In many organizations, sustainability exists only in reports, policies, and metrics. It is measured and documented, but it is not visible in the places where people spend their days.
It is this gap that Martine Laforest, founder of Onuà World, has chosen to bridge by bringing a living ecosystem directly into the places where people work, learn, grow older, and gather. Her smart aquaponic garden gives organizations a tangible way to demonstrate their commitment to the environment: a visible, maintainable, and productive ecosystem installed in the heart of a hotel lobby, a school, or a residential building.
A portrait of an entrepreneur who is transforming a circular agriculture technique into a product ready to thrive in our living spaces.
Aquaponics, a technology that is still difficult to integrate into our living environments
Aquaponics is based on a closed-loop system: the fish produce the nutrients the plants need, and the plants, in turn, filter the water, which is then returned to the fish. This closed-loop system uses far less water than traditional farming and brings together, within a single system, two forms of life that balance each other out.
Martine first discovered aquaponics out of passion a few years ago, when she built and operated her own systems at home. It was this daily practice that made her see the business opportunity.
Organizations are increasingly seeking to reconnect with nature and promote local agriculture within their spaces, yet no existing solution made it easy for them to do so. Setting up an aquaponic ecosystem requires knowledge of biology, plumbing, and maintenance, all skills most organizations lack.
So the problem wasn’t just technical. It also had to do with ambition: how could they go beyond a simple herb or vegetable planter and build a true platform around this ecosystem?
What Onuà World Offers Organizations
For a hotel, a school, an office building, or a senior living facility, environmental commitment often takes the form of policies and metrics: reducing water consumption, energy efficiency, and certifications. These actions matter, but they remain invisible to the people who visit these places every day.
Onuà World’s proposal bridges exactly this gap between stated commitment and lived experience. The garden becomes the visible embodiment of a commitment that would otherwise remain just a number in an annual report: hotel guests discover it in the lobby, school students harvest herbs there, and residents of a senior living community help maintain it.
The offering extends beyond the garden itself. For each installation, Onuà World develops digital tools (a mobile app to monitor and manage the system’s parameters) and workshops that allow people who interact with the garden to get actively involved. The organization gains a living ecosystem and, at the same time, fosters a shared experience that brings a community together around a common desire to reconnect with nature.
Developing a Living Product
Developing a physical product is challenging, but developing one that keeps fish and plants alive in a hotel lobby is even more so. The system must continuously manage water, lighting, feeding, and filtration, remain reliable between maintenance visits, and stay simple enough for people without a background in biology to operate it.
Martine approached this development methodically. Even before building the final product, she had a 3D rendering developed that was precise enough to sell three gardens and confirm market interest: commercial validation obtained before committing to the costs of full-scale development. She has since been in discussions with large organizations that have physical locations, such as schools and senior living facilities.
In the summer of 2026, a garden was installed at Ax.C in Place Victoria. This real-world environment allows Onuà World to showcase its solution, observe how the system functions on a daily basis, and refine the maintenance methods that will guide future deployments. This milestone demonstrates that the garden works and paves the way for it to be installed, maintained, and replicated on a larger scale.
What Garage&co Is Here to Do
At Garage&co, we’re supporting Onuà World in the transition from prototype to product. We worked with Motsai, a partner in our ecosystem, to develop the prototype, and our support continues as we help structure mass production and drive business development.
Coming to tend her garden at Ax.C and running into team members there also allows Martine to break out of the entrepreneurial isolation and regularly discuss her challenges, both commercial and technological.
Why Onua World Is a Change Maker
Onuà World’s innovation lies in Martine’s ability to transform a living ecosystem into a comprehensive platform: a reliable product, digital tools, workshops, and shared experiences, accessible to both organizations and individuals.
By building a community around each garden, Onuà World offers a way of thinking about sustainable development that goes beyond a policy that’s measured, and more as something you can see, touch, and experience every day.
It is this ability to make abstract concrete, and the patient work of product development that makes it possible, that makes Onuà World a true changemaker in urban agriculture.