June 21, 2018

New York-based urban greenhouse innovator Gotham Greens announced it has successfully raised a $29 million Series C, bringing total funding to date for the company to $45 million.

Launched by co-founders Viraj Puri, Eric Haley, and Jennifer Nelkin Frymark in 2009 with a single 15,000 square-foot greenhouse on the roof of a bowling alley in Brooklyn, New York, Gotham Greens produces premium-quality produce and fresh food products using hydroponic, ecologically-sustainable, technologically-sophisticated, climate-controlled methods in urban greenhouses.

“We’re disrupting the ag supply chain,” CEO and co-founder Viraj Puri told GAI News in 2015. “Our brand is an alternative to food shipped thousands of miles.”

Gotham’s greenhouses use 100 percent renewable electricity and 90 percent less water than traditional agriculture. Gotham’s use of proprietary cultivation techniques and proven hydronic-controlled environmental agriculture has resulted in best-in-class crop yields that are 30 times that of conventional agriculture on a per-acre basis without the harmful runoff of crop protection chemicals. These methods, along with the company’s urban locations meaning a much shorter supply chain, also eliminates the environmental impact and waste associated with shipping produce long distances.

Since its founding, Gotham has grown to be a leading consumer brand and now operates over 170,000 square feet of greenhouses across four facilities in New York and Chicago, with an additional 500,000 square feet of greenhouses under development in five U.S. states, announcing new greenhouses in Baltimore and Chicago earlier this year.   

“Indoor farming is one of the most exciting and promising sectors in the world of food and ag-tech. Gotham Greens is a clear market leader and is positioned for significant growth,” said Delphine Descamps, managing director, Creadev USA. “We were highly impressed by the company’s proven track record, greenhouse profitability, exceptional product quality and human-driven values. We believe that the Gotham Greens team will continue to significantly influence how fresh produce is grown and distributed both in the US and globally.”

This oversubscribed funding round was led by the company’s existing investors, including the Silverman Group, and included a significant new investment from Creadev, a global private equity firm controlled by the Mulliez family.

Gotham Greens plans to use the capital to finance its expansion trajectory, grow its team, expand its distribution, and to strengthen its R&D in controlled-environment food production, data science, and machine learning.

“The oversubscribed financing is strong validation of our proven farm unit economics, efficient utilization of capital, growth rate, and best-in-class brand,” said Eric Haley, co-founder and CFO of Gotham Greens. “We are excited to welcome Creadev to the Gotham Greens family and for this next phase of growth to bring local produce nationwide.”

-Lynda Kiernan