January 4, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Founded in Ontario, Canada, in 2020 by managing partners and agtech industry veterans Eric Levesque and Eric Bergeron, Cutlivatd is mainly a brokerage of indoor farming technology – connecting people and businesses with the proper vertical farming technology for their project. However, it also offers a Farming-as-a-Service program through which it manages their clients’ farming operations, deploying on-site farmers and providing general consulting through a global network of vertical farming experts. 

“We believe that success in this industry doesn’t just come from having the right technology (which we can help with) but also in having the right people running that technology. Our client’s success is ultimately our business model,” said Levesque.

Now, with a $3 million Series A led by Malcolm Bean of Resilient Earth Ventures (REV), an investment firm focused on climate-smart and food security solutions and projects, the firm has brought its capital raised to-date to $3.5 million. 

The company explained that this new capital will be used to fuel its expansion, with plans to establish new offices in Austin, Texas; Dubai, UAE; and Perth, Australia this year.

Levesque commented, “These funds will allow us to service our growing list of clients, partners and projects and will help us get right into the middle of the CEA industry. We did not anticipate the market would be this open to our service offering and we have now raised a seed round and a Series A in the same year to expedite that growth.”

Very rapidly, over the course of the past year, Cultivatd secured more than 40 partnership with some of the top names in the CEA tech space, including IGS, Elevate Farms, Artechno, Cubic Farms, AmplifiedAg, Netled, RotoGro, and Delta9.

And with over $250 million in active projects in its portfolio, the company expects its business to continue to expand in 2022.

“The industry is growing quickly and more and more people need a better understanding of which technology provider is best for their project,” said Eric Bergeron, co-founder of Cultivated and an agtech industry veteran since 2014.

“It’s a massive capital commitment to open a vertical farm and we provide the expertise to help with planning and technology selection on behalf of our partners.”

In anticipation of this expected growth, Cutlivatd expressed its intention to also expand its team in order to fill select key roles. However, it also stressed that it is planning on “staying lean”, keeping a focus on marketing and sponsorship opportunities to grow the brand into the $50 billion vertical farming equipment vertical.

Malcolm Bean, lead investor, principal at REV, and new Board member at Cultivatd, concluded, “This investment is strategic in that it allows our fund access to the projects Cultivatd is brokering, helping speed up the process of their clients completing their vertical farming projects. We are very excited to see where this company is headed and to be part of it.”

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com. 

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