October 26, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

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

This funding brings Plenty’s capital raised to-date to more than $500 million, making the company the leader in sustainable, indoor vertical farming. 

The capital from this round  will be used by Plenty to drive growth, and to support the execution of the aforementioned joint development agreement with Driscoll’s and another commercial collaboration recently forged with Albertsons. It will also fund the development of Plenty’s new farm in Compton, California. 

At this point, it’s true that vertical farming is not 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.

Using data analytics, machine learning, and customized lighting, Plenty is able to deliver at an unprecedented rate – leveraging more than 200 years worth of growing data generated by its platform each year. Over the past 24 months Plenty’s advanced agri-food platform has resulted in more than a 700 percent improvement in leafy green yields grown using 100 percent renewable wind and solar energy.

This shift has been evident this year, in August Plenty entered into a multi-year agreement with Albertsons to supply four types of greens – baby arugula, baby kale, crispy lettuce, and mizuna mix to all of the chain’s 430 stores across California. 

Two months later, in mid-October, Plenty entered into a joint development agreement with Driscoll’s, the leading fresh berry producer and brand, to grow Driscoll’s proprietary strawberries year-round in Plenty’s vertical indoor farms. 

The two companies were brought together through John Hartnett of agtech investor SVG Ventures, who fostered discussions between the two companies that have aligned missions.

Initially, Driscoll’s berries will be grown in Plenty’s Laramie, Wyoming, site – the largest privately-owned vertical farm R&D center in the world –  indicative of the potential for strawberries and other such fresh produce to be grown far from their traditional regions (which for strawberries is typically Florida and California).

“Plenty’s announcement of a joint development agreement to grow Driscoll’s proprietary strawberries year-round in Plenty’s indoor vertical farms is potentially a game-changing event for the sector,” noted Adam Bergman, managing director, EcoTech Capital, his article Indoor Farming is Going Mainstream, published by GAI News on October 21. 

Bergman continued, “The Driscoll’s deal marks the entrance of a vertical farming company into the lucrative berry sector and with it, a new $40 billion market opportunity. It will be interesting to see if other indoor farming companies can enter into similar agreements to get access to unique germ plasm to grow other types of produce indoors.”

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 in rows of 20-foot tall columns, or walls rather than horizontally. This configuration, which uses one 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 save significantly on cost of production.

“It’s clear that Plenty’s vision and capabilities of pioneering the potential of indoor farming technology makes them the leader in this space,” said J. Miles Reiter, chairman and CEO, Driscoll’s.

“As one of the few berry companies with a dedicated global R&D program, we believe our proprietary berries, which are focused on flavor, combined with Plenty’s technology leadership will create a competitive market edge as we expand to more effectively meet the future consumer.”

– 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.