Aeropod

What it does

Aeropods address the dual crisis of climate change effects in agriculture and global soil degradation caused by intensive farming. They are planted alongside seeds to autonomously aerate, enrich and deploy inputs for non-destructive, climate resilient farming.

Your inspiration

We were inspired by a shared concern: farming isn't built for the future. Compacted and biologically inactive, soil is dying because of industrial farming and climate extremes. By 2050, 90% of soil is expected to be unable to grow food. Triggered by the urgency as individuals who also grew up around farms, we set out to intervene. We spoke to countless farmers who felt trapped—eager to farm regeneratively but lacking scalable, affordable methods. Inspired by nature’s own ability to heal, we set out to create a self-activating, affordable solution, in sync with and not against nature, independent of destructive, weather-dependent machinery.

How it works

Aeropod is a game-changing biodegradable capsule that works with nature, activating in response to nature based triggers like rainfall and soil pressures. Using layered materials and pressure-sensitive technology, they are designed to activate when soil reaches a critical level of compaction and moisture—two key stress signals of unhealthy, oxygen-starved soil. When triggered, Aeropods release a controlled burst of energy that breaks up compacted soil, creating microchannels that improve drainage and restore oxygen flow, all without harming soil. They're quite literally groundbreaking; a platform technology able to deploy needed inputs into soil. A new way to farm. They contain microbial nutrients that break down, enriching and improving soil biology over time, reducing fertiliser dependency. Farmers plant them alongside seeds and they're designed to not all go off at once, being able to be staggered by time and activating all season, whenever needed.

Design process

Our design process began with extensive research into soil compaction in the UK and the lack of non-destructive aeration options. We interviewed over 30 farmers, agronomists and soil experts across three continents. It became clear that farmers were being forced to choose between protecting humanity’s most important resource and their livelihoods. Climate extremes were also worsening, pointing toward a global food security crisis. We started with technical exploration into a resilient solution that would also be soil friendly and affordable, brainstorming concepts grounded in biomimicry, regenerative principles and passive activation. We iterated on activation triggers, structural responses and material selection. Our final proof of concept was hand-molded and tested in soil beds to study behavior under varied conditions. We tracked soil pressures and water infiltration as indirect indicators of impact. We also conducted field tests with working farms. Ecstatic farmer feedback moved Aeropod from more than a UK compaction fix to a global soil degradation solution—a platform for deploying their agricultural inputs, for soil regeneration and reducing machinery use. Current lab testing focuses on compaction and moisture thresholds, degradation rates and biological performance.

How it is different

Aeropod is the first biodegradable, nature activated capsule for soil friendly agriculture. Machinery-based methods like tilling compacted soil are costly, fuel-intensive, kill soil life and unusable in wet/extreme weather. Chemical fertilisers also harm soil, while biological/regenerative methods are slow alone. Aeropods work with nature, are climate-resilient and soil friendly at a fraction of costs of tradtitional tilling and fertilising. They are 60% cheaper in reducing labour, diesel, machinery and input costs, with precise aeration proven to increase yields by up to 20%. By reducing diesel use and minimising runoff and soil carbon disturbance, they also reduce agricultural CO₂ emissions. Aeropod is a game-changer—a low-impact solution that makes farming regeneratively, scalable, accessible and effective in all conditions, and the only solution to simultaneously tackle climate effects, productivity, farmer's bottom lines, emissions and soil degradation.

Future plans

We want to make farming regeneratively the norm—not the exception. With pilot partnerships in place for next year, we’re refining Aeropod and preparing for small-scale batch production. We’re partnering internationally, establishing pilots in regions with multiple crop cycles and soil profiles to accelerate validation across diverse soil contexts. We'll scale rapidly through grocery retailer ESG goals of wanting to reduce their product emissions from farms in their supply chains. Once our patent is finalised, we'll license our IP globally, helping farmers transition faster and leading the regeneration of humanity's most important resource.

Awards

First Prize Winner, Imperial College London's WE Innovate Accelerator 2025. First Prize Winner, Ideas to Impact 2025, The Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation. First Prize Winner, set to represent Europe at the grand finals of YIE at World EXPO Osaka. Student Winner, Sustainability Award, Core77 Design Award 2025.