No dirt, no tractor, no hassle: Canopii aims to install robotic farms in urban areas the size of a tennis court
A running joke in agriculture is the average age of a US farmer is 58 today, but that will end next year. The problem is, it’s not so funny when the people who grow our food get old and there’s no one to replace them.
The Oregon startup aims to address that with a sustainable, sustainable farming solution.
“We’re trying to create a future job for local farmers, where you sell a robotic farm, with almost no labor, and you can provide organic products to your community,” said David Ashton, CEO and founder of Canopii.
The company has built a greenhouse system with a smaller footprint than a tennis court that requires less energy or water and can be installed in urban areas to produce 40,000 kilograms of greens per year – enough to feed nearly 20,000 people.
Canopii plans to launch a WeFunder campaign this week to raise $1.5 million to build a commercial incubator in Portland and showcase its franchise model. The startup launched in 2021 and has received $3.6 million in funding, mostly through grants from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture, as well as investments from Elevate Capital, Onami and Vertue Labs.
The team built an automated transport system that takes specialty lettuce, herbs, Asian broccoli and other vegetables from seed to boxed produce. A robotic arm puts the seed into the soil breaking it to the size of small cakes; when the seedlings develop leaves, the system plants them in large containers and, at harvest, cuts them and puts the vegetables in bins.
The company is pursuing funding to develop AI-powered plant monitoring to further reduce labor, moving trays to stationary cameras rather than covering the entire facility.
Ashton’s inspiration stems from his time at California Polytechnic State University, located in the suburbs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. In the early to mid-2010s, California endured a record drought.
As part of his agricultural engineering program, “we went to all the different farms, and everybody was talking about water,” he said. Ashton is fascinated by the water needs of high-volume outdoor farms and the impact of long-distance shipping products.
He set out to build the smallest, most efficient greenhouse. The result is a Canopii building: 2,500 square feet and 30 feet long, able to produce in a twentieth of a hectare that would require 3 to 4 hectares in a normal field.
Canopii’s team of six currently has a prototype hot tub based in Hubbard, Ore., it supplies vegetables to customers including Ōkta Farm and Kitchen, a nearby high-end restaurant.
The home gardening industry has been struggling in recent years. Well-funded ventures including Plenty, AppHarvest, Bowery Farming and Kalera have all but gone, although others such as Oishii and Gotham Greens continue to operate. Ashton noted that many of those failures involved large operations.
A Wyoming-based startup called Vertical Harvest is also building small, decentralized urban greenhouses using soilless hydroponic technology. Other Pacific Northwest players in the space include IUNU and Koidra.
Canopii pursues a franchise model where it oversees the installation of the greenhouse, trains the owner and provides ongoing service and support, while the franchisee owner finances and runs the site. Each unit costs about $600,000. Target customers for the product include independent grocery stores and restaurants, and the company has a letter of intent with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation for inclusion.
The startup is partnering with GK Machine, which helped build its robots and is opening a facility capable of producing systems at scale, as well as two construction companies to install the structure.
For Ashton, the deep appeal is about reconnecting communities and where their food comes from.
“It could be downtown, it could be a school yard, it could be in a restaurant, or in a supermarket – people can see and understand where their food really comes from,” he said. “The place becomes less than just a product, but really a feeling.”
