Urban Farmers

What Urban Farmers does

Urban Farmers (legal entity: ECF Farmsystems GmbH) is a Berlin-based commercial aquaponics company that designs, builds and operates hybrid fish-and-plant farms integrated into food retail infrastructure. Founded in 2015, the company couples aquaculture (catfish, barramundi, trout, char, tilapia) with vertical and horizontal greenhouse production of herbs, leafy greens, vegetables and mushrooms inside a dual water-circuit system. The dual-circuit architecture allows independent pH control for fish and plants, redirects fish excreta as plant fertilizer, returns plant oxygen to fish, and routes fish-farm CO2 into the greenhouse, producing claimed yield gains of 152% per square meter, 60% heat demand reduction and 95% water reduction relative to conventional greenhouse or open-field production. Siting is symbiotic: farms are placed on or adjacent to retail distribution centers and supermarkets to consume waste heat and embed production inside the retailer's footprint.

ECF commercializes through three channels. The ECF Operator Model is a managed-services arrangement in which the retailer finances and owns the physical farm while ECF plans, operates and pays a lease back; ultra-fresh produce is delivered to the retailer under a buying contract. The ECF Producer Model is a product-business arrangement in which ECF builds and operates its own farm on regional sites and sells produce to food retailers under purchase agreements. A planning and consulting services line supports partners who want to commission aquaponics facilities but operate them themselves. Reference deployments include the ECF Farm Berlin (1,800 m², 30-ton aquaculture, supplying 350 REWE stores from 2018 through 2025), REWE Green Farming Wiesbaden (1,900 m², 730,000 basil pots, supplying approximately 500 REWE stores since 2021), an Ecco Jäger rooftop facility in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland (1,200 m², 2015), and the BIGH Aquaponics Farm on a Brussels market hall (2,400 m², 2019). Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed.

The company has raised approximately $6.2 million across seven disclosed funding rounds between 2011 and 2015 from investors including Venture Kick, Eckenstein-Geigy-Stiftung, Walden Woods Holdings, SVG Ventures and Stimuleringsfonds Volkshuisvesting Nederlandse. Leadership is anchored by founder and CEO Nicolas Leschke and co-founder and managing partner Talita Campoi. ECF operates with a headcount of 1-10 employees and has collected multiple design and sustainability awards including the Red Dot Design Award (2022), the German Sustainability Award (2021), DGNB Gold (2023) and the Civic Trust Awards (2024).

Name

Urban Farmers

Legal name

ECF Farmsystems GmbH

Website

https://urbanfarmers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ECF Farmsystems GmbH (operating as Urban Farmers) builds and operates hybrid aquaponics farms integrating fish farming and greenhouse production into European food retail infrastructure, primarily serving REWE Group and other supermarket chains through managed-services and producer business models.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Controlled-Environment Agriculture / Aquaponic Farming

NAICS

Aquaculture (1125), Animal Production and Aquaculture (112), Aquaculture (11251), Other Crop Farming (1119)

SIC

Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Aquaponics (Integrated Fish & Plant Production) (AFAEAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) / Vertical Farming (Indoor LED Farms) (AFAGAHAJ), Finfish Farming (e.g., salmon, tilapia, catfish) (AFAEAAAA)

Keywords

• Aquaponic farming systems
• Controlled environment agriculture
• Urban food production
• Greenhouse aquaculture solutions
• Sustainable agriculture infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. ECF Operator Model - Lease Agreements: Food retailers finance and own the farm infrastructure; ECF operates the farm under a lease agreement and produces food while paying investment lease. Retailers receive ultra-fresh, sustainable produce under buying contracts.
2. ECF Producer Model - Purchase Agreements: ECF converts regional production sites into sustainable full-assortment farms, produces food on its own farm in synergy with the environment and logistics, and sells produce to food retailers under purchase agreements ensuring regional, ultra-fresh food in safe quantities.
3. Planning and Consulting Services: ECF acts as specialist planner commissioned for farm planning; builds and constructs aquaponics facilities for partners.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ECF Farmsystems develops, plans, builds and operates aquaponic farm systems that integrate fish farming with hybrid vertical and horizontal greenhouse plant production, selling fresh fish, herbs, greens and mushrooms to food retailers through two B2B partnership models (Operator and Producer) plus planning and consulting services.

