Ep 36: Talking Vertical Farming with InvertiGro

EPISODE 36:

Vertical farming, or controlled environment agriculture, allows produce to be grown anywhere – from the middle of the world’s mega cities to remote islands or even in Space.  

In a world facing an increasingly erratic climate the technology also has potential to shore up supply chains but as we hear in this episode, one barrier to adoption is making vertical farming profitable given upfront capital costs.  

Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence Plants for Space, Matthew Gilliham explains how vertical farming is part of research to enable humans to survive in Space – and how this can also transform the sustainability of food and bioresource production on Earth. 

Co-founder of InvertiGro Paul Millett talks about the company’s vertical farming ‘plug and play’ modular solutions and we hear from Perth vertical farmer Christian Prokscha. 

This is the last episode for Season Three of the podcast.

FEATURING:

MATTHEW GILLIHAM – PLANTS FOR SPACE

Matthew Gilliham is Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space (P4S), a >$AU100M initiative to develop technologies that allow humans to survive and thrive remote from Earth, as part of the Artemis moon-to-mars program, and to improve sustainable production of nutrition and bioresources on Earth.  Matthew’s background is in Plant Physiology, having made breakthroughs in crop stress tolerance that have been translated for yield improvements, and in academic leadership having previously led the Waite Research Institute, the University of Adelaide’s flagship for Agricultural Innovation.  

PAUL MILLETT – INVERTIGRO  

InvertiGro’s co-founder and CEO, Paul Millett, has an innate passion for innovation and for practically solving complex technical problems combined with a proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams. Drawing on these qualities, along with his mechanical engineering qualifications and the invaluable experiences gained through an international career in food manufacturing and supply chain consulting with leading global brands, Paul has led InvertiGro from conception to commercialisation.

CHRISTIAN PROKSCHA – VERTICAL FARMER  

Christian Prokscha is the co-founder of Eden Towers, a future food company farming horticulture and specialty mushroom crops. Christian has a background in management consulting, strategy and private equity in Australia and globally. Christian says they adopted an InvertiGro cube to allow the business to start vertical farming almost immediately, and that the technology and its software also allows for R&D operations within the business.