InvertiGro scales smart farming from Australia to space

InvertiGro is showing how advanced technology can transform agriculture, delivering scalable indoor farms that combine efficiency, flexibility and commercial viability. Since winning the Australian Technologies Competition (ATC) Supply Chain Resilience Award in 2022, the company has installed nine customer farms across Australia and overseas, from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to the UK and Saudi Arabia, with a tenth farm scheduled for Darwin in November.

These projects span industries including research and education, food wholesaling, forestry nurseries and even one of the world’s largest giga-projects. Together, they demonstrate what InvertiGro calls its “product-customer fit”: systems that can adapt to different applications while proving their commercial potential in markets where other indoor farming ventures have struggled.

Innovation that scales

At the heart of InvertiGro’s offering is its modular, plug-and-play technology supported by a suite of services from farm design to “farming as a service.” Proprietary software powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning and a soon-to-be-released mobile app is making the systems increasingly efficient and easy to use. Recent refinements have expanded the range of crops supported to include seedlings, cannabis, mushrooms and native plants, broadening the company’s addressable market, which it estimates could exceed USD50 billion by 2030.

Distribution and manufacturing partnerships in Australia, the UK, the Caribbean and Saudi Arabia are extending reach and reducing reliance on single markets. With a growing pipeline of sales discussions across multiple industries, InvertiGro projects revenues to surpass 70 million by the end of 2027.

The company’s progress has been recognised internationally with awards including InnovationAus Winner for Food and Agritech (2022), The Australian’s Top 100 Innovators (2023), World Vertical Farming Awards Finalist for Best Farm Design (2024), and the AgTech Breakthrough Award for Best Global Vertical Farming Solution (2025).

Beyond earth: farming for the future

InvertiGro’s innovation is not limited to Earth. Its technology was selected for the Federal Government-funded ALEPH (Australian Lunar Experiment Promoting Horticulture) project, which is testing the feasibility of growing food in space, and was previously used in a Mars-simulation mission at the HiSeas facility in Hawaii. These projects highlight the adaptability of its systems to the most extreme environments, with potential applications that extend from food security on Earth to supporting future space missions.

This trajectory was acknowledged again at the ATC 2025 Finals in Sydney, where InvertiGro received the Alumni Achievement Award. Scalare Partners CEO Carolyn Breeze said the company exemplifies the kind of growth and global relevance the competition was designed to spotlight: “Their rapid growth across Australia and overseas, combined with their involvement in the ALEPH project, shows the global relevance of Australian innovation in food security and sustainability.”

For co-founder Paul Millet, the recognition reflects a mission that continues to evolve. “Our mission has always been to make farming smarter, more resilient and more sustainable. Since 2022, we have proven the commercial potential of controlled environment agriculture, and we are now pushing those boundaries even further.”

Now in its 15th year, the Australian Technologies Competition has supported high-growth companies that go on to raise investment, expand internationally and commercialise new technologies. InvertiGro’s journey from national success to international impact shows how Australian innovation can deliver solutions to some of the most pressing challenges, both on the ground and beyond it.