Product overview

ECF Farmsystems offers a unified aquaponic farming solution combining aquaculture and hybrid vertical greenhouse production. The core product is ECF Aquaponics, which integrates fish farming with plant cultivation using two water circuits for optimized resource utilization. The company provides two business models: the ECF Operator Model (ECF plans and operates farms for food retailers) and the ECF Producer Model (ECF converts regional sites into farms). Their product range includes herbs and greens (basil, lettuce, parsley, dill, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, tomato, zucchini), mushrooms (champignon, shiitake, oyster, king oyster, nameko), and fish (catfish, barramundi, trout, char, tilapia). Notable reference facilities include the ECF Farm Berlin and the award-winning REWE Green Farming Wiesbaden supermarket.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ECF Aquaponics System Proprietary aquaponic farming system combining aquaculture with hybrid vertical/horizontal greenhouse production using a dual-circuit water design, bacteria-driven fish-water-to-fertilizer conversion, CO2/O2 symbiosis, and smart measurement and control technology. Delivered as planned, built and operated installations for food retail partners.
• Herbs & Greens Product Range Aquaponically-grown herbs and vegetables including basil, baby leaf, parsley, lettuce, dill, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, tomato and zucchini, sold to food retailers under operator or producer model agreements.
• Mushroom Product Range Aquaponically-produced mushrooms including champignon, shiitake, oyster, king oyster and nameko, supplied to food retailer partners.
• Fish Product Range Aquacultured fish including catfish, barramundi, trout, char and tilapia raised in the fish-farming circuit and supplied fresh to food retailer partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 152% yield increase per square meter vs conventional greenhouse
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• REWE GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Flagship partnership with REWE Group to develop, build and operate the REWE Green Farming concept - innovative supermarkets with integrated aquaponics farms. The first REWE Green Farming supermarket opened in Wiesbaden in 2021. ECF operates farms under lease agreements while supplying ultra-fresh produce to REWE stores (up to 500 supermarkets). Also operates ECF Farm Berlin supplying 350 REWE stores.
• BIGH Aquaponics FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019ECF planned and constructed the BIGH Aquaponics Farm in Brussels in 2019. Production facility 2,400 m² situated on rooftop of market hall. Pioneering sustainable and urban agriculture in Belgium.
• Ecco JägerflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015ECF planned and constructed an aquaponics facility for Ecco Jäger in 2015. Production facility 1,200 m² situated on rooftop of distribution center in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, seamlessly integrated into building structure and logistic processes.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Infarm: Berlin-headquartered indoor vertical farming company that built, operated, and supplied in-store and near-store fresh produce to European grocery retailers (Edeka, Aldi, Migros, etc.). Most directly comparable to ECF in business model, target customer (European grocers), and urban-vertical-farming category, though Infarm focused on herbs/leafy greens without the aquaculture component.
• Plenty: US-based indoor vertical farm operator building large-scale farms for leafy greens and herbs, partnered with major retailers and foodservice operators. Comparable as a capital-intensive vertical-farming company targeting grocery-supply contracts; differs by geography (US) and absence of aquaculture.
• 80 Acres Farms: US indoor vertical farming company operating farms integrated with retail and foodservice supply, producing leafy greens, herbs, and microgreens. Comparable in CEA/vertical-farming approach and retail-channel focus; differs in scale, geography, and product mix.
• AeroFarms: Newark, NJ-based vertical farming operator producing leafy greens and herbs with proprietary aeroponic technology for retail and foodservice. Comparable as a technology-driven CEA company with retail partnerships; differs by geography, lack of aquaculture, and significantly larger scale/funding.
• Bowery Farming: New York-based indoor vertical farming company supplying pesticide-free leafy greens, herbs, and berries to major US grocery chains (e.g., Whole Foods, Albertsons). Comparable in CEA-vertical-farming category and B2B retail supply; differs by geography, scale, and absence of aquaculture.
• Gotham Greens: US operator of high-tech hydroponic greenhouses supplying fresh produce to grocery retailers across multiple US states. Comparable as a capital-intensive urban/regional CEA company selling into grocery retail; differs by geography, hydroponic (not aquaponic) approach, and larger operational scale.
• BIGH (Building Integrated Greenhouses): Belgian aquaponics operator behind the Brussels rooftop farm planned and built by ECF in 2019. Directly comparable as a European aquaponics operator producing fish and plants on urban rooftops; closely aligned in category, though BIGH is a customer/partner of ECF rather than a competitor.

Emerging players

• Sky Greens: Singapore-based vertical farming operator using rotating-tier greenhouse systems to produce leafy greens for Asian markets. Comparable in the urban vertical-farming category and resource-efficient design philosophy; differs by geography, technology, and lack of aquaculture.
• Spread Co., Ltd. (Spread / Techno Farm): Japan-based operator of large-scale automated vertical farms (Techno Farm) producing leafy greens for retail and foodservice. Comparable as a technology-intensive CEA operator with retail-channel focus; differs by geography, automation emphasis, and absence of aquaculture.
• Nectar Farms: Australia-based large-scale indoor vertical farming company producing leafy greens and herbs for retail. Comparable in CEA category and retail-channel focus; differs by geography and lack of aquaculture component.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urbanfarmers-ltd-
• Instagraminstagram.com/ecf_farmsystems
• Xx.com/UrbanFarmersCH
• Facebookfacebook.com/UrbanFarmers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors5 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 Urban Farmers