Rift Labs announces the launch of Photosynthetic for vertical farmers and CEA applications

Climate change, electricity costs, war, scarcity of water, soil degradation and inefficiencies in food production are putting enormous pressure on our global supply chains, which is faced with the additional challenge of feeding ~9.8 billion people by 2050.

Vertical farming is seen as a potential solution, as it enables growing food locally all-year-round, regardless of weather, using much less space and water than traditional agriculture, with a much smaller environmental footprint. However, a core challenge in vertical farming today is the associated energy consumption and labor costs, where artificial lighting is one of the main cost drivers, exacerbated by inflation and rising energy costs.

Award-winning LED technology pioneer Rift Labs is therefore announcing the launch of a new brand Photosynthetic, offering advanced lighting solutions that are pushing the boundaries of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), aiming to improve yield and quality of the product, reduce production costs and help growers achieve profitability.

Photosynthetic already has some of the largest vertical farms in the world on its customer list, and offers solutions such as a self-contained R&D Lab for plant science and growth optimization; tailored lighting solutions for production (both static and dynamic options); and farming management software (cloud-based), including AI and machine learning features.

A core part of the offering is Rift Labs’ patented LED technology, which involves the use of complex mathematical models for mixing light, enabling extremely precise control and consistent high-quality lighting across all intensities, temperatures, and wavelengths. By fine-tuning and automating all inputs and outputs, using an optimized spectrum with intensity limited to the precise amount of light a plant can absorb at a given time in its life-cycle, growers will be able to reduce energy costs, achieve higher yields and improve the product for the consumer.

"We want to make it easier for growers to understand how different growth conditions and lighting setups impact their crops and make use of these insights to make the right technology decisions, optimize production processes, produce more at higher quality, save energy and labor," stated Halvard Aagaard, CEO of Rift Labs. "We are extremely excited to launch Photosynthetic as a new brand and growth platform."

Photosynthetic primarily targets vertical farms, industrial greenhouses, and other growers, but the solutions will also be highly relevant for anyone working with plant science, such as universities, research institutions, and even within the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

Rift Labs has strategically raised a significant amount of capital to enter this market and have been working with partners ONNA (vertical farm) and Crayon (cloud technology provider) since autumn 2020 to develop Photosynthetic's solutions, through several projects which have been supported by Innovation Norway, The Norwegian Research Council and RFF Viken.

“The solutions from Photosynthetic have the potential to become an exciting breakthrough not just in agriculture, but for the whole food production system,” added customer Reinier Wolterbeek, Interim CEO & CPO of ONNA, Large Scale Vertical Farm.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the market for vertical farming is expected to grow significantly from US$3.47 billion in 2021 to US$20.91 billion in 2029 with a CAGR of over 25% due to continued ESG-focus in food production, combined with ever increasing uncertainty in global supply-chains and desire to improve self-reliance. With a huge demand for innovative LED lighting solutions, Rift Labs’ Photosynthetic is perfectly positioned to become a leader in this industry.