Farm491 member, LettUs Grow, win €100,000 for revolutionary indoor agriculture method

One of our newest members, LettUs Grow, have beat 844 other start-ups to win €100,000 in the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge. Co-founder and Managing Director, Charlie Guy, travelled to Amsterdam in September as part of the Green Challenge finalists, to convince the international jury that they were deserving winners.

LettUs Grow, based in Bristol, have developed a revolutionary indoor agricultural method, in which the roots of crops are suspended in a dense nutritious mist.

One-third of global carbon emissions can be traced back to our food production processes. As a result of the increasing global population, emissions are increasing even further and fertile farmland is becoming scarce.

Indoor farming offers a solution. It can take the pressure off dwindling resources and enable food to be grown sustainably anywhere in the world – from cities to deserts. LettUs Grow’s technology can be utilised by greenhouses and vertical farms. The latter is a type of agriculture where stacked cultivation layers are used in factory halls or empty office buildings. By making use of vertical space, the yield per square metre is higher than with traditional agriculture.

LettUs Grow’s suspended root technology results in significantly less water and energy consumption. As well as this, by growing the crops closer to the consumer, the carbon emissions caused by transport decrease as well. Charlie Guy, Managing Director of LettUs Grow, said:

“The recognition of the Green Challenge shows that we are developing a viable solution to the many problems that our global agricultural systems will face in the future, from water shortages to the effects of extreme weather. We allow farmers to protect their crops, diversify what they are growing and massively reduce their ecological footprint.”

With this sum of money, LettUs Grow can further develop their business. Ben Crowther, CTO of LettUs Grow, had this to say about the awards:

“The support we’ve had from Green Challenge will allow us to accelerate the development of our technology, bring about a real step change in agricultural productivity and reduce the resource cost of fresh produce for farmers all over the world.”

Farm491 Programme Manager, Ali Hadavizadeh, says “With a record number of 845 entrepreneurs entering this year’s Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, it is fantastic to see LettUs Grow receiving their fully deserved €100,000, which will no doubt help them further develop their ever-growing business.”

Here at Farm491 we are very excited to take-part in LettUs Grow’s journey, and wish them all the success going forward.