhub provides cultivation strategies and crop management.

FARM.NOW provides Rooftop Farms

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (13)FARM.NOW is an Austrian startup that makes rooftop farms for urban agriculture. The startup uses plug-and-play architecture, automatic irrigation, air conditioning, and lighting to create autonomous micro-farms. This ensures ecological, social, and economic gain by providing environmental protection and CO2 balance, improving urban climate. FARM.NOW caters to real estate companies to convert open spaces into smart farming infrastructure.

Spacefarm makes Autonomous Vertical Farms

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (14)UAE-based startup Spacefarm offers autonomous hydroponics and aeroponics vertical farms. It provides end-to-end industrial and commercial farming solutions and semi-automatic and automatic home farm units. The startup’s smart farm management system (FMS) is an AI-driven platform for cropping and machine control of vertical farms. This enables farmers to achieve the maximum effect of nutrients by monitoring and managing the humidity, acidity, and co2 levels.

Agriplay Ventures advances Smart Farming

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (15)Canadian startup Agriplay Ventures uses AI and passive machine learning to analyze farm data and streamline operations. The startup’s Agriplay System, a plug-and-play system for commercial spaces, eliminates the need for purpose-built farming spaces. This way, it converts underutilized commercial infrastructure into smart indoor farms and sustainable green buildings. Moreover, Agriplay Ventures increases food security by growing diverse products and helping communities achieve net zero.

Virtual Farm offers a Mobile Hydroponic Farming System

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (16)Virtual Farm is an Indian startup that creates eco-friendly and mobile hydroponic farming systems to overcome space challenges in urban communities. The startup utilizes artificial intelligence and IoT to make a plug-and-play system for urban farming. It also develops an application that connects growers and buyers in real-time to provide faster sales and deliveries of the harvests. Through these solutions, Virtual Farm allows growers to achieve yields faster and buyers to trade quickly.

Leafood enables Soilless Farming

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (17)Leafood is a Lithuanian startup that produces sustainable leafy greens with vertical farming techniques. It combines hydroponics and geoponics systems to grow plants and vegetables indoors by increasing the growing areas vertically. As a result, the startup shortens the supply chain while enhancing indoor and outdoor space optimization, providing an all-year-round production. Leafood helps protect soil and ensures carbon-neutral operations to minimize the negative footprint on the environment.

Raiz Vertical Farms provides Hybrid Farms

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (18)Raiz Vertical Farms is a Portuguese startup that uses hybrid technologies to transform underused urban spaces into vertical farms. Its solution combines natural, LED lights and solar energy to build distributed farm networks in city centers. This ensures a controlled agriculture environment to provide consistent and quality yields. Raiz Vertical Farms thus enables hyperlocal plantation owners to leverage unused urban spaces while reducing water usage and carbon emissions.

VIF SYSTEMS designs Vertical Farming Equipment

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (19)French startup VIF SYSTEMS designs and installs vertical farming equipment to grow plants through hydroponics setup in a controlled environment. It offers The VIFBox, a compact farming wardrobe for indoor settings that enables a reserve of vegetated plants. The wardrobe also features a fully recyclable cultivation process and allows agricultural trade in local territories. Further, the startup provides cabinets with plants, containers for production, and farms of cabinets and containers for a larger farming setup. VIF SYSTEMS thus caters to office spaces and professional kitchens to deliver fresh produces.

OUR GREENERY delivers Indoor Gardening Solutions

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (20)German startup OUR GREENERY provides spatial and table gardening solutions. It uses plug-and-play smart irrigation and lighting to enable a standalone harvest system inside rooms, kitchens, and restaurants. Additionally, the startup develops a mobile application to control the light, temperature, and humidity. OUR GREENERY also provides a table garden kit to grow microgreens for home growers and restaurants.

Amplefresh builds an Automated Vertical Farming System

20 Urban Farming Startups to Watch in 2024 | StartUs Insights (21)Amplefresh is a Singaporean startup that provides technology-enabled urban farming solutions. Its solution, SUFFICIT, is an automated vertical farming solution that uses existing walls of buildings to grow plants and vegetables. The startup leverages its AMPLEAFI technology to grow autonomously grow vegetables with integrated sensors and remote monitoring. Water functions as pest-repellent nets while motors and modular design provide a low-maintenance and scalable system for building owners and managers. Moreover, SUFFICIT reduces building energy consumption through evapotranspiration.

Discover All Emerging AgriTech Startups

The AgriTech startups showcased in this report are only a small sample of all startups we identified through our data-driven startup scouting approach. Download our free AgriTech Innovation Report for a broad overview of the industry or get in touch for quick & exhaustive research on the latest technologies & emerging solutions that will impact your company in 2024!

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