Canopii looks to succeed where past indoor farms have not
Canopii builds autonomous robotic greenhouses aiming to shrink produce supply chains and succeed where previous indoor farming ventures failed.Summary
David Ashton founded Canopii, a Portland, Oregon-based agtech company, inspired by the water-intensive lettuce farms he saw in drought-stricken California. Canopii develops robotic greenhouses that can autonomously manage the entire crop cycle, from seeding to harvest, requiring minimal water and space equivalent to a basketball court to produce up to 40,000 pounds of herbs and specialty greens annually. Ashton intentionally pursued a slow development path, relying heavily on National Science Foundation grants ($3.3 million total) rather than immediate venture capital, which he believes differentiates them from failed indoor farming predecessors like Bowery Farming and Plenty. Having achieved the milestone of a fully autonomous farm, Canopii is now planning its first commercial farm in Portland, with future intentions to franchise the resource-efficient, house-power-operable units.
(Source：TechCrunch)