Agriify currently sells cannabis vertical farms controlled by computers. But this is only the starting point for Agriify. The company is rapidly moving in the vertical direction, adding features and acquiring more companies because it has established a total solution provider for the cannabis industry.

Hemp is one of the most valuable crops in the United States. According to Leafy's 2021 Cannabis Harvest Report (PDF), it is estimated to be worth $6.2 billion—and this is only in 11 states where adult retail purchases are legal.

Cannabis growers, like all other commercial growers, employ countless systems to increase production and maximize taste, size, and durability. Typically, these farmers use multiple platforms from multiple vendors. Every CTO knows that this is normal in 2021. Agriify wants to change this approach.

Agrify aims to be the only system for growers and to sell a platform that provides unparalleled control over the growing process. Due to the two recent acquisitions, the company will also provide a similar system for the extraction process, allowing its customers to use only one system to grow, harvest and process hemp. The company does not intend to stop there. CEO Raymond Chang told me that he believes that Agriify will become one of the fastest growing and most vertically integrated solutions in the cannabis sector.

Raymond Chang co-founded the company in 2016 and raised $4.5 million in two funding rounds. Chang did not seek additional venture capital, but listed the startup in January 2021. The company’s stock went public at a price of US$12.74, climbed to a record high of US$33.06 in August, and then fell to US$15 in October. At the time of writing, the stock is soaring, quickly approaching all-time highs.

Despite working in the marijuana field, the company was listed on the Nasdaq because Agriify did not bundle marijuana with its equipment. It is considered a non-contact plant subsidiary company of the cannabis industry. This is very important. The company avoided all regulatory hurdles faced by cannabis companies involving plants, including restrictive banking and fundraising laws.

Chang does not regret letting Agrity go public. He said that there are advantages and disadvantages, and pointed out that the company needs to be more standardized and transparent, but the IPO has brought unexpected gains.

"We were able to acquire these two great extraction companies [Precision Extraction Solutions and Cascade Sciences]," Zhang said. "Part of the reason is that we are public companies. We can do this with cash and [company stock] stock. The internal goal is to fill two-thirds of the growth organically, but one-third may come from acquisitions. So we will continue to consolidate this industry. Having this kind of public currency is a huge advantage."

The Agriify planting platform started with genetics. The grower selects from a list of pre-selected strains that can be used with the Agriify system. Since the system works with a known amount, the platform can maximize production by controlling several important variables, including lighting, watering, and humidity. No more guesses. Choose genetics and let Agriify's system take it from seed to storage.

The company's high-tech vertical farming unit (VFU) is the key to operations. These planting racks contain and grow high-value plants such as cannabis, hemp and other herbs. These units are stacked together, allowing growers to use the footprint of one set of plants to grow two sets of plants. The springboard connects the units.

"I see that the consistency problem of cultivation has always existed, and the situation with cannabis 2.0 products is even worse," Chang said.

Agriify sees that its customers are considering two options: either send their raw harvest to the processor or handle it themselves. Naturally, Agriify hopes that growers choose the latter.

Recently, the company spent US$50 million to acquire Precision Extraction Solutions and Cascade Sciences, two leading cannabis and cannabis extraction and processing companies. According to Agriify, the two companies previously worked with 30 multi-state operators and more than 1,000 cannabis and cannabis customers. As a result of this transaction, Agriify gained physical presence in seven states.

"We still have several companies that need to be acquired," Zhang said. "When you look at customers, the most important thing is how we can help them increase their return on investment. This is all about making better use of space and driving higher output, driving lower costs and more automation."