In just one year, founder Alberto Aguilar saw the highest highs and the toughest lows: a sudden co-founder departure, a complete product redesign, expansion to new markets, and the birth of a vision that would take Plantaform from Ottawa to Saudi Arabia. In this episode of the Irrepressibles Podcast, Alberto shares how perseverance, clarity, and bold decision-making helped him evolve a hardware startup into a global agritech force.

The Moment Everything Broke (and Why It Was Necessary)

One of the most powerful moments of Alberto’s story is when his long-time friend and co-founder suddenly left the company. What could have been a collapse became an epiphany. Alberto realized that the company wasn’t going in the right direction — not because the idea was wrong, but because the team wasn’t aligned with the level of pressure and ambition required.
This rupture forced a moment of brutal clarity: enter the U.S. market, redesign the entire device, raise capital, and reset leadership. As he describes, those sleepless nights were the turning point that pushed Plantaform into its most important evolution yet.

The Pivot That Led to Plantafarm

What followed was an aggressive expansion: opening the U.S. market, attending CES, winning the Best of Innovation Award, and then building relationships in the Middle East that would completely redefine the company’s trajectory.

Plantafarm — a commercial-scale method of growing food sustainably in harsh desert environments — emerged as the natural pivot. By developing fog-based hydroponic systems and pyramid-based greenhouse structures, Plantaform now maximizes yield while dramatically cutting energy and water usage.
This innovation secured $2.5M in grants, a $125M accessible loan pool, and land in Saudi Arabia to build their first prototype greenhouse. It’s not just a pivot — it’s the start of a new industry.

Tactical Takeaways for Founders

Alberto drops several practical insights throughout the episode:

• Find a real problem, not a cool idea → Real willingness to pay matters more than innovation flair.
• Competitors are a good sign → They prove the market exists.
• Don’t overthink, execute → Momentum creates clarity.
• Focus on work that moves the needle → Not all tasks matter equally in a startup with high burn.
• Perseverance beats perfect planning → You can’t win if you don’t stay long enough to learn.

These are the principles that allowed Plantaform not only to survive but to accelerate.

Alberto’s journey is a lesson in resilience, vision, and constant reinvention. If you want to understand what it truly takes to scale a startup in one of the hardest industries on earth, this episode is a must-listen.

🎧 Listen to the full episode now on the Irrepressibles Podcast.