3 New Ways To Use Agritecture Designer

Taking the first step in planning your urban farm is hard. It’s even harder when you lack the financial or technical background that can be crucial for proper decision-making during the planning stage.

After working with over 100 entrepreneurs to kickstart their urban farms, we at Agritecture know the neverending list of decisions can be overwhelming. This is caused by a lack of established best practices, an absence of credible data, seemingly endless technology options to choose from, and a shortage of financing options.

To support entrepreneurs in bringing impactful change to their food systems, last year we unveiled Agritecture Designer, the world’s first digital platform dedicated to helping entrepreneurs plan their controlled environment farms. 

Designer not only allows anyone, anywhere, the ability to learn commercial CEA best practices and build economic models for their future farms, it also connects these users to the Agritecture Partner Network, a growing list of CEA equipment and financing providers - all in an effort to cut planning timelines in half. 

Today, we’re pleased to announce three new ways that our customers can use Agritecture Designer to support their farm planning.

#1 Meeting The Needs Of Advanced Users

Every farm is different. As such, every farm model will deviate from the average in one way or another.  In order to account for the unique decisions and variations in each farm model, we have created the ability for users to override our assumptions for every relevant capital cost (CapEx) and operating cost (OpEx) category.

This means, as a user, if you receive a quote from a lighting supplier, and it differs from the estimated lighting cost we’ve given you based on the unique project characteristics you’ve input, you can now simply override our value with the number from this quote, and the economics of your entire project will update accordingly.

Once you’re through updating any of these values, you can also now export the entire Project Report into Excel - fulfilling one of our other top user requests.

#2 Bringing On New Equipment Partners

With countless technology options in the market, it can be hard to settle on the right match for your farm’s needs. We’ve been working to bring on more equipment partners for this exact reason. Each partner that joins the Agritecture Partner Network will go through a rigorous due diligence process to add more transparency for our users around this challenging decision.

According to Agritecture’s Director of Business Development & Partnerships, Jeffrey Landau, “by requiring a higher level of transparency from our partners, we set a new standard for the industry to ensure that our users and clients have a full range of options and information to make the right decision for their operation.”

Here are our 4 latest equipment partners, making 7 total:

• Lettus Grow - designs and builds aeroponic technology and farm management software for vertical farms

• CropKing - greenhouse manufacturer with a specialty in hydroponic growing products and solutions

• Inno-3B - designs and builds automated & scalable vertical farming towers

• New Growing System - hydroponic and greenhouse farming manufacturer

Soon, our more in-depth diligence reports on each partner will be incorporated into the platform, but for now, users can reach out to us to review more detailed information with one of our team members.

#3: Introducing A New Advisor Package With Added 1-1 Support

Finally, we’ve been testing a new advisor package that combines our software with tailored 1-1 support from an Agritecture expert, and it’s been immensely helpful for our more serious users. On November 1st, we’ll officially launch this new advisor package to our global community.

With this hybrid software/advisory approach, our customers will receive 6 calls with an Agritecture expert over a 12-week timeline. On each call, our advisor will work with the individual 1-on-1 to guide them through key decisions with their business plan, and leave them with specific tasks for the next call.

With these new features, Agritecture Designer is ready to be a
one-stop shop for all your CEA planning needs.

FURTHER READING

7 Urban Farms Creating A More Circular Food System

Make It Or Break It With Your HVAC

The Buzz Around Urban Agriculture