GyroPlant transformed its substrate-free reusable growing system from an early-stage concept into a commercially validated technology, proving its performance with commercial growers and opening new opportunities in the UK and overseas.
With support, the business advanced from laboratory testing to commercial trials, increasing industry confidence and positioning the technology for future growth.
Impact at a glance…
- Technology readiness:TRL 2-4 (concept formulated, experimental proof concept and technology validated) to TRL 7 (prototype demonstrated in operational environment)
- Commercial validation:Successful trials with Dole UK
- Industry recognition:High-profile showcase event and industry engagement
- International interest:Opportunities in North America, Japan and Australia
- Environmental impact:Reusable growing system reducing reliance on imported substrates
The challenge
Founded in 2020, GyroPlant set out to solve one of the biggest sustainability challenges for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) – replacing imported growing media like peat and coconut coir with a more sustainable alternative.
Their team developed GyroCup, a reusable propagation plug engineered to support healthy root development without the need for conventional substrate.
While the concept showed strong potential, they needed to prove it could perform consistently under commercial growing conditions before growers would consider adopting it.
“We knew our technology could transform propagation, but we needed robust evidence to demonstrate that it could deliver consistent results outside the laboratory,” explained founder Marcus Comaschi. “This required further refinements to design, commercial and crop-specific trials and additional expertise, and we were limited by funding and capacity constraints.”
The support
Working with the UK Agri-Tech Centre gave GyroPlant access to the scientific expertise, facilities and commercial connections needed to move its technology beyond the laboratory.
The Centre worked closely with the team to design and deliver rigorous trials, combining CEA facilities with commercial grower assessments to evaluate GyroCup across different crops. Detailed statistical analysis and independent reporting gave GyroPlant robust evidence of the technology’s performance, helping strengthen its credibility with growers, investors and future commercial partners.
Alongside technical validation, UK Agri-Tech Centre helped raise the company’s profile within the horticulture sector. This included introducing GyroPlant to commercial growers, facilitating showcase events, supporting demonstrations with Dole UK and producing professional video content that brought the technology to life for industry audiences.
The Centre also provided practical support throughout the Innovate UK-funded project, helping ensure the programme delivered meaningful technical outcomes while keeping commercial application front of mind.
Together, this support enabled GyroPlant to refine its technology, demonstrate its value under real-world conditions and build the confidence needed to take the next step towards commercial adoption.
“As a young business, one of our biggest challenges wasn’t believing in the technology ourselves – it was giving other people the confidence to believe in it too,” stressed Marcus. “The independent trials and evidence generated through UK Agri-Tech Centre completely changed those conversations.”
What changed?
Working with the UK Agri-Tech Centre gave GyroPlant the independent evidence needed to move beyond early-stage development and demonstrate that GyroCup could perform in commercial growing environments.
The collaboration enabled the business to:
- validate GyroCup across commercially relevant crops, including strawberries
- progress from TRL 2-4 to TRL 7
- generate independent scientific evidence to support commercial adoption
- attract interest from growers and partners in North America, Japan, Europe and Australia.
A major milestone came when GyroCup was trialled with Dole UK, followed by a high-profile demonstration day showcasing the technology in a commercial setting. The collaboration arose because Dole had identified a strawberry propagation challenge that GyroPlant was uniquely placed to solve, providing powerful validation of both the technology and the market need it addresses.
To maximise the impact of the trial, UK Agri-Tech Centre also produced a professional case study video, giving GyroPlant a valuable marketing asset to demonstrate the technology to future customers, partners and investors.
“Working with a business like Dole UK gave us the opportunity to demonstrate that GyroCup could solve a real commercial challenge,” reflected Marcus. “Opportunities like that don’t come along every day, and it gave us a level of credibility that would have taken years to build on our own.”
The business also collaborated with FYTO in Newcastle and Versatile Robot X in Essex who demonstrated the automation of transplanting GyroCup with affordable automation for greenhouses.
Business and industry impact
The project has positioned GyroPlant as a credible commercial partner, providing the independent evidence needed to build confidence among growers, customers and investors.
A key outcome has been the ongoing relationship with Dole UK. Following the successful trial and demonstration day, the two organisations have continued to work together to explore new applications for GyroCup, including berry propagation. This continued collaboration demonstrates that the technology is solving genuine commercial challenges and has the potential to deliver value across multiple horticultural crops.
Now available commercially, GyroCup offers growers a reusable alternative to traditional growing media, helping reduce reliance on imported substrates while supporting more sustainable and resilient production systems. Early trials suggest growers could achieve a return on investment in as little as six months, depending on the crop and growing system.
Beyond GyroPlant, the project demonstrates how independent validation and commercial trials can help innovative technologies reach growers more quickly. By supporting businesses to prove new solutions in real-world conditions, UK Agri-Tech Centre is helping accelerate the adoption of more sustainable production systems and strengthening the UK’s position as a leader in controlled environment agriculture.
What’s next?
With independent validation complete and commercial interest growing, GyroPlant is now focused on expanding both the technology and its market reach. This includes developing next generation greenhouses and vertical farms, as well as plant education and outreach.
The business plans to refine the system for a wider range of crops – including other berries like blueberries, leafy greens , legumes, stem, root and pharmaceutical crops – while introducing smaller, faster development trials to accelerate innovation and reduce time to market.
International expansion is also a priority, with growing interest from North America, Japan and Australia and Europe creating new opportunities to establish GyroCup as a global solution for more sustainable CEA. GyroPlant are also working with international universities on plant research, as well as global space organisations, supported by the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency.
As the business continues to grow, GyroPlant will continue working with the UK Agri-Tech Centre on further trials, industry engagement and technology demonstration, helping bring more sustainable propagation systems to growers around the world.