Vijay Narayanan
Chartered Accountant by Qualification & Ex Investment Banker and Private Equity Professional. Started the hydroponics journey professionally in 2016, by taking a planned sabbatical from his old trade. Being a grower for over 18 years, Vijay saw the need for a strong entity which is fully integrated in the hydroponics space with captive manufacturing, R&D, Biotech, Automation and distribution.
He was instrumental in setting up VASP Advisors which owns the brand UrbanFarmer, the premier manufacturing and project management entity in the hydroponics space. VASP further expanded its portfolio by investing, acquiring and grooming other companies in the group namely Arowana Automation, Arowana SpectroGlyph, Valens Arbor Biotech and UrbanRoots. VASP Advisors also has minority holdings through angel investing in some of the other prominent players in the Hydroponics produce growing and distribution space
Durgesh Desai
Biotechnologist with specialization in Agronomy and Hydroponics. Durgesh heads R&D and Agronomy for the group. Being a grower for over a decade and a scientist, he has been the driving force behind the R&D and product development for the group.
Durgesh also heads the Agronomy as a Service division where he manages a team of agronomists who assist our client farms in seamless operations and trouble shooting
Alpesh Sondagar
Alpesh is an Engineer by qualification with specialization in Industrial Automations, Embedded applications and Robotics. He heads the R&D and Product Designing for Arowana Automation & Arowana SpectroGlyph and has been the life force behind the state of the art automation systems in our indoor farms and greenhouses.
Ragi Unnikrishnan
Biotechnologist with specialization in Horticulture & Genetics and backed with a Management qualification, Ragi has wide experience plant tissue culture area and has hands on experience right from the explant handling to inoculation to transplantation of the regenerated plant. Ragi is responsible for novel ideas in our R&D division, designing spectrums for our lights for hydroponics, tissue culture and other varied horticulture initiatives.