Israeli-Dutch venture, Future Crops Ltd filed for bankruptcy in the Netherlands on Tuesday. This news comes less than a year after the vertical farming company completed a new investment round, having already raised over US$30 million in seed funding.
Founded in 2016, Future Crops established a fully automated 8,000m² indoor vertical farm in Westland, Netherlands, to grow and supply herbs and leafy greens. It has supply contracts with a leading grocery retailer in the Netherlands and additional retailers in Europe.
The crops are grown in a soil-based substrate, researchers from Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) were an integral part of the team that developed Future Crops’ ‘cutting-edge’ technology.
100% renewables not enough?
Given the state of global affairs one might assume that energy costs were a factor in the bankruptcy of Future Crops, however, in June 2022 the company announced that it had become 100% reliant on renewable energy. The company had originally chosen a site for its vertical farm that was already crowned with an impressive structure of 18,000 solar panels to substantially limit its reliance on conventional fossil fuel forms of energy. The company also started exploiting wind energy in 2022.
No official announcement has yet been made by the company or its representatives.
