What Zayndu does

Zayndu Limited is a UK-based agritech company founded in 2019 as a spinout from Loughborough University's Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering. It develops and manufactures ActivatedAir, an on-site cold plasma seed priming system that uses reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) to disinfect and prime seeds without chemicals, hot water, or residues. The technology originated from research by Technical Director Dr Felipe Iza and is delivered via two hardware systems — the Aurora Z10 (1 kg per batch, launched January 2021) and the Z25 (5-litre, double plasma, launched at GreenTech 2025) — accompanied by SeedCloud, an award-winning cloud platform for remote machine monitoring, protocol management, and food-safety audit trails.

The company sells exclusively to Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) operators — primarily vertical farms and commercial greenhouses growing short-cycle crops such as lettuce, spinach, basil, and rocket — with secondary reach into plant breeders, seed multipliers, and academic researchers. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales with two regional business development representatives (Europe/GCC and North America/UK), heavy presence at industry events (GreenTech, CEA 4.0, Indoor Ag-Con, VertiFarm, Seed Meets Technology, GVF Show Dubai), a free-trial 'Try Before You Buy' programme, and content marketing via its Seed Matters blog.

The revenue model is a hardware-plus-service subscription with no upfront capital cost, billed monthly, annually, or on multi-year terms with tiered discounts. Pricing is quote-based. Per-batch usage tiers accommodate seasonal demand, and crop-specific protocol packages (S-Prime for Spinach launched April 2025) are delivered via SeedCloud as a software overlay. Strategic partners include Loughborough University, NIAB, Vertical Future (CHOPS Innovate UK project), Seed Valley/Vertify, UKUAT, and the Association for Vertical Farming; Foresight Group led a £3.0M funding round in June 2025.

Name

Zayndu

Legal name

Zayndu Limited

Website

https://zayndu.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zayndu is a UK-based Loughborough University spinout that manufactures on-site cold plasma seed priming systems (ActivatedAir) for Controlled Environment Agriculture operators, delivering chemical-free disinfection and yield gains of up to 30% on a hardware-plus-service subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Equipment and Seed Treatment Technology

NAICS

Air-Conditioning and Warm Air Heating Equipment and Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing (333415)

SIC

Industrial Process Furnaces & Ovens (3567)

akta.pro primary industry

On-Farm Cold Chain & Pre-Cooling Equipment (Hydrocoolers, Vacuum Cooling) (AFAAAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cold Storage for Seed & Planting Material (AFAOADAI)

Keywords

• Cold plasma seed treatment
• Seed priming technology
• Controlled environment agriculture
• Seed disinfection equipment
• Agricultural plasma systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Loughborough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. ActivatedAir™ Subscription (Hardware + Service): Zayndu provides its ActivatedAir seed priming system on a subscription basis. The machine is loaned or provided as part of the service subscription; there is no upfront capital cost for the system. Subscribers pay monthly, annually, or for longer terms, with discounts for longer commitments. The subscription covers agreed quantities of seed treatment capacity, with the ability to scale up or down based on growing needs. Protocols are downloaded via SeedCloud. This is the primary revenue model.
2. Per-Batch Seed Treatment: Growers can also access the system on a per-batch basis within their subscription, processing agreed quantities of seeds per month. Seasonal demand peaks can be accommodated, and the company works with growers to smooth payments through the year.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Zayndu manufactures and supplies cold plasma seed priming systems (Aurora Z10 and Z25) under the ActivatedAir™ brand, which use reactive oxygen and nitrogen species to simultaneously disinfect and prime seeds on-site at the grower's facility. Systems are delivered on a subscription basis (monthly, annual, or multi-year) with no upfront capital cost, supported by the SeedCloud cloud platform for remote monitoring, treatment protocol downloads, and food safety audit trails.

