Smart farm and vertical farming technology specialist N.Thing (CEO Kim Hye-yeon) announced on the 14th that it has attracted strategic investment from SDGs Tech specialist venture capital firm Deep Stone Investment (CEO Kim Gyu-wan, Lim Byeong-eul) . The two companies signed an investment contract (amount undisclosed) on March 5 and decided to pursue joint cooperation projects to foster startups in the SDGs Tech field.
Deepstone Investment made this investment because it highly evaluated Ensing’s ability to secure excellent customers and achieve stable sales performance, as well as the high growth potential of its new business that it is currently pursuing. In particular, it is known that it recognized Ensing’s technological prowess and business potential as a leading company in the food security sector among SDGs Tech.
Founded in 2014, Ensing is a company that develops and operates advanced IoT-based modular vertical farm solutions that combine IT and data. It operates a fresh business division that supplies salad vegetables and herbs grown in its own vertical farms and a technology business division that provides modular vertical farm solutions. Ensing, which developed the world's first modular smart farm with organic connectivity, 'CUBE', has been recognized internationally for its technological prowess, winning the Best Innovation Award in the agricultural field for the first time at CES 2020.
“This investment will allow us to further accelerate our technological advancement and market expansion,” said Ensing CEO Kim Hye-yeon. “As abnormal climate conditions and agricultural product supply and demand instability worsen, smart farm technology is becoming an essential alternative for future food production. Based on our strategic partnership with Deep Stone Investment, we will expand sustainable food production systems domestically and internationally, contributing to solving global food security issues.”
With this investment, Ensing will focus more on expanding its domestic and international business. In a situation where agricultural product supply and demand instability and price surges are becoming more severe due to abnormal climate such as heat waves, monsoon rains, and cold waves, Ensing's smart farm technology is receiving attention as a new alternative for future agriculture. In particular, the modular smart farm called 'Cube' built in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province through collaboration with E-Mart is growing 110 tons of European lettuce annually and stably supplying it to E-Mart Fresh Center. The production volume per unit area here is 40 times that of general fields or greenhouses.
Enthing's smart farm can control the indoor environment to produce vegetables of consistent quality all year round regardless of season or location, and is recognized for its high value in terms of ESG management and sustainability, as it does not use environmentally harmful substances such as pesticides and reduces water usage by 94% compared to existing open fields. In addition, it is expected to contribute greatly to solving the problem of unstable agricultural product supply and demand due to climate change, as it can stably supply high-quality vegetables all year round by creating an optimal environment for crop growth and cultivating them based on big data.
As food security and climate change response become more important worldwide, the vertical farm market is growing at an average of more than 25% per year, and Ensing is positioning itself as a leader in this market with its high-efficiency and eco-friendly food production technology. In particular, demand for Ensing's vertical farm solutions is rapidly increasing in regions with low food self-sufficiency rates such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and global business expansion is expected to accelerate. We plan to jointly operate an acceleration program with Deep Stone Investment and contribute to the activation of the startup ecosystem in the food security field.
Deep Stone Investment CEO Kim Gyu-wan said, “We expect that the participation of Ensing, which possesses innovative technology from a food security perspective and the ability to secure distribution channels, will be of great help to the future performance of startups in the SDGs Tech field.”
Meanwhile, DeepStone Investment is an accelerator (to be registered) that discovers, invests in, and nurtures venture startups, and is scheduled to operate the 'Deep-Vation' and 'D-Curve' accelerating programs from the second half of 2025. Through this collaboration with Enthing, the two companies plan to support comprehensive value-up in the SDGs Tech field, from start-ups to companies preparing for IPO.
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