植物工場の取材で、本日は、ファームシップの安田瑞希さんを訪問した。場所は、東京駅の近くの京橋エドグラン。3階のオープンスペースで1時間ほどインタビューさせていただいた。研究室に戻ったら、Hortibizの本日号に、フランスのVRベンチャー（Agricool）が都市部でのイチゴ栽培で30億円を集めた記事が掲載されていた。
「垂直農法」（VF）による果樹と野菜の栽培で、2030年までには、農作物の20％が都市部で生産される予想が紹介されていた。この比率は現在は5％である。その中心となるのが、同社が採用している垂直的に積み上げた「コンテナ栽培」である。同様なアイデアは、すでにドイツのベンチャー企業「INFARM」で実現している。
お昼休みに、ファームシップの安田さんと話した時点で、彼の会社はコンテナ栽培のような方法にはまだ取り組んでいないようだった。将来的な課題であることの認識はあるようだが。
先週のブログに書いたように、植物工場の本命は、都市部でのモジュール化された「コンテナ栽培」になると思われる。品目・品種にもよるが、技術的な生産性を追求するより、ブランディングとマーケティングに優れた会社が勝ち組となるものと予想できる。この産業は、いま転換点を迎えている。
農水省と経産省の間で仕事の管轄（縄張り）をめぐって、省庁間での綱引きが始まっている。しかし、これはどちらかといえば、経産省マターになりかけているというのがわたしの印象である。
レストランや店舗内において、見た目が美しく、美味しくてなおかつ栄養価の高い野菜や果物が売れるだろう。コスト優位性があることははもちろん必要なのだが、それよりも経験価値のほうが重要になっている。
以下の記事は、その兆候（前兆）を示すものだと思われる。
———————————————
“FRA: Agricool raises €25M for urban farming”
By 2030, 20% of products consumed worldwide will come from urban farming, compared to just 5% today, according to UN reports.
The French startup Agricool has devised a new, sustainable, local method of growing food – particularly strawberries. The startup is creating small urban farms in the middle of Paris using old shipping containers (which it calls “cooltainers”), in which it is able to vertically grow strawberries without the use of pesticides or GMOs, and using 90% less water than crops grown in the ground. Instead of sunlight, the cooltainers use LED lights that are powered by 100% renewable energy. The startup also claims that their locally-grown strawberries just taste better, and contain 30% more vitamin C than supermarket strawberries.
To scale its urban farm technology, Agricool has just raised €25 million. The startup plans to install five new containers in the Paris region in 2019, and plans to launch 100 in France and Dubai by 2021. The startup also plans to hire 200 new people in the next two years.
Founded in 2015 by two farmers’ sons, Guillaume Fourdinier and Gonzague Gru, Agricool was launched with the following mission: “to feed the planet with tasty fruits and vegetables that have taste, grown without pesticides and produced locally“. Cities are also increasingly embracing urban farming. According to the Paris City Council: “Paris is dreaming of itself as an agricultural city”.
The funding round was backed by new investors including Bpifrance Large Venture Fund, Danone Manifesto Ventures, Antoine Arnault via Marbeuf Capital, Solomon Hykes, and a dozen other business angels passionate about Agricool’s mission. Existing investors including daphni, XAnge, Henri Seydoux and Xavier Niel via Kima Ventures, also participated in the round.
Guillaume Fourdinier, co-founder and CEO of Agricool, said: “We are very excited about the idea of supporting urban farming towards massive development, and it will soon no longer be a luxury to eat exceptional fruits and vegetables in the city.”
Click here to read the original article at EU-Startups.
Photo credit: Agricool
The French startup Agricool has devised a new, sustainable, local method of growing food – particularly strawberries. The startup is creating small urban farms in the middle of Paris using old shipping containers (which it calls “cooltainers”), in which it is able to vertically grow strawberries without the use of pesticides or GMOs, and using 90% less water than crops grown in the ground. Instead of sunlight, the cooltainers use LED lights that are powered by 100% renewable energy. The startup also claims that their locally-grown strawberries just taste better, and contain 30% more vitamin C than supermarket strawberries.
To scale its urban farm technology, Agricool has just raised €25 million. The startup plans to install five new containers in the Paris region in 2019, and plans to launch 100 in France and Dubai by 2021. The startup also plans to hire 200 new people in the next two years.
Founded in 2015 by two farmers’ sons, Guillaume Fourdinier and Gonzague Gru, Agricool was launched with the following mission: “to feed the planet with tasty fruits and vegetables that have taste, grown without pesticides and produced locally“. Cities are also increasingly embracing urban farming. According to the Paris City Council: “Paris is dreaming of itself as an agricultural city”.
The funding round was backed by new investors including Bpifrance Large Venture Fund, Danone Manifesto Ventures, Antoine Arnault via Marbeuf Capital, Solomon Hykes, and a dozen other business angels passionate about Agricool’s mission. Existing investors including daphni, XAnge, Henri Seydoux and Xavier Niel via Kima Ventures, also participated in the round.
Guillaume Fourdinier, co-founder and CEO of Agricool, said: “We are very excited about the idea of supporting urban farming towards massive development, and it will soon no longer be a luxury to eat exceptional fruits and vegetables in the city.”
Click here to read the original article at EU-Startups.
Photo credit: Agricool
12/05/
2018 – Mary Loritz/EU-Startups