Product overview

Zayndu provides ActivatedAir™, an on-site cold plasma seed priming technology for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) that boosts plant health and increases yield without chemicals. The product portfolio centers on two hardware systems: the Aurora Z10 (1kg capacity, first commercial system launched 2021) and the Z25 (5-litre capacity, launched 2022) cold plasma seed treatment machines. SeedCloud, an award-winning cloud-based monitoring and data management platform, accompanies the hardware to optimize performance and enable protocol downloads. The systems are offered on a subscription basis with no upfront capital cost, allowing growers to prime seeds on-demand for various crops including lettuce, basil, spinach, rocket, kale, and microgreens.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ActivatedAir™ Seed Priming Service Subscription-based on-site cold plasma seed priming service that delivers reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) to seeds in a sealed rotating drum, simultaneously disinfecting them and priming them for faster germination and higher yield. Delivered via Aurora Z10 or Z25 hardware on a monthly, annual, or multi-year subscription with no upfront capital cost.
• Aurora Z10 Cold Plasma System Zayndu's first commercial cold plasma seed treatment machine, offering 1kg seed capacity per batch and providing a dry, chemical-free alternative to chemical seed treatments with no residues. Used as part of the ActivatedAir™ subscription offering.
• Z25 Cold Plasma System Larger capacity cold plasma seed priming system featuring 5-litre treatment capacity and a double plasma system, designed for vertical farms and greenhouses requiring higher seed throughput. Launched in 2022.
• SeedCloud Platform Award-winning cloud-based data management platform that connects to Zayndu's ActivatedAir™ machines, enabling remote monitoring, downloading of treatment protocols, recording of batch-level treatment audit trails, and communication with Zayndu's support team.
• S-Prime Crop Protocol Package (Spinach) Crop-optimised priming protocol package dedicated to spinach, the first in a planned range of crop-specific protocol packages. Delivered via the SeedCloud platform to ActivatedAir™ machines to optimise treatment parameters for spinach seeds.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average 17% yield increase across 40+ commercial grower trials
• +14 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NIAB (National Institute of Agricultural Botany)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022NIAB collaborated with Zayndu and Vertical Future on the Innovate UK-funded CHOPS (CEA Heirloom Optimisation & Pathogen Control for Seeds) project. NIAB provided seed and plant health expertise, specifying a high-health seed protocol and working on seed testing and certification frameworks for the CEA sector. Dr Tom Wood (NIAB) and Dr Jane Thomas (Senior Pathologist, NIAB) are quoted advocates of the technology.
• Vertical FuturecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Vertical Future collaborated with Zayndu and NIAB on the CHOPS (CEA Heirloom Optimisation & Pathogen Control for Seeds) project funded by Innovate UK. Vertical Future provided CEA growing facilities for trials and has adopted Zayndu's technology in their own vertical farms. CEO Jamie Burrows is a quoted advocate. Vertical Future also collaborated with Zayndu in cleaning heritage seeds as part of the CHOPS project.
• Agri-TechEminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2021Agri-TechE is a membership organisation bringing together technologists with farmers, growers, and scientists to create an innovation ecosystem. Zayndu has presented at multiple Agri-TechE events including 'Keeping It Clean' (January 2021) where the Z10 was launched. Agri-TechE director Dr Belinda Clarke has publicly endorsed Zayndu's technology.
• Loughborough University (Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZayndu is a spinout from Loughborough University's Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering. The cold plasma seed disinfection technology originated from research by Dr Felipe Iza. The university remains a key research partner and Zayndu is headquartered at the Advanced Technology Innovation Centre (ATIC) on the Loughborough University Science & Enterprise Park.
• Seed Valley (Vertify)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSeed Valley in the Netherlands is the centre of plant breeding and seed technology activities. Zayndu exhibited at Seed Meets Technology 2022 event at Vertify (Seed Valley). Provides access to world-leading plant breeders including Takii Europe, Wing Seed, Gautier Semences, Sakata, Bejo, Hazera & HM Clause, Syngenta, Seminis for potential partnerships.
• UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerUK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT) is a UK-based AgriTech network. Zayndu is a member of UKUAT and produced a video explaining its ActivatedAir technology for UKUAT.
• Association for Vertical Farming (AVF)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Association for Vertical Farming is a global non-profit organisation. Zayndu participated in AVF activities and Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Chairwoman of AVF, visited the Zayndu stand at GreenTech 2025.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Bayer Crop Science:
• Syngenta: Global agrochemical and seed treatment leader owned by ChemChina/Sinochem. Comparable as the dominant incumbent in chemical seed treatment that Zayndu's chemical-free ActivatedAir technology is positioned to disrupt, particularly as Thiram withdrawal and neonicotinoid restrictions erode the chemical seed treatment market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zayndu
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/zayndu
• Xx.com/Zayndu_Seeds

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zayndu