Paris-based urban container farming startup Agricool announced the successful completion of a $28 million equity round backed by Bpifrance, Danone Manifesto Ventures, Marbeuf Capital, Solomon Hykes, and including existing investors, daphni, Xange, Henri Seydoux, and Kima Ventures.

Together with previous funding totaling $13 million, this round brings the company’s total funding to $41 million.

Founded by Gonzague Gru and Guillaume Fourdinier, Agricool has selected strawberries as its first crop – producing them using vertical surfaces within 30 square meter containers that employ a closed circulation system that uses only renewable electricity, filters the air brought in from outside the container, and eliminates the need for the use of pesticides. The system allows for the control of multiple factors including temperature and humidity levels, the LED color spectrum, and the ratio of “daylight” hours to “night” hours; and being located in urban centers, reduces the need for transport. It also uses 90 percent less water than traditional agricultural production, and each 30 square meter container is able to produce as much food as 4,000 square meters of open farmland.

“Agricool strawberries are harvested when perfectly ripe and contain on average 20 percent more sugar and 30 percent more vitamin C than supermarket strawberries,” said the company.  “The production technique makes for strawberries which require 90% less water to grow compared to traditional agriculture, with zero pesticides, and a reduced transportation distance reduced to only a few kilometers between the place of production and point of sale.”

Currently the company has five of its shipping container farming units located in Paris and one located just outside of Dubai. With support from this funding, Agricool plans to launch 100 of its container-based farming systems throughout the two cities by 2021. To meet this goal, there are also plans to expand its team by 200.

“We are very excited about the idea of supporting urban farming towards massive development, and it will soon no longer be a luxury to eat exceptional fruits and vegetables in the city,” said Guillaume Fourdinier, co-founder and CEO of Agricool.

Lynda Kiernan