Couple bringing vertical farming to Downtown Guelph after winning free store space
Sourced from Guelph Today
It’s the first time Downtown Guelph will have an indoor retail space where customers can walk in and have fresh produce harvested right in front of them.
After winning the Business Centre Guelph-Wellington's Win This Space business pitch competition, biotechnicians Nykole Crevits, 29, and Karl Fellbaum, 34, who founded Noki Farms, are set to move into a new space in Downtown Guelph this fall.
“We’re still kind of in shock,” said Crevits. “It still hasn’t fully set in.”
It was a whirlwind of emotion over the past month and a half the program was running.
The couple won a space downtown with discounted rent for the first year along with $20,000 at BCGW’s first ever Win This Space competition in partnership with Downtown Guelph Business Association and Invest in Guelph.
Noki Farms is one of three businesses that competed in a virtual business pitch event on April 13. The event was the culmination of nearly three months of business development, training and coaching for all participants.
“We know the hard work starts now,” said Fellbaum, adding that the couple is currently in talks with landlords of retail spaces in the downtown core to determine which space they will settle into.
He said the idea of Noki Farms came to them when the two found themselves at home with extra time on their hands during the pandemic.
