June 13, 2019

(photo courtesy of InFarm)

by Lynda Kiernan

Berlin, Germany-based urban farming startup InFarm has raised $100 million in equity funding and debt financing through a round led by London-based Atomico. Existing investors Balderton Capital, Astanor Ventures, and Cherry Ventures also participated, while TriplePoint Capital provided nearly all of the debt.

Founded in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska, InFarm has pioneered a model that combines modular in-store vertical farming units with IoT technologies and data science. By integrating each modular unit with InFarm’s central farming platform, the company can collect data on each location and create optimal growing environments that tailor light, temperature, pH, and nutrients. This enables each farming unit to efficiently produce up to 1,200 plants per month of dozens of varieties of herbs and leafy greens.

The company’s modular farming business model allows fresh produce to be grown within any food-focused retail space or restaurant, in the heart of urban population centers. This structure eliminates the environmental impact of traditional farming, warehousing requirements, or lengthy transportation.

“InFarm was founded with an ambitious vision to feed the cities of tomorrow by bringing farms closer to the consumer, and with this round of funding we aim to grow our presence further,” said Erez Galonska, co-founder and CEO of InFarm.

A Big Week

This round comes a little more than a year after InFarm announced its $25 million Series A, led by Balderton Capital, Europe’s largest early stage venture capital investor, with participation from TriplePoint Capital, Mons Investments LLC, Cherry Ventures, QUADIA, and LocalGlobe.

It’s also not the only deal in Europe’s vertical farming industry within the past week, following the announcement by Ocado, the world’s largest online grocery retailer, that it had made its first venture into vertical farming with a pair of agreements representing a total investment of £17 million (US$22 million).

Together with the Netherlands-based Priva Holding BV, a leading horticulture-focused provider of technology solutions, services, and automation systems, and U.S.-based 80 Acres Farms, a top indoor vertical farming company operating multiple farms producing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens, and fruits such as strawberries, Ocado is launching Infinite Acres, a provider of integrated tech solutions for the indoor vertical production of the highest quality produce on a year-round basis.

At the same time, Ocado announced its acquisition of a 58 percent stake in UK-based Jones Food Company (JFC), the largest operating vertical farm in Europe.

With less than half a dozen human employees and a single robot named Frank, the company’s first crop was sown in October of last year. Trays of plants reaching 40 feet high and representing a growing surface of 5,120 square meters are grown in a hydroponic solution consisting of water and nutrients including potassium, nitrogen, magnesium, and calcium – all under 7.8 miles of LED lights. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide is pumped into the facility enabling the plants to absorb up to 50 percent more than they traditionally would, resulting in accelerated growth rates.

After its first harvest last autumn, JFC sold its entire initial crop to Greencore Group, a maker of salads, sandwiches, and sushi products that are sold in retail and convenience stores.

(R)evolution

“This is the beginning of the urban farming (r)evolution: it will redefine what it means to eat well, reshape the landscape of cities, and re-empower the people to take ownership of their food,” said Galonska in February 2018 when InFarm closed on its Series A. “Our ambition is to reach cities as far as Seattle in the United States or Seoul, South Korea with our urban farming network.”

This “ambition to reach cities…” is a pursuit that InFarm will use its funding to achieve. Eyeing expansion across Europe, the U.S., and beyond, the company will be growing its R&D initiatives, its operations, and its marketing team.

To-date, InFarm has partnered with 25 food retailers as well as Amazon Fresh in Germany, Switzerland, and France, and has deployed nearly 300 farming units in 150 stores, producing 500,000 plants. By 2022, the company plans to have units in 10,000 supermarkets, and by 2050, plans to be the leading supplier of fresh produce to 7 billion urban consumers.

“Sowing the seeds for a delicious and sustainable food system in urban centres across North America, Asia, and Europe,” said Galonska. “We are proud and excited to welcome Atomico to the InFarm journey.”