Vertical Future

Vertical Future, founded in London in 2016 by the husband-and-wife team Jamie and Marie-Alexandrine Burrows, designs, manufactures, and deploys integrated vertical farming systems. Jamie Burrows, who has a PhD in health economics and previously worked as a life sciences consultant, started the company with his wife out of a shared interest in sustainable agriculture and technology. The venture began in a small facility in Deptford, initially supplying fresh produce to local businesses, which allowed the founders to understand the operational challenges of vertical farming firsthand.

This experience led to a strategic pivot from being produce growers to a technology-focused business model. The company now provides end-to-end, automated vertical farming infrastructure, complete with proprietary hardware and software, to a diverse client base that spans food production, pharmaceuticals, reforestation, and even space exploration. Its business model centers on selling these turnkey systems, which are designed to be highly automated and scalable, reducing the reliance on manual labor. Revenue is generated from the sale of these systems and recurring income from its proprietary Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, DIANA.

The core offering is a fully integrated system that includes bespoke, suspended growing towers, advanced multi-spectral LED lighting, and automation that manages processes from seeding to harvesting. Central to this is the DIANA SaaS platform, which acts as the operational brain, collecting millions of data points to monitor, analyze, and optimize growing conditions like lighting, irrigation, and nutrient composition. This data-driven approach allows for the development of specific 'growing algorithms' that can enhance crop yield, quality, and nutritional value. The company also offers "Crop-Science-as-a-Service" (CSaaS), allowing clients to use its systems for research and development. Despite its technological achievements, including being ranked the #1 CEA technology company by FoodTech 500 and raising over £37 million, Vertical Future has faced significant financial headwinds. In July 2025, after experiencing a sharp decline in revenue and widening losses, the company was listed for sale on an insolvency marketplace, highlighting the challenging capital environment for the vertical farming sector.

Keywords: controlled environment agriculture, vertical farming technology, agritech, SaaS, automated farming, DIANA software, crop science, sustainable agriculture, urban farming, food technology