12.4%
Rise in vegetable prices in one month
Korea's consumer prices for vegetables rose 12.4% from July to August 2026, with lettuce up 28.4% and spinach up 68.2%.
AI bio chambers for urban micro farms
Turning Empty Storefronts into City Farms.
SOLAUM grows fresh vegetables in refrigerator-sized AI bio chambers placed in vacant urban spaces, and supplies them right where they are grown.
- Footprint per chamber
- 2.4 m²
- Core technology
- Patent-pending mirrors
- First site
- Daegu, Korea
Concept rendering
SOLAUM indoor farm
Vegetables Feel the Weather First.
Korea is losing farmers and farmland while heatwaves grow longer, and half of what consumers pay for produce goes to distribution. Meanwhile, storefronts across its cities sit empty.
49.2%
Share of retail price spent on distribution
The 2023 average for Korean farm produce. For leafy and root vegetables such as napa cabbage and radish, it reaches 64.3%.
14.7%
Vacancy in mid-to-large retail space
Nationwide in Q3 2026. In Daegu, our first site, it is 19.6%, 4.9 points above the national rate.
51.0%
Farm population aged 65 or older
More than half of Korea's farming and fishing population was 65 or older in 2025, straining labor-intensive vegetable production.
Sources: Consumer Price Trends (Aug 2026), Agricultural Distribution Survey (2023), Commercial Real Estate Rental Trends (Q3 2026), Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2025)
One Chamber,
Every Condition.
Inside a refrigerator-style cabinet with a 2.4 m² footprint, a PLC and AI manage light, nutrient solution and air together, creating the right conditions for each crop whatever the weather outside.
Concept renderingPer-tier LED lighting
Adjusts light intensity and spectrum directly above the crops on every tier.
Reflective mirror walls
Redirect light that would escape to the walls back onto the crops. Patent pending.
Multi-tier growing
Tiers are split by growth stage, using height to make the most of a small footprint.
Drawer-type nutrient module
Slides in and out by its handle, making harvests and solution changes easy.
Status display and remote view
Temperature, humidity and CO₂ on the front panel and on your phone.
Light, Reflected.
With LEDs only overhead, leaves shade one another as crops grow, so edge plants and lower leaves fall behind. SOLAUM chambers place mirrors around each LED to return stray light to the crops, and adjust the mirrors' tilt and curvature to match plant height.
Patent pending
- Title
- AI-powered indoor LED plant grower
- Filed
- July 2026, examination requested
- International filing
- PCT priority deadline July 2027
Research shows that bringing lights closer to crops and lining grow compartments with reflective curtains improves energy-use efficiency (Frontiers in Plant Science, 2023).
Sensed by PLC.
Decided by AI.
An edge AI on every chamber forecasts the next 24 hours of conditions and harvest weight, then sets the targets. The PLC handles real-time control and safety shutdowns, and falls back to a safe recipe if communication is lost.
Concept renderingControl architecture
Edge AIForecasts environment and growth, sets per-crop targets, sends alerts
Setpoints Readings and logs
PLCReal-time control and instant shutdown on overheating, leaks or power loss. The AI cannot change safety logic.
Commands Sensor values
Sensors and actuatorsLight, CO₂, temperature, humidity, EC, pH / LEDs, fans, nutrient pumps, valves
Nutrient-tuned growing recipes
The same lettuce develops different nutrient levels under different solutions and light. We start by validating recipes already supported by published research.
| Product | Method | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-potassium lettuce | Lower potassium in the nutrient solution two weeks before harvest | Leaf potassium significantly lower than control (Andong National University, 2018) | Trial 2027 |
| High-anthocyanin lettuce | Mixed red and blue light | 4.1× the anthocyanin of red light alone (National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, 2010) | Trial 2027 |
| Vitamin C–enhanced lettuce | Supplemental UV-A and photoperiod control | Ascorbic acid content varies with photoperiod (Jeonbuk National University, 2016) | Under review |
As general foods, these products make no claim to prevent or treat disease, and will follow nutrient labeling standards when commercialized.
First Site:
Daegu Micro Farm
Our first site is planned for a storefront in Daegu in Q4 2027. Vegetables grown in the chambers are harvested, packed and sold on the spot, and the site also hosts tours and collects trial data.
Concept rendering
AI bio chamber zone24 units in the concept, run by growth stage
PLC panels and nutrient supplyA control panel and nutrient line for each row
Seedling racks and R&D benchRaising seedlings and testing recipes
Harvest, packing, shippingPacked on harvest day for the store and B2B
AI control roomEvery chamber's status and forecast on one screen
Lounge and tour routeA route for visitors and institutional tours
Brand moss wallA living moss wall inside the store
Daylight windowsWindow planters and an open storefront
Distribution in one step
For leafy and root vegetables, 64.3% of what consumers pay goes to distribution (2023). SOLAUM grows and sells in the same store. Actual costs and margins will be measured and published in the 2027 trials.
Conventional
- Farm
- Collection
- Wholesale market
- Middlemen, retail
- Consumer
SOLAUM
- Chamber in the store
- Consumer
One Module,
Many Spaces.
Each chamber is a 2.4 m² module, so capacity grows with the number of units. The same control system runs everything from a single vacant office to a warehouse.
Concept renderingUrban storefronts and vacant offices
Rows of chambers in vacant space produce food close to restaurants, cafés and institutional kitchens.
Concept renderingWarehouses and large facilities
Chambers stacked on mezzanine structures produce B2B volumes, run by the same AI control system.
Research and education institutions, small growers
Adopt a 2.4 m² chamber with an AI operations service covering remote monitoring, recipe updates and growth forecasts.
Public agencies and local governments
Validate vacant storefronts and unused school buildings as trial sites together, and share on-site growing data.
Roadmap to 2027
The patent application, the company and the control software are in place. After validating performance in 2027 lettuce trials, we will open our first storefront micro farm in Daegu.
Phase 1
2026
Foundation
- Patent filed for the reflective-mirror AI grower, examination requested (Jul)
- First version of the edge AI control software, passed PLC simulator tests (Oct)
- SOLAUM Co., Ltd. incorporated, headquartered in Daegu (Nov)
Phase 2
2027
Lettuce trials
- Build prototype chambers
- Compare against control chambers with the same variety and conditions
- Validate low-potassium and high-anthocyanin recipes
Phase 3
2027
International patent and certification
- PCT international application (priority deadline Jul 2027)
- Pursue Korean national standard (KS) testing for smart-farm ICT equipment
Phase 4
Q4 2027
First site in Daegu
- Open the storefront micro farm
- Begin same-day sales and B2B supply
We will publish measured performance
Published figures put vertical-farm lettuce at 10–18 kWh per kg. In the 2027 trials, SOLAUM will measure and publish energy per kg, marketable yield and labor time against control chambers growing the same variety under the same conditions.
Fresh Food,
Grown Where People Live.
We grow fresh vegetables year-round, on plan, inside the cities where people live, free from the swings of weather and long supply chains. The model we prove in Daegu will expand to old downtowns and unused school buildings across Korea.
Let's pilot city farms in vacant spaces together.
We welcome inquiries about vegetable supply, chamber adoption, pilots in public vacant spaces, and investment.
Vegetable supplyCustom vegetables for restaurants, cafés, hospitals and care-home kitchens
Chamber adoptionChambers and AI operations service for research and education institutions and small growers
Pilots and investmentPublic vacant-space pilots, joint government R&D, seed investment