Intelligent Growth Solutions

Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) is a UK-based developer of hydroponic vertical farms called “Growth Towers” with the use of machine learning and IoT. The company offers the technology, infrastructure, and training to set up and operate these Growth Towers. IGS adopts a Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA) technology that allows controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, irrigation, and air composition levels to optimize plant growth. In addition, these towers require less human intervention and can be remotely monitored via a cloud-based app. The Growth Towers are capable of growing a variety of crops including herbs, brassicas, and leafy greens as well as indigenous crops such as warrigal and bush tucker celery. In March 2023, IGS standardized on New Relic, a full-stack data analysis and observability platform, allowing IGS to cut monitoring spend and free up its software team to focus on sustainable agriculture solutions projects.

According to the company, its facilities can generate 12 pounds per square foot per annum, twice the glasshouse system’s six pounds. IGS further claims that its system typically harvests within 60%–70% of the time it takes in a glasshouse, with the ability to achieve a 2%–3% higher yield.

IGS targets growers, farmers, farming entrepreneurs, and pharmaceutical organizations across the world. As of November 2021, the company operated an office in Chicago and expected to expand further into North America, having secured one major prospective customer in the US and another in Canada. The company has also reported that its sales have increased 4x in the year 2021.

Key customers and partnerships

IGS accessed the Middle East market by partnering with Dubai’s International Real Estate Partners (IREP) (December 2020) and Madar Farms, an Abu-Dhabi-based farming company (May 2021). Under the terms of the deal with Madar Farms, IGS would oversee the development of five Growth Towers with the ability to produce up to 60,000 pounds per annum. The Growth Towers were expected to be operational in November 2021. In November 2021, the company secured a partnership with Therme Group, an Austria-based global developer of wellbeing resorts, to co-develop and launch the Therme Intelligent Growth Ecosystem (IGE) across Therme’s wellbeing centers worldwide (November 2021). IGS is also collaborating with Ireland-based real estate investment and fund manager Greenman Group to develop the latter's first vertical farm. IGS also expanded its presence to Australia by partnering with Eden Towers, a vertical farming company offering leafy greens and indigenous crops, to build the latter’s first solar powered vertical farm. (February 2022). 

In June 2022, IGS partnered with New York-based hydroponic vertical farming startup CubicAcres to build a vertical farming facility for the latter’s expansion into East Coast US. Further, the company partnered with CEA solutions company HarvestUp to build a vertical farm at the Ranken Technical College campus in Ashland, Missouri. In December 2023, the company partnered with ReFarm, a UAE-based group focused on circular and clean technology projects, to provide vertical farming technology for the waste-to-value farm, GigaFarm. In November 2022, The company has partnered with HarvestUp, a Missouri-based controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) company, to build a new vertical farm at the Ranken Technical College campus in Ashland, Missouri.IGS will initially supply four 40 ft Growth Towers which will be used to grow a variety of crops including leafy greens, herbs, and microgreens. Produce grown from the farm is expected to be sold to customers via retailers and distributors in Missouri. Construction for the farm is expected to begin by early 2023. Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) has standardized on New Relic, a full-stack data analysis and observability platform, has allowed it to cut on monitoring spend and free up its software team to focus on projects that assist the company in addressing the increasing need for sustainable agriculture solutions. With this, IGS has access to more than 30 monitoring capabilities to detect and solve issues with greater speed and efficiency reducing 80% in resolution time and a 58% reduction in logging and monitoring expenses. 

Funding and financials

In November 2021, IGS raised GBP 42.2 million (approximately ~USD 57 million) in a Series B funding round led by Cofra. The fresh funds will be funneled toward supporting IGS to develop its technology to address the challenges of food insecurity and environmental degradation. The company has received an undisclosed amount of a grant from the UK government in December 2023 to advance the development of low-carbon and low-cost food production by co-locating renewable energy with vertical farms. In January 2024, The company has raised GBP 22.5 million (~USD 28.5 million) in Series C funding led by existing institutional investors, including COFRA Holding AG, DC Thomson, and S2G Ventures, with participation from Cleveland Avenue, Ospraie Ag Science, and ScottishEnterprise. Private shareholders and IGS employees also participated in this round. The funds will be utilized to use the funds to support global expansion.