Crop One and Sino-Science North America Photobiotech (SNAP) have formed a strategic partnership to jointly develop future vertical farm projects. SNAP is the owner of Sananbio.
For future projects developed jointly, Crop One will lead project development and plant operations, contributing its plant science and controls technology, and SNAP will provide LED lighting and its proprietary modular growing systems and next-generation, fully automated vertical farm system, UPLIFT (Unmanned Platform of Lean & Intelligent Farming Technology). Crop One will license its plant science and controls technology to projects and both parties will contribute technology, equipment, know-how and financing.
Sonia Lo, Crop One’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are thrilled to collaborate with SNAP in developing our combined pipeline of vertical farming projects. This partnership is a validation of our company and strategy, and significantly expands both Crop One and SNAP’s breadth and reach in the vertical farming sector while leveraging our respective strengths. We are long time, happy users of SNAP’s LED lights and believe its growing suite of best-in-breed hardware solutions is the perfect complement to our software, controls and plant science technology. Importantly, we share the same approach to pursuing an asset-light model to building vertical farms that is focused on scale, cost and energy efficiency.
“Successful vertical farms require a broad array of expertise and capabilities to operate efficiently and effectively, and we expect strategic partnerships between market participants with best-in-class complementary resources will become an increasingly important way for the leaders in the space to accelerate growth. Most vertical farm assets are owned by infrastructure investors, and technology companies such as Crop One and SNAP are enabling those owners to achieve the best return on their assets without the burden of technology development and management.”
Michael Yates, Sananbio U.S.’s Vice President of Technology Sales, added, “On a combined basis, we believe Crop One and SNAP’s pipeline in vertical farms is the largest in North America, with the potential to serve a full range from large wholesale to specialty retail customers across the continent with mega-farms capable of producing three or more tons of crops per day. As a proven leader in the vertical farming sector, Crop One is the ideal partner for us. They have a demonstrated track record of success in operating vertical farms at scale. The company’s partnership with Emirates Flight Catering to build the world’s largest vertical farm underscores the success of Crop One’s model and plant science technology, which address the most critical issue in vertical farming – optimizing plant growth with higher yields, at lower costs.
“Our LED products and growing systems are backed by many years of research in plant physiology and semiconductors and supported by a team of professionals with deep expertise in manufacturing, quality control, and sales and marketing. In combination, Crop One and SNAP will be able to provide a complete suite of solutions, from growing systems and technologies to crop development and production, which we believe is a significant competitive advantage. We are very excited about this strategic partnership with Crop One and look forward to starting our first project soon.”
Crop One
Sananbio