Gardin Agritech has raised a £3.4m Seed 2 financing round led by Navus Ventures with participation from new investor Oxford Innovation Finance as well as existing investors LDV Capital, MMC Ventures, Seedcamp, Alchimia Investments and angel investors.
Gardin is growing their list of customers leveraging their novel optical photosynthesis sensor & AI that measures crop photosynthesis in real time, giving growers early insight into plant health and development. This allows for faster, more targeted interventions, resulting in improved yields, better crop quality and more efficient use of resources such as water, light and energy. Clients have reported up to 10x return on investment. Since commercial launch in June 2023, Gardin’s sensors have been deployed across a wide range of environments – from polytunnels in Spain and Morocco to greenhouses in the Netherlands and Canada – and used successfully on more than 20 crop species, from algae to tomatoes. In 2025, the company is doubling down on light optimisation and energy efficiency enabling growers to make informed decisions, with trials already showing growers can achieve 20–30% in energy savings. Gardin’s technology also aids research into hardier seed varieties, contributing to a more sustainable and secure food supply.
The news comes at a critical time for the £160bn global Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) market, which is expanding rapidly due to rising demand for reliable food supplies and decreasing setup costs. Yet the sector faces mounting pressures: energy and labour costs have surged, emissions regulations are tightening and there’s a shortage of skilled growers to operate indoor farms, greenhouses and seed breeding businesses. Existing tools lack the sophistication to process vast amounts of data and deliver timely insights, leaving many operations struggling to adapt efficiently. This underscores a pressing need for AI-powered solutions capable of analysing large swathes of data in real time – enabling smarter, automated decisions and unlocking the full potential of precision agriculture.
Agriculture Investments Limited, one of the UK’s most progressive fruit producers, adopted Gardin’s technology after seeing its potential to deliver scalable, confident decision-making for more resilient, high-quality crops.
Fromboer reports a 5% yield increase per square metre thanks to more uniform, high-quality production and improved cost control.
Ridder highlights Gardin’s ability to drive profitability boosts of up to 30%, yield gains of 15%, and early detection of crop stress weeks in advance – marking a shift from traditional climate control to data-driven "crop control."
With this new round of funding, Gardin will enhance its platform and grow their commercial team to expand its customer base across continents. Available jobs are listed here.
Led by serial entrepreneur Sumanta Talukdar, who previously co-founded and exited WaveOptics for over £400m, brings decades of experience across optics, photonics, sensors and computer science.
