Sevenyears after the first business trip with BizMaker to Canada, Sundsvall-based PlantVation has signed its biggest contract to date - in Montreal. The company will deliver two large units for vegetable cultivation to a foodtech company. A big step forward, and at the same time back to the roots for PlantVation and CEO Johanna Westman.
- "It's very fun to reach the finish line with a business relationship that you have cultivated for a long time," she says.
PlantVation develops and sells systems for large-scale nursery production, which are then delivered to the customer for final planting and harvesting. The company's product, QS GreenBox, has the capacity to grow 12 million seedlings per year in an area of 100 square meters, through smart space utilization in eight floors at a total height of six meters.
- Two such units will now be delivered to the Canadian company Planteva, which offers seedlings to vegetable growers in both Canada and the United States.
- We complement each other very well as companies. We have had a dialog for a long time and built trust in each other, also between our teams, and had a desire for a joint project. This means that PlantVation has a partner in the North American market and we believe in a sharp growth curve ahead," says Johanna Westman.
PlantVation's technology originated with Johanna Westman's grandparents, who were probably the first in Sweden to introduce what is now known as vertical farming of vegetables. In 2019, the new company PlantVation was launched with the aim of commercializing the technology and preparing the company for an international venture. Johanna Westman was quickly accepted into BizMaker's incubator program for startups with innovative business ideas, and then participated in the Forest Business Accelerator business development program, which became a springboard into the new market.
- I received good support from business developers through various programs, made contact with investors and networks. I also went on several trips to Canada, and it was actually there that I first met the CEO of Planteva, with whom we have now signed a major agreement," says Johanna Westman.
Since the time with BizMaker, PlantVation has brought in investors and attracted about SEK 10 million, which has enabled the development of a compact version, QS GreenBox - Innovation and a market approach that has generated sales and deliveries to Chile, Canada and Sweden, among others.
The deal with Planteva means that PlantVation now stands on two legs, with the cultivation of vegetable plants becoming the new application area for the QS GreenBox system.
- "It's very positive for us to get more units out and increase our presence on the market. And for me personally, it's great fun - I grew up in this environment and there are pictures of me among the lettuce leaves as a five-year-old," concludes Johanna Westman.
Contact
JohannaWestman, CEO and Marketing Manager
johanna.westman@plantvation.com, 070 320 90 60
