The first ever skyscraper building, built in Chicago in 1885, was 10 stories and 138 ft (42 m) tall. The focus was to maximize living and working space in dense cities where land and space is a premium. The only option to increase habitable space was to go vertical.

Over a century later, the first vertical farm, Sky Green, was built in Singapore in 2012 (Figure 1). At a height of 30 ft. (9 m), it was considerably shorter than the first ever skyscraper above, but with similar drivers - using limited real estate to enable an urban population to access fresh food, locally. Today, the tallest vertical farm has more than doubled in height - the Greenphyto vertical farm is 75 ft.(25 m) tall, and not surprisingly, is also located in Singapore (amongst the most densely populated city-states in the world). It uses hydroponic cultivation (a method of growing plants without soil. with roots suspended directly in a water-based, nutrient-rich solution), similar to greenhouses, and is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced robotics.

Over the past decade, vertical farming has grown explosively - in concert with a global quest for fresh, organic, pesticide free vegetables, grown locally. While The United States, Japan, China and Sweden lead in these initiatives, the Middle East is also promoting this style of agriculture to minimize reliance on imports and reduce water consumption Indoor, climate-controlled vertical farms use 95% less water as compared to conventional outdoor agriculture. In 2025, the global market for vertical farm produce was ~$7B, and is projected to double by 2035.

Another option for sustainable agriculture is greenhouse farming , although this is impractical for dense urban environments because they occupy a much larger land area and are not as tall). For vertical farms, hydroponics is the dominant solution, with aeroponics (roots suspended entirely in the air and nourished by high-pressure, automated mists of water and nutrients) at a 20% share. The advantage of aeroponics is the higher oxygenation of the roots, leading to faster growth cycles and higher yields. This technique is more expensive to install, and used for premium, high-margin produce, and pharmaceutical ingredients.

Pinterra - Equipment for Sustainable Agriculture

Founded in 2023, the company is based in the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru, and is the brainchild of Goskan Aravamudan, a serial entrepreneur. Pinterra supplies its aeroponic equipment set and robotics for indoor and outdoor cultivation of plants like leafy greens and herbs.

Figure 2 shows the equipment and lighting for indoor aeroponic farming, with primary customers located in Europe and North America. Temperature and carbon-dioxide levels are controlled within the equipment enclosure. The plant roots are suspended in a proprietary, patented, cellulose membrane that stretches as the plants grow.

The unit is constructed as an A-Frame structure. Automated misters spray a mixture of water and nutrients, with the duty cycle and misting location adjusted dynamically as plants mature. The misters travel on a vertical pipe, pulled by a steel chord over the height (80 ft) of the interior of the enclosure (Figure 3):

LED lighting is supplied on a 24x7 schedule. The typical interval between planting and harvest is 2-3 weeks, for products like baby greens, spinach and kale. The key advantages of an indoor vertical farm are throughput, all-year cultivation, faster growth cycles, and the ability to sell products at a premium. In terms of usable space, 6 m² of floor area yields 72 m² of growing space (12X multiplier). Since a growth substrate is not needed, operating costs are lower. However, the units are more expensive to install than outdoor units, and consume more energy due to the need for continuous LED lighting and environmental control.

Outdoor units are similar to the indoor units in terms of in terms of the membrane, aeroponics and misting. Energy costs are lower, since natural lighting can be used if available, and temperature and carbon dioxide do not need to be controlled. The dynamic adjustment of the misting and the expandable membrane provides 3X the yield/m² of floor space as compared to fixed channel hydroponics (like the one shown n Figure 1). Outdoor farms typically have longer harvest intervals (5 weeks), and can only be operated in certain seasons. Some type of pest control is required. Figure 4 shows an outdoor vertical farm supported by Pinterra.

Mr. Aruvamudan is passionate about Pinterra’s journey in CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture). “Pinterra began with a simple question: can we grow more with less — less space, less water, less growth media, and less waste? What we have built is a high-density aeroponic platform that allows plants to grow in a cleaner, more controlled, and more efficient root environment. The goal is to make advanced growing systems practical for controlled environment agriculture".

Boostable - Nourishing A Better Future

Boostable is an investor in Pinterra. The company bills itself as “ embedded operators and investors rooted in Europe and India, with reach across Asia, and North America, unlocking next-generation technologies and scaling them into leading companies”. Apart from financial investments, the company helps scale companies globally, through market reach, management experience and relationships. Eloi Courcoux is a a co-founder and partner. With prior experiences in the food industry across Europe, Asia, and North America. he has led turnarounds and M&A exits of various companies in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Courcox highlights health, energy efficiency and cross-border companies as the three pillars of investment focus for Boostable. Next generation agriculture is a key element of these pillars, with the following areas of interest:

  1. Vertical Farming: maximizes the yield/m² of floor space, and minimizes water consumption
  2. Sustainable Ingredients: with a focus on scalable platforms that deliver measurable benefits without compromising cost or taste.
  3. Nutritionally Efficient Food: through precision nutrition and GLP-1 companion products
  4. AI and Autonomy to Boost Output Efficiency: by reducing harvest cycle times and labor content
  5. M&A and Consolidation within the Food Sector: the recent EU-India trade agreement makes investments and exports from India competitive

Boostable has worked with Pinterra since its founding in 2023. Mr. Courcox has this to say about the collaboration: “We backed Pinterra because it is not just another vertical farming company — it is a platform technology for making controlled-environment agriculture more productive, modular, and economically viable. By reducing dependence on bulk growth media, improving space efficiency, and enabling high-density aeroponic production, Pinterra addresses some of the hardest constraints in modern food production: land, water, energy, and unit economics".

Food is becoming scarce. Especially, sustainable food. Just like energy, housing and other basic living elements. AoT® and physical AI are making Controlled Environment Agriculture a profitable reality.

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