Economic insights and potential of growing mushrooms indoors
April 22, 2022
(White Paper) “Mushrooms are quickly becoming an ideal crop for indoor farmers due to their high yield, fast growth, and nutritional value. The increasing demand for mushrooms in the food industry and unique ways they can be utilized in other industries makes them a profitable crop for indoor farmers.” The white paper features statistics and a deeper dive into the economics of mushrooms, how to grow mushrooms indoors, the use of mushrooms, and what the landscape of the industry is like today.
Read full article here.
Indoor ag fintech Contain Inc launches 2 white papers, reviewing CEA funding & stock market performance in 2022 & 2023
Jan 15, 2023
Indoor agriculture fintech specialist Contain Inc. announced today the launch of two new white papers, “2022 in Review” and “Indoor Ag in the Stock Market.”
The “Indoor Ag in the Stock Market” white paper dives deeper into the rapid rise and leveling of the industry’s stocks. Analyzing and discussing how industry players are contending with investments, weighing private vs. public, and how each has paid off.
Read full article here.
Indoor agriculture and cosmetics
Dec 15, 2022
Indoor Ag is penetrating new sectors to make life more sustainable, accessible, and clean. One of the ones to watch, proving to be a future hot spot for Indoor Ag, is the cosmetics and beauty industry. According to Statista, revenue in the Beauty & Personal Care market amounts to US$534.00bn in 2022, and the market is expected to grow annually by 5.86% (CAGR 2022-2026).
Read full article here.
The Future of Indoor Ag and Education
Oct 1, 2022
Indoor agriculture and education are gradually becoming intertwined as growers and industry experts team up with school systems and educators to share the ins and outs of the industry with the next generation. Schools, universities, and private programs are bringing indoor ag to the forefront through full curriculum implementation, indoor/vertical farms on campus, career preparation programs, and in-home growing kits.
Read full article here.
Controlled environment ag specialist Contain Inc launches indoor agriculture stock index & vertical farm buzz index
June 1, 2022
Indoor agriculture fintech specialist Contain Inc announced today the launch of two data products, a public stock index and a measure of the industrys newsworthiness. The Contain Indoor Ag Stock Index follows the returns of a portfolio of controlled environment agriculture related listed stocks. The largest share of the index is US listed, but it also includes European, Canadian and Japanese exchange listed stocks. Though the past year has seen several IPOs and exchange upgrades in the sector, such as, greenhouse grower Edible Garden, it has underperformed the market.
Read full article here.
FSG Joins Forces With Contain Inc. Upon Its Entrance into Indoor Agriculture
May 6, 2022
Contain Inc. welcomes one of the nation’s largest