Company: Stadtgemüse UG (limited liability)
Founder: Thorsten Schmidt
Date of establishment: September 9, 2020
Industry and company: Cleantech & Agritech

What drives you? What is your motto?
Big changes start with a small root.

What is your start-up about and what makes it special?
Carrots without soil, peanuts without digging – with Stadtgemüse®, tubers and deep-rooted plants can be grown hydroponically for the first time! Thanks to smart heat utilization and a nutrient medium that is not disposed of or recycled, but simply cleaned, vegetable farmers save valuable resources. This reduces tons of disposable waste – and lets only their vegetables grow.

What are your first successes?
Funded by the city of Wiesbaden, supported by the state of Hesse, and networked with plant cultivation professionals – Stadtgemüse® is growing on all levels! Initial pilot projects and our proof of concept are convincing. And third place in the F.A.Z. Impact Startup Award 2025 shows that we can hold our own even against well-financed startups.

What is your professional background?
From wood as a material to the science of plant growth – my path has been anything but straightforward. I worked as a carpenter for over 20 years, then caught up on my high school diploma and studied biology. Back to being an employee? No, thank you! A part-time job as a gardener led me to aquaponics – my gateway drug to hydroponics. The rest? (Start-up) history.

What prompted you to start your own business? I had been
interested in environmental protection for a long time, but it wasn't until I was at university that it took on a concrete form. When my sister-in-law asked me if I could implement an aquaponics project with her elementary school class, I looked for a child-friendly, sustainable solution for the hydroponics part. I tinkered around, developed an initial growing medium—and recognized the potential. The school project fell victim to COVID-19, but I couldn't let go of the idea. I continued to optimize the system until it became a real innovation. And then I knew: now is the time to change agriculture with Stadtgemüse®.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors?
Founding a start-up without the right environment is difficult. My wife Vera is my best growth medium. With Heimathafen, I have found the perfect breeding ground for my idea here in Wiesbaden, and with Michaela, who has been actively supporting Stadtgemüse® since last year, things are really taking root. Last but not least, the economic development agency. They really make an effort and make life easier for founders.

How did you experience your first days as a founder?
Founding a company during the coronavirus pandemic? It was like hydroponics without water—the essentials were simply missing. Online applications were in their infancy and you needed a fax machine to use them. Video conferences were still chaotic, and valuable information wasn't available over coffee, but not at all. Today, all of this is taken for granted – back then, it felt like flying blind through a thicket of bureaucracy.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it? Finding
a suitable test greenhouse for the proof of concept was a real test of patience. It had to be nearby, but suitable spaces were in short supply. After countless setbacks and an almost desperate search, the Department of Economic Affairs and Employment finally helped out – and in the end, it worked out.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
We are still in the process of making Stadtgemüse® known – with a lot of persuasion and a clear goal: to get people excited about sustainable agriculture without soil. Trade fairs, networks, and direct conversations are our best fertilizer for visibility. Because if you want to plant the future, you have to sow it first.

How did you finance your start-up?
Stadtgemüse® has been financed with equity capital and public subsidies so far. Now that the project is growing, banks and investment companies are also getting involved. Now we need not only good nutrients – but also financial watering cans.

What dream would you still like to realize?
A world where enough food grows everywhere—grown smartly and sustainably, naturally with Stadtgemüse® technology.

Please complete the following sentence: If I had more time, I
would... let new ideas sprout – and do more sports again.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders?
Not everything grows immediately—but with patience and persistence, it will work out.