August 24, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

iFarm, a Helsinki-based provider of automated indoor vertical farms for the production of fresh fruit and produce, announced it has successfully closed on $4 million in funding led by existing investor Gagarin Capital.

Gagarin was joined by Matrix Capital, Impulse VC, and several additional angel investors. 

iFarm’s technology solution presents the opportunity to grow crops in an eco-friendly way in limited, urban spaces such as warehouses, factory shops, or even prohibitive spaces such as basements. Its turnkey solution offers the flexibility to be applied in a variety of scales and applications – from large-scale indoor farms to shelf modules that can be integrated into retail settings.

“We focus on profitable products,” co-founder and CEO Max Chizhov told Tech Crunch. “Small crops, very fast growing crops, and easy to irrigate and easy to grow in many layers. Many layers is the advantage of indoor farms.”

Recently named the best agricultural startup in Europe in The Europas Awards 2020, iFarm currently has more than 50 on-going projects across Europe and the Middle East for 2020 with a total planned area exceeding 11,000 square meters. This includes an industrial vertical farm project based on iFarm’s technology being developed in Finland that was funded through the company’s internal crowdfunding platform, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. 

“Investors can participate in the worldwide network of vertical farms and receive a rate of return well above bank deposit rates,” said Alex Lyskovsky, co-founder and president, iFarm. “We already have a group of financial partners involved in the development of our farms, and now there is a direct opportunity for this type of investment in Finland, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Russia and UAE.”

iFarm’s technology is based on an adaptive protocol that employs computer vision and machine learning together with data gathered on thousands of plants from a distributed network of farms and industry expertise and knowledge.

With this capital, the company plans to further develop iFarm Growtune – its SaaS tech platform that enables the operation of multiple varieties of vertical farms, and quadruples the number of plants that can be grown using iFarm’s technology. 

This technology is based on an adaptive protocol that employs computer vision and machine learning together with data gathered on thousands of plants from a distributed network of farms and industry expertise and knowledge.

Growtune has the ability to determine a plant’s weight, determine any deviations in growth or pathologies, and to build a system that improves the quality characteristics of a crop by providing recommendations to farm managers and staff on adjustments to the microclimate and other parameters to ensure optimum results. 

The company also intends to optimize its automated production lines, which will reduce labor costs, and to complete experiments exploring the production of strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radishes, and other crops.

Furthermore, this capital will help support iFarm as it works toward achieving its strategic goals in the coming years, according to Chizhov who said, “The new round of investment brings us closer to our goal – we plan to operate 1 million square meters of vertical farms using iFarm technology around the world and provide technology to grow 500+ crops by 2026.”

The company has already attained numerous benchmarks and has been widely recognized, having been included in the top 500 food startups in the world, and as a member of the EIT Food Accelerator Network, and named the best social impact startup of the Nordic Startup Awards 2019.

And, iFarm has its eye toward expanding into new markets, providing a solution that can play a role in strengthening food supply chains in the face of global crisis, such as COVID-19.

“The 2020 pandemic exposed the problems of the global food system – food supplies, sowing and harvesting were disrupted across the globe,” said Mikhail Taver, managing partner, Gagarin Capital.

“iFarm is taking a novel approach to agriculture, offering an automated solution to grow crops close to the consumer and ensure food security. We believe that the future of the food market lies in modern technologies and are excited to support the project on its way.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.