Date Posted:
27 August 2026
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CropWorks
As the global demand for sustainable food production grows and the impacts of climate change on agriculture become ever more visible, finding new ways of growing crops is becoming increasingly important. One of the businesses leading that innovation is East of England-based start-up CropWorks, which is developing a new kind of indoor farm with the precision to manufacture high-value compounds in plants and the scale to deliver fresh produce at supermarket prices.
With support from the Freeport East Clean Growth Fund, CropWorks is pioneering research that could help reshape the future of agriculture, combining cutting-edge engineering, plant science and artificial intelligence to create highly efficient “plant factories”.
The future of sustainable plant production
CropWorks’ mission is to commercialise plant factories, developing large-scale vertical farming systems that combine the precision needed for molecular farming with the scale required to produce affordable fresh food.
Unlike many conventional indoor farms, CropWorks’ technology is designed to support two growing markets:
- Fresh produce, with plans to supply pesticide-free leafy salads and herbs directly to supermarkets and food service providers.
- Molecular farming, where plants are used to produce valuable compounds for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and advanced materials.
A key part of the company’s approach is combining laboratory research with advanced AI modelling. Data collected from experiments is used to create high-fidelity digital simulations of future commercial farms, enabling designs to be tested and refined before construction begins.
Accelerating innovation through Freeport East
Support from Freeport East’s Clean Growth Fund has enabled CropWorks to carry out crop cultivation research for biomanufacturing that would otherwise not have been possible.
Still in the research and development phase, CropWorks is working with leading partners including Imperial College London, the Hartree Centre, the University of Cambridge, the University of Essex and biotechnology company LeafyColl to develop technologies that can be commercialised at scale.
Working from laboratories at the University of Essex, the team has developed and tested new cultivation technologies, collecting detailed data on how factors such as temperature, humidity and light influence plant growth. These insights are helping to optimise future commercial-scale systems while reducing development time and risk.
The research has already delivered promising results, with laboratory trials producing higher plant biomass than the team had previously achieved under comparable growing conditions. Future research will focus on increasing protein production while reducing energy consumption, helping improve both productivity and sustainability.
Leo Roubicek, Founder & CEO of CropWorks states: “The support we’ve received from Freeport East has been instrumental in helping our research that is pioneering the next generation of indoor farming. The Clean Growth Fund has brought CropWorks a significant step closer to commercialising our technology and building a more resilient, sustainable food production system.”
Next steps: Unlocking precision farming
CropWorks’ next major milestone is the construction of an integrated prototype cultivation system, planned for late 2026 and will be optimised during 2027. They aim to start commercial build-out on a pilot basis, supplying customers in late 2028 to raise funds for mass-market expansion.
To find out more about CropWorks please visit: https://www.cropworks.net/ .
