Arable
The farm next door.
Solving old problems with new solutions.
Arable is an agritech startup that has designed vertical farms in the Western Cape that grow crops using 95% less land and water, compared to traditional farming. They achieve this by placing a strong emphasis on data-driven horticulture. They have two container farms that supply cost-competitive, ultra-premium produce to retail stores and restaurants in the Winelands and City Bowl areas.
The Arable Story.
HP Duvenhage, one of Arable’s co-founders, completed his Masters in Civil Engineering with a focus on Future City Design. HP spent a lot of time looking into the types of solutions we need in future African cities. A big part of that was vertical farming. HP put together a business case and saw that it made sense, but he also knew he couldn't do it alone. Thus, he handpicked a co-founding team that plugged the gaps in his own skill set.
The result? Arable Grow. Arable aims to productize their containerized farms to be manufactured locally and shipped globally. They follow a modular philosophy, where vertical farming products like germination pods or sensors can be sold individually or as part of larger systems. Thereby empowering entrepreneurs to grow and sell food directly within their communities.
Their mission is to reduce food insecurity by making vertical farming more accessible to everyone and have raised R1.5 million in angel investment to build two farms, IoT climate visibility and farm management systems. They will go into their next round of funding this year and are looking for pre-Seed Investment north of 300 000 USD.
