Crop One, the US-based vertical farm company, announced that it has teamed up with Sino-Science North America Photobiotech (SNAP), a vertical farm technology providers, to jointly develop future vertical farm projects. SNAP is the owner of SANANBIO, which is affiliated and supported by LED wafers and chips manufacturer Sanan Optoelectronics.

According to Crop One, it will provide its plant science and controls technology in future projects while SNAP will supply LED lighting and its modular growing systems as well as fully automated vertical farm system, UPLIFTTM (Unmanned Platform of Lean & Intelligent Farming Technology). Crop One will license its plant science and controls technology to projects and both parties will contribute technology, equipment, know-how and financing.

(Image: Sananbio)

Sonia Lo, CEO of Crop, commented, “Successful vertical farms require a broad array of expertise and capabilities to operate efficiently and effectively, and we expect strategic partnerships between market participants with best-in-class complementary resources will become an increasingly important way for the leaders in the space to accelerate growth.”

Michael Yates, Sananbio U.S.’s Vice President of Technology Sales, added, “On a combined basis, we believe Crop One and SNAP’s pipeline in vertical farms is the largest in North America, with the potential to serve a full range from large wholesale to specialty retail customers across the continent with mega-farms capable of producing three or more tons of crops per day. As a proven leader in the vertical farming sector, Crop One is the ideal partner for us. They have a demonstrated track record of success in operating vertical farms at scale. The company’s partnership with Emirates Flight Catering to build the world’s largest vertical farm underscores the success of Crop One’s model and plant science technology, which address the most critical issue in vertical farming – optimizing plant growth with higher yields, at lower costs.