January 25, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

It remains true that vertical farming is not yet at the point of replacing traditional agriculture. However, the technology continues to mature, the funding rounds continue to grow, and the facilities continue to scale, allowing vertical farming to forge relationships that give it meaningful inroads into commercial channels.

This was an observation I made in October 2020 when SoftBank Vision Fund I returned to lead a $140 million Series D for vertical farming leader Plenty. Top fresh berry producer and brand Driscoll’s, who had recently entered into a joint development agreement to have Plenty grow Driscoll’s proprietary strawberries, also participated in the round.

At the time, this Series D brought Plenty’s total funding to-date to more than $500 million, making the company the leader in sustainable, indoor vertical farming. However, Plenty is still forging ahead.

The company’s latest announcement is its closing of a $400 million Series E – the largest round to-date for an indoor farming company – led by new investors One Madison Group and JS Capital. Existing investor SoftBank Vision Fund I also participated in the round, as did strategic partner Walmart. 

Originally founded by Matt Barnard and Nate Storey in a 52,000 square-foot facility in San Francisco, Plenty grows leafy greens using a highly-efficient vertical system that produces pesticide-free crops on a year-round basis, in rows of 20-foot tall columns, or walls, rather than horizontally. This configuration, which uses 1 percent the space of conventional agriculture and less than 5 percent of the water, is highly efficient as it allows water to trickle down each column, enabling nutrients to be gravity fed rather than pumped into the system.

Plenty also uses cutting-edge LED lighting systems that emit less heat than traditional LEDs, along with microsensor technology and big data processing, that together can be used to produce high-quality produce at lower prices.

And because of the configuration of this production system, Plenty is able to work with the forces of physics, not against them, enabling the company to scale multiple crops on one platform while saving significantly on cost of production to create resilience in our food systems against weather, location, pests, and climate.

Behind the technology, Plenty also operates the largest-of-its-kind indoor plant science research facility in Laramie, Wyoming, and is currently building the world’s highest output, vertical, indoor farm in Compton, California. 

“The indoor farming sector is at an exciting inflection point, poised to reach its full potential as a new asset class that addresses the significant need to provide access to fresh, nutritious food year round, even in geographies where traditional farming is difficult,” said Omar Asali, chairman and CEO, One Madison Group. “Plenty has truly ‘cracked the code’ on the technology and economics of indoor farming. It has developed an innovative and scalable model that can deliver fresh, sustainable produce to retailers, growers and governments anywhere in the world.”

Through its extensive IP portfolio, Plenty is working to create a more sustainable food production model that fosters the ability for its partners to achieve their own environmental goals. Using only 1 percent of the land required by traditional farming, Plenty can achieve yields that are 150-300 times per acre.

And as Plenty continues to construct more farms worldwide, transportation times and the environmental impacts associated with transport also will be reduced, resulting in Plenty’s pesticide-free products having even longer shelf lives. 

New CEO

Only days before announcing this funding round, Plenty announced the appointment of Arama Kukutai, a pioneer and veteran of the agtech space, and co-founder and partner of agribusiness and food tech venture investor Finistere Ventures, as its new CEO. 

Kukutai has been an investor in the company and a member of Plenty’s Board of Directors since September 2016, bringing more than two decades of leadership within the farming, agtech,  ag and agtech investment, and sustainability to bear on his task of overseeing Plenty’s growth into a scale vertical farming company.

“Indoor agriculture has long promised a solution to the challenges facing traditional growing, including solving year round supply, supply chain disruption, high water use and widespread pesticide and chemical use,” said Kukutai. “It has taken Plenty a decade of work to solve the technology and operating challenges in order to build economically viable, scalable farms that can deliver clean, nutritious and delicious food here in America, and globally in years to come”

He continued, “With our Compton Farm opening this year, Plenty will lay a huge marker in proving the viability of a new wave in food quality, security and sustainability. I’m excited to be leading Plenty’s evolution from R&D to growing the business at scale.” 

New Partnership

Concurrent to announcing its $400 million Series E, Plenty also announced a new strategic commercial partnership with Walmart to lead a new category of fresh products that will bring Plenty farms and its pesticide-free, sustainable produce closer to Walmart customers on a year-round basis.

“We are pleased to work with a strong group of investors who recognize how Plenty’s proprietary approach to building and selling farms delivers a scalable, cost-efficient pathway to bringing fresh, clean produce to market 365 days a year, anywhere in the world,” said Kukutai. “Having Walmart, as one of the world’s largest retailers, partner with us demonstrates the rising importance of indoor agriculture to the future of fresh and their belief in Plenty’s unique technology solution.”

Walmart stated that it will work together with Plenty through this partnership to create a new product category in vertical farming, giving Walmart the ability to source Plenty’s leafy greens for all of its California stores from Plenty’s Compton farm beginning later this year.

“We believe Plenty is a proven leader in a new era of agriculture, one that offers pesticide-free, peak-flavor produce to shoppers every day of the year,” said Charles Redfield, chief merchandising officer, Walmart. “This partnership not only accelerates agricultural innovation, but reinforces our commitment to sustainability, by delivering a new category of fresh that is good for people and the planet.”

Andrew Zloto, director at SoftBank Investment Advisers and Plenty board member, added, “With support from leading retailers and growers, and a new focus on selling farms directly to partners, we believe that Plenty is at a critical inflection point that will have a lasting impact on the entire industry. We’ve been a long-term partner to Plenty and are delighted to continue to support them as they continue to innovate and rewrite the playbook for indoor growing.”

– 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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