Bright Agrotech, the company behind the ZipGrow Tower™, announced the launch of their turnkey product for indoor growers. The ZipFarm is a turnkey, modular system designed to make vertical growing both possible and profitable, without a large initial investment.
The company gained widespread recognition for the USA Pavilion at the 2015 World’s Fair, where ZipGrow technology was used to create the world’s largest food-producing living wall.
Urban farming activities have been growing in popularity, driven by strong consumer demand for fresh and local food. Many growers are looking for high efficiency solutions that can grow consistently through the winter months. Vertical growing solutions have often been touted as the answer.
Nate Storey, CEO, wanted to work on intermediate technology that does not require a huge capital investment. “Many vertical farms require sophisticated financing strategies. These are massive facilities, with 200,000 square feet of production and five tiers of rack space. When it takes millions and millions of dollars to get in, that kind of tells me you are not making it accessible to everyone.”
Storey, who earned his PhD in agronomy, says he designed the ZipFarm as a realistic alternative for small growers. “The idea that one person in a relatively small community - say a town of 30,000 or 40,000 people - can put in a ZipFarm and serve their market profitably...that’s interesting.”
The design is a mobile vertical growing rack capable of growing hundreds of pounds of plants. Additionally, Storey says he is taking a modular approach to growing food indoors. “ZipFarms fit into almost any space. You can start off small and get bigger. As we fill 50,000 square feet with these racks, its not significantly impacting our labor”.
For more information
Bright Agrotech
Elesif McDonald
(307) 288-1188