Detailed Explanation of an Urban Rooftop Farm Business Plan

Not long ago I wrote an article titled Agriculture and the Future of Humanity, and Emma, who is in Shanghai, told me:

"Yes, this is exactly the direction we want to take! We will start with a few cities on the mainland, and then we also want to set up a site in Taipei, China!"

Even though I only corresponded with Emma through emails, I could feel from her words that she is immersed in this endeavor with ”boundless passion“~

▲For the detailed business plan content, please refer here: Business Plan

The 20-page business plan covers everything from the mission to the needs, external competitive differences, funding gap, and team members.

Curious, I asked further: what kind of help is still needed at the moment? After asking, we listed the following five points:

[What problem do we want to solve?]

Give safe food back to society and build trust

• We plan to grow vegetables and fruits using hydroponic technology on rooftops in central urban locations.
• When vegetables and fruits can grow right in front of consumers, we can let consumers directly supervise their own food and resolve some of the distrust of the food chain.
• In the same space, we can educate consumers about better ways of eating and build a community centered around health.

Transformation of ruined spaces

• At present, urban rooftops are not well utilized; we use rooftops to green the city, because rooftop sunlight exposure makes them the best growing space.
• Food on the market requires too much transportation and processing; we plan to use vegetable growing as greening, not just as ornamental landscaping, and also to reduce the carbon footprint of transporting from rural areas to cities.

[What vision do we want to achieve?]

• Build rooftop farms on the rooftops of city centers in major cities to provide genuinely fresh vegetables and fruits to the surrounding population.
• The first site will be established on a 700 sq m rooftop in Shanghai.

[What is the current status of the startup?]

Location: A suitable location has already been found, and we are waiting for funding to be in place.

Investment:

• Negotiating cooperation opportunities with investors.
• Jointly raising funds with friends around us, and currently considering using a crowdfunding site. (A mainland crowdfunding platform)

Technology:

• We have discussed cooperation intentions with professional hydroponics companies in the United States and the United Kingdom, but we still lean toward cooperating with enterprises in Taiwan, China or mainland China.

[What difficulties are currently being encountered?]

• Returns on agricultural investment are too slow for investors, and in China the concept of hydroponics is still relatively new, so a lot of effort is needed to explain it to investors.
• Greenhouse construction is a very large investment, but without a greenhouse we cannot maintain operations all year round, and building a greenhouse also involves rooftop illegal construction; although glass houses are a gray area, this uncertain factor makes the investment risk of greenhouse construction even greater.

[How can we help together?]

• Help with technology together: recommend that experts in Taiwan, China agriculture, especially hydroponics, contact us (such as A-Ming on YouTube)
• Help with fundraising together: pass this concept on to people who are interested in investing
• Help with acceleration together: if you have other related resources or support that you are willing to share or provide, feedback is welcome

Regarding the detailed business plan and the collection of question feedback, you can also reply here, or send it to [email protected]