The Harvest Hub

01/30/2023

January 30, 2023

Mission: Teaching the world to grow food

In 2018, Sean Fillion embarked on a noble task, to create the world’s first soil-based, fully controlled indoor farm that could grow anything. He wanted to solve food insecurity and give back to the world in a meaningful way. Like many founders, he started in his garage and ended up growing into two different facilities as his technology advanced. As luck would have it, he experienced some early successes and invented, and eventually patented, an airflow technology that proved to grow things faster indoors in soil.

In early 2022, The Harvest Hub was contacted by a private community member and the Oilfields High School in Diamond Valley, Alberta as they wanted to purchase The Harvest Hub farm and create a program to teach children alternative ways to grow food. At the same time, it also become evident that The Harvest Hub, without securing additional grant funding, wouldn’t be able to continue. We tried with all our might to secure foundational grant funding, applying many times to multiple sources, coming close several times, but in the end, all without luck. We strongly felt The Harvest Hub needed government support and not necessarily private industry capital support. So we made the decision early on to not raise capital and to pursue grant funding. We are proud of this decision and still stick by it.

Where we did have a lot of luck was within our start-up community in Calgary. A huge shout out to The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), Foresight, Start-up TNT, Olds College, University of Calgary, SAIT, Inventures, the ERA, Alberta Innovates and many other people. We received endless support in terms of volunteers, partners, local media, Capstone projects, and letters of intent from buyers in both Canada and the US wishing to purchase our technology once commercialized. Alberta is simply the best place to start and build a company in Canada.

As of March 1, 2023, we’ve made the decision to close The Harvest Hub. We simply have not been able to secure enough grant funding to continue our mission. We will however still be able to support the Oilfields High School and their program. The children will now be the ones that will take on our mission.

The Harvest Hub had a grand vision and we accomplished so much in the short time we had. We are proud of all the work we’ve done and don’t walk away from this venture feeling disappointed; this is simply the risk of start-ups and building companies.

Thank you to our community, our partners and everyone who supported us along the way. We’ve left the world a little better than we found it and for that, we are forever grateful.

Farm. Eat. Learn.

Sincerely,

Sean Fillion and Alina Martin
Co-Founders, The Harvest Hub Ltd.

11/17/2021

This is why what we are doing at The Harvest Hub is so important. https://financialpost.com/commodities/agriculture/evan-fraser-b-c-storms-a-reminder-that-our-food-supply-system-leaves-us-nine-meals-from-anarchy

We manufacture indoor, soil-based vertical farming equipment. You name it, we can grow it.

02/24/2021

Our goal at The Harvest Hub is to power and feed people in areas that need it most! We also are starting to do waste recycling and making compost, but that's a whole other conversation! We don't post enough but that's because we are small team, trying to do big things. Today, we celebrate all those that have a hand in Agriculture, from farmers to producers. We were lucky enough this week to be featured in The Calgary Herald highlighting all those that are working to bring technology driven agriculture to the world. We were certainly in great company.

Over the years, the local food movement has grown from a handful of agriculture advocates touting the importance of supporting local farmers to a large-scale…

01/25/2021

Happy New Year! As we build towards a greener future, healing our bodies and our planet with food, here’s a little clip for a new documentary that’s available on Netflix right now. Even if you are skeptical or not immersed daily in this like we are - you’ll love it. We are loyal to the soil at The Harvest Hub and it looks like we are not alone.

The must-see trailer for Kiss the Ground. Watch it and discover a simple solution for climate change. The full-length film is now streaming on Netflix! Take ...

12/03/2020

Hi everyone! I know we've been quiet on social media as of late. We've been very busy growing our farm to the next stage and we are in the process of moving as our lease was up! Its been a very busy year for us as Covid-19 has pushed businesses like ours to the top of inboxes and really pushed and question sustainable food sources and access. In between growing, having success and failures, as is the nature of start ups, we continue to receive media attention and are very grateful for all the exposure! Here's a great article by Natural Products Canada which has been very aggressive in this industry promoting, connecting and funding agricultural and sustainable businesses. Thanks NPC for the mention! Happy Holidays & everyone stay safe. See you all in 2021! https://www.innovatingcanada.ca/industry/growing-opportunities-with-natural-products-canada/ #

Technological advancements and the demand for sustainable and healthy options have converged to create unprecedented opportunities for Canadian agriculture.

04/22/2020

Our planet, our earth, Mother Nature. Plants are the source of life. They nourish our minds, body and souls. Protect our planet.

04/15/2020

Check out Sean Fillion and G2V Optics Inc. on Global TV Edmonton chatting about growing food indoors year-round in Canada. It’s possible and achievable with proper equipment, lighting and technology. Freshly grown, nutritionally dense products, grown locally. This is part of a food security cycle, which can be achieved anywhere in the world with government support, access to capital and talent. The question is no longer about just being able to grow indoor leafy greens well, but providing the tools necessary to grow any fruit or vegetable, anywhere, in soil, indoors, year round. Do this well and we can solve many problems.

Watch Edmonton company sees the light for urban agriculture to take root year-round Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca

04/14/2020

During WWI, home gardens, called "Victory Gardens" were encouraged to help food supply chains out & provide food security. Now with technology, indoor vertical farms can add to this solution.

The coronavirus lockdowns are making city dwellers realise how crucial urban farms can be in feeding the urban population.

04/14/2020

The ability to "just" jet off to the grocery store and buy what we need is a reality for most of us in North America. But what if we can't get what we need? Is it time to bring back the home garden? What about urban farming?

The meat supply is at risk. Farm workers are in fear. It's hard to get groceries.

04/13/2020

Food Security? Have you ever thought about it before now?

Toban Dyck: Farmers aren’t making dramatic changes this year, but COVID-19 realities have laid the foundation to think about food security differently

04/06/2020

Now that you've done some planting, having a few issues? Issues are common in growing but don't fear, most are easy to resolve.

While yellowing leaves are natural in fall and old leaves, the main reason why a sickly plant show yellowing leaves is to get your attention - for help.

03/30/2020

Here's the Golden Acre link too!

Did you know that you can find a huge selection of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, and evergreens in our online store?