Bright Agrotech was founded in 2011 by Nate Storey while he was still in school. He spent all of his life's savings on his initial inventory, and started to operate from a friend's garage. In 2013 he graduated with a PhD in Agronomy, and soon the company expanded and scaled up due to the invention of their breakthrough aquaponic ZipGrow system.
Within the last 2.5 years his company grew into an organization that employs almost 30 full timers. Their ZipGrow system is shipped all over the world and can be seen as one of the easiest ways to start growing vegetables on vertical hydroponics. Tons of ZipGrow tower systems are installed in greenhouses, next to buildings and in indoor warehouses where urban farmers are growing with the help of supplemental lighting. Their most remarkable project so far: the installation of a huge green ZipGrow wall on the outside of the USA pavilion at the World Fair Expo Milano last year.
Bright Agrotech's Nate Storey at the Indoor Ag-Con in Las Vegas last month
Investment
The ZipGrow finds great popularity among youngsters who are completely new in growing aqua or hydroponics. The typical upstart farmers are in most cases people who are getting into a second or third career and who are excited about local foods. "They want to get into it because they are somewhat idealistic and excited about local food and want to do something that is meaningful and has an effect on the people around them. They want to do something that is simple and honest, and there are very few things that are as honest as farming!"According to Storey, most of the people who start up a farm usually take off with an investment of between 40 and 80 thousand dollars of equipment. "We do sell our systems piece by piece, but we also do the financial study for our customers to find out a minimal viable size to start producing, because we want to make sure that they can make a living from it."
Community focus education
But what to do with a tractor if you do not know how to drive it? Well, in order to support the growing amount of urban farmers who take their first steps in agriculture, Storey founded the Upstart Farmers community; a social network for brand new farmers that have a crisis of confidence and competence. "We help people who want to get into the local food movement with urban farming, but who do not know how to start. The Upstart Farmers community is a network of peers where people can share information, talk with each other and feel a connection. This is an important part of getting started, it gives them confidence. As a counterpart to that we also have created Upstart University; this is an online platform that addresses competence; it's an educational site to teach people from the books, understanding the law of becoming a small farmer and sell to your local market. We also address all the techniques, plant physics. It covers everything from growing to marketing, from simple to complicated problems.Upstart University has six people available all day to support upstart farmers with support over the phone. "Our farmers need that level of support, the personal part is an important part of getting people started."
The Upstart Farmers and University has become a focus for Bright Agrotech; a lot of return on investment comes from education, support and help. "Most of our customers are brand new farmers, we get them up to the speed where they feel comfortable to launch their own farm. That is why we have so much support staff compared to anything else."
10 dollars per month
The people of Upstart University have many educational courses and videos available; almost everyday they upload new content on their website and several social media channels. It's evergreen material that people can constantly consume. But how do they finance all of this? "We only ask 10 dollars, in order to attract people that ingeniously want to be there in character and we do not end up with people who waste our time. It's our way to free the knowledge up to people, almost free of charge. The rest of the financing for the Upstart University and the community comes from the revenue we make on the ZipGrow systems and other auxiliary hardware that we sell. However, it's not necessary for our students to use a ZipGrow system."Have a look at one of the many video's that Storey and his team has made in order to make simple and basic knowledge on growing available online:
Here to stay
Storey truly believes that the popularity of urban farming and the reason for Upstart Farmers' success is the result of the fact that people are caring more about their health and sustainability. "It's becoming a cultural thing, the same way that certified organics became a cultural thing twenty years ago. It's here to stay."
For more information:Bright Agrotech
Nate Storey
nate@brightagrotech.com
www.brightagrotech.com
www.upstartfarmers.com
https://university.upstartfarmers.com/