Intelligent Growth Solutions - IGS

This interview details IGS, an indoor farming technology based in Scotland. The interview is with Andy Penfold, Chief Marketing Officer at IGS.

‍

‍

What is the origin story of IGS?  

IGS was founded in 2013, combining decades of farming (Sir Henry Akroyd, former CEO) ​and engineering experience (Dave Scott, CTO at IGS) to create an agritech business with a mission to revolutionise the indoor growing market.​  

‍

In 2018, IGS opened its first vertical farm demonstrator in Scotland, based at the James Hutton Institute, a world-renowned crop and plant science research facility near the city of Dundee. In 2021 this was renamed IGS’ Crop Research Centre. In 2022 IGS launched its Engineering Innovation Centre in Inverkeithing, giving the business a dedicated space for continued research and development.​  

IGS is currently building the world’s best vertical farming infrastructure across around the world, empowering our customers to grow high-quality, profitable, and nutritious food sustainably.  

‍

What are some of the biggest challenges facing IGS in the future?  

As a provider of agritech solutions to growers across the globe, IGS faces some specific challenges as we scale up our operation to deploy our Growth Towers to customers on four continents. This includes ensuring we have the right partners in place to guarantee our technology is built to the same exact specifications wherever in the world we deploy. 

With borrowing costs high across the globe, one of the most common barriers faced by those looking to enter the vertical farming market is a lack of available investment. Additionally, raw materials continue to demand a premium, causing delays to construction projects. 

There is also a very real need to continue to raise awareness of the benefits vertical farming can deliver as a solution working in complement to traditional agriculture. Increasing public knowledge of agritech solutions such as vertical farming will increase consumer demand for more sustainably grown produce, encouraging adoption by growers and driving support from government and investors.  

‍

What is unique about IGS compared to competitors?  

One of the key differentiators between IGS and the majority of those operating in the vertical farming space is that we are an infrastructure provider. We made a covenant with the market back in 2017 to never grow crops commercially, but instead to focus on developing the very best vertical farming technology. Our customers are farmers and growers, and our operations are never in competition with theirs. 

Additionally, our technology has been specifically designed to operate at a commercial scale, integrating proven technologies from other industries into an agricultural setting to deliver modular, flexible and readily scalable solutions to our customers across the world.  

‍

Do you use CO2 in your grow systems today -- if so, what are your thoughts concerning CO2 usage in indoor farms?  

CO2 is of course a critical element of photosynthesis, therefore its use in commercial growing is both commonplace and necessary in order to produce enough food to feed our growing global population.  

We encourage our customers to source CO2 using sustainable methods and supply chains, such as utilising waste CO2 from industrial process or using direct air capture technology to take CO2 from the external environment. The amount of CO2 delivered to our towers is adjusted in real time and is tailored to the needs of the plants. This means we can deliver the right quantity at each growth stage and for the specific trait we’re aiming to encourage.  

Crucially, our systems operate using a closed-loop HVAC system, meaning that there is no CO2 vented into the atmosphere. The only CO2 ever leaving our farms in that contained within the plants.  

‍

Energy is a big topic in indoor farming right now. How can indoor farms be smarter with electricity usage?  

IGS holds several patents related to energy efficiency and has been key to our customers success. Our Growth Towers have been designed to make maximum use of each kilowatt hour of electricity: from our lighting system and patented use of three-phase power to our HVAC and water recycling systems, every aspect of our system has efficiency as a guiding principle.  

This allows our system to consume as little as one third of the electricity (SOURCE: https://www.agritecture.com/census) consumed by other vertical farms.  

‍

Additionally, we work closely with our customers to support them in ensuring their farms are optimising energy usage. This includes everything from implementing renewable energy generation on-site or co-locating next to an existing energy producer for more favourable rates, through to giving guidance on scheduling crop recipes to maximise off-peak tariff hours.  

When it comes to the broader picture of energy usage in food production, shortening supply chains is the most effective way of reducing the total energy (electricity, fuel, heating, etc.) required to bring food from seed to plate. IGS’ Growth Towers can be built just about anywhere, saving significantly on energy related to transportation and distribution by building near distribution hubs or high-population areas.  

‍

How can people connect with you or learn more about IGS?  

Anyone keen to find out more about IGS and our technology is welcome to get in touch with me directly via LinkedIn. Alternatively, our website is a great place to explore our solutions and even to get a virtual tour of our Crop Research Centre in Dundee, Scotland: www.igs.farm.  

‍

‍

‍