This Melbourne AgTech could change the galaxy’s approach to growing

Melbourne AgTech firm Gaia Project Australia has a game-changing solution for growing leafy greens, and its market potential goes well beyond Earth.

The Docklands-based startup’s technology has already captured the attention of space agency NASA and now Gaia is hoping a $1.7 million seed round led by the Eagle Fund, a joint venture between Breakthrough Victoria and La Trobe University, alongside agrifood tech investor Mandalay Venture Partners and LaunchVic’s Hugh Victor McKay Fund will help grow its impact.

Led by founder Nadun Hennayaka, Gaia’s technology uses modular growing channels that move to create space as plants like lettuce grow, allowing growers to generate a better output of crops over a smaller area.

The technology turbocharges controlled environment agriculture (CEA), generating crop yields up to 40 per cent larger than what’s possible using existing CEA approaches.

At a time when concerns about climate change and food security are plaguing growers across the world, Gaia’s work has international appeal.

“We have designed a new engine for CEA, and it’s much more efficient engine with a higher production output,” Nadun explains.

The company’s point of difference is the significant increase in yield that its technology can achieve. CEA  farming infrastructure is expensive, meaning any new technologies have to make an impact quickly.

“The return on investment is quite important. The more plants you can grow per Sqm, the quicker that return on investment is,” he says.

The NASA tick of approval

But the company’s technology has interplanetary potential too.

In 2021, the business took out the international innovation award at NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge for its design of a growing system capable of producing ample leafy greens to feed a space crew.

Getting NASA’s tick of approval has helped open doors for the company to be involved with other space development programs and there are plenty of opportunities to show how the technology might be used in future Lunar and Mars missions.

Over the next few months Gaia’s focus will be more Earth-centric, however, with manufacturing underway in Melbourne and across India so the company has the parts necessary to complete its first large-scale installations on farms.

This includes finalising its first commercial scale site in Victoria and beginning work on a second site in India in the coming months.

“We have proven our work on a small scale… now it’s a matter of proving it on large, commercial scale projects,” Nadun says.

“We’ve been in R&D phase for three years now, so now we’re ready to go to market and start generating revenue.”

A platform for growth

Mandalay Venture Partner’s Timothy Hui says Gaia’s technology provides a clear solution for growers that helps save them human labour and can be readily adopted onto farms to help boost crop outputs.

“It’s a very practical solution that is fit for the industry and very clearly solves a problem – and it works,” he says.

Mandalay invests in sustainable agriculture technology businesses “from farm to fork” and has taken an increasing interest in Victorian founders in recent times.

In 2024, Mandalay expanded to Victoria as the recipient of a $300,000 grant under LaunchVic’s VC Support program.

“We have seen thriving activity in Victoria and a real interest from LaunchVic and AgVic in building the whole funnel… It’s one thing to have active deals, it’s another thing to have a growing ecosystem.”

Tapping into this growing ecosystem has been critical for Gaia’s growth.

As a solo founder, Nadun has spent several months navigating the startup wilderness having validated his idea but not yet having the resources to scale it.

“We had the technology ready, but when it comes to commercialising deep tech, it takes a tonne of money,” he says.

Having built a “top notch” team of engineers and found assistance and partnerships through organisations like La Trobe University and LaunchVic, Gaia is now ready to prove itself on the global stage.

“People are spending billions of dollars in this market, because food security is critical,” Nadun says.

“You can live without a lot of things, but food is a priority. And if you have a new piece of technology that can change the output of growing, then that’s a good investment for growers.”