Our Roots | Indoor Commercial Farms | Just Vertical

In 2017, Just Vertical was founded by Conner Tidd and Kevin Jakiela, long-time friends who had recently completed their masters programs at the University of Toronto.

Kevin had just returned from groundbreaking indoor growing research in the Canadian Arctic, while Conner had gained a real-world perspective on the food problems faced by people around the world through his work in "Big Ag."

During an impromptu lunchtime discussion between classes, they realized that to make a real impact on food insecurity, they needed to find a way to enable people to grow their own food at home. Combining their knowledge of plant science, engineering, manufacturing, and business development, they decided to create vertical hydroponic growing systems that could be seamlessly integrated into urban living spaces. And so, Just Vertical was born.

Our journey, thus far, has been focused in two areas. Starting in 2017, we developed two unique gardens built for the everyday grower: the AEVA and the EVE.

Starting a little later in mid-2019, we applied our knowledge and patented technology of building farms for the everyday home to larger scale, custom farms. Through this, our commercial division as born.

For us, our growth as both a lifestyle and commercial manufacturer of beautiful indoor gardening systems has just began. We’re still a seedling of an organization. However, our growing community has already achieved some amazing success.

Check out the impact of our Canadian-made gardens below.

- 408,394,021 food miles saved since launching Just Vertical in 2017
- 9,251,291 liters of water saved since launching Just Vertical in 2017
- 211,182 pounds (lbs) of produce grown since launching Just Vertical in 2017

Honestly, we know you’re a smart person. You’re probably sick of beig told about how our world is in peril. At Just Vertical, we’re eternal optimists. We know we can fix this world. We know with each small step we can work together to help make the world greener, fresher, and a little tastier.

Imagine a world where our planet's largest farmer doesn’t own a single piece of farmland. Each indoor farm, grow wall, and garden we build is designed to be easy to use, spark a sense of joy, and bring us closer to producing more high-quality, amazing tasting food for everyone in the world to consume - all without owning a single piece of land.

Not the reading type? We got you. Watch this video that provides a good (great?) overview of who we are, what we do, and why you should be coming on our growing journey with us.