August 25, 2016

Kimbal Musk, younger brother of Tesla and SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, and his business partner, Tobias Peggs, are planning the launch this fall of Square Roots – a new accelerator for urban, vertical farming startups.

Key investors and backers of the accelerator include Los Angeles-based Powerplant Ventures, Lightbank, FoodTech Angels, GroundUp, Techstars CTO Jud Valeski, and Ann Marie Gardner, the founder of Modern Farmer.

Already the founder of The Kitchen, a string of soon to be 11 family farm-to-table restaurants offering sustainably and locally sourced food located throughout the middle of the U.S., Musk’s next venture will be to invest in and mentor vertical, hydroponic farmers operating from Square Roots’ 10 modified, climate-controlled shipping containers in Brooklyn, New York.

“Our goal [with Square Roots] is to enable a whole new generation of real food entrepreneurs, ready to build thriving, responsible businesses. The opportunities in front of them will be endless,” said Musk in his statement on Medium announcing the launch.

The accelerator plans to select 10 startups for its first class – each to be given around-the-clock access to its designated shipping container for one year. Each startup also will have access to the accelerator’s team of mentors and access to hydroponic technology designed for vertical agricultural production in shipping containers developed by Freight Farms and ZipGrow.

Additionally, each startup will have the ability to sell all produce grown in their container during their time with Square Roots.

“Our goal is to empower young people to become real food entrepreneurs—so selling the food they grow is a big part of that,” said Peggs reports Food and Wine. “We will encourage them to build direct relationships with customers and sell food locally—to families at farmers’ markets, to chefs at restaurants, and more.”

Although Square Roots will initially have the one location in Brooklyn, Musk envisions his model expanding throughout New York City and to cities across the U.S. with each campus containing between 10 and 100 farming containers.

“These are people who are likely just starting their entrepreneurial journey,” Peggs says. “They will get hands-on experience running a vertical farming business with us – but we’re here to help them become future leaders in food, wherever that journey leads.”