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For Wood, who helped create VITAL in 2016, it\u2019s been an annual, real-world adventure through which he\u2019s led his graduate students for the past six years \u2014 a unique alliance among Virginia\u2019s universities, businesses, and state agencies. He says each VITAL project has presented his classes with unique challenges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
VCU completed a VITAL project for Fortune Auto, a Powhatan County-based manufacturer of performance automotive suspension and shock absorber systems. Elsewhere in Virginia, GMU completed a VITAL project for Henrico County-based Bluetooth developer Spanalytics, while Staunton-based Huss & Dalton Guitar Company got insights from JMU students. All three companies went on to engage further with VEDP International Trade services \u2014 Fortune Auto and Huss & Dalton participated in VEDP\u2019s market research services and Trade Show Program, while Spanalytics enrolled in VEDP\u2019s Global Defense Program and completed a trade mission to Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An Innovative Solution to Food Insecurity<\/h2>\n
Babylon\u2019s roots are actually in Charlottesville, where the company was co-founded by University of Virginia engineering students Alexander Olesen and Graham Smith. They wanted to design a low-cost \u201cmicro-farm\u201d to provide nutritious produce for food-insecure refugees in the Middle East.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In order to reach that ultimate goal, the company had to first prove that its science was solid. So, they developed a form of vertical farming, where plants in water are stacked under LED lights. Under this scenario, weather conditions like wind, rain, and drought don\u2019t really matter. Because of the modern technology required to develop micro-farms, the initial food costs are not cheap.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Far from food deserts, early test markets have been quite the opposite. Micro-farms have proven particularly popular inside hotels, universities, hospitals, and senior communities. Oosterhuis says in some senior centers, residents have been so fascinated with the individual plants that they have even taken to giving them names.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking toward the future, the students advised Babylon that potential markets definitely exist in the Middle East and in European markets like Germany and the Netherlands.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, yes, with the assistance of VITAL, Oosterhuis says that Babylon \u201cis now ready for prime time.\u201d It has 75 micro-farms right now and hopes to have more than 600 by the end of 2023. It\u2019s now identifying partners to work with in Dubai and Europe, and expects to finally begin to export its technology sometime during the second half of 2022.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He suggests that smaller companies like his \u2014 with little to no experience in exporting \u2014 could best benefit from the VITAL program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey really can come up with criteria that companies might not think about in segmenting an export market,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about picking the countries that give you the highest chance of success.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his company\u2019s case, that success can begin with a single head of lettuce.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n