Seven Steps To Heaven does not build or operate indoor farms. We develop the knowledge and technology required to design and run such systems. This knowledge is applied by partners who realize and operate indoor farms themselves.

Our business model is based on granting access to proprietary intellectual property, developed over decades of research and practical experience. This intellectual property is rooted in biological understanding of crop performance and in the design of controlled cultivation systems. Partners obtain the right to apply defined elements of this knowledge within clearly defined boundaries.

To keep collaborations clear and manageable, the market is structured into Territories and Fields. Territories refer to geographic regions, while Fields refer to defined product–market combinations. Each partnership is defined along these dimensions, ensuring focus and avoiding overlap.

An important example is the joint venture with Schwarz Gruppe, the parent company of Lidl and Kaufland. In this collaboration, Schwarz obtained access to specific elements of our intellectual property and operational knowledge. Together, this led to the realization of the largest indoor farm in the world, based in the Netherlands.

We lead Seven Steps To Heaven as a founder-led family company that has developed independently over four decades without venture capital or external shareholders.

The world’s largest indoor farm
In 2020, we co-founded Blue Skies in the Netherlands, where large-scale farming and advanced R&D for Schwarz Gruppe—the parent company of Lidl and Kaufland—continue to demonstrate that indoor farming is commercially feasible today.

In this collaboration Schwarz Gruppe acquired defined rights to use elements of our patented technology. All other rights remain with Seven Steps To Heaven, including the freedom to grant licenses, enter into partnerships, and deploy its intellectual property in other applications, markets, and geographies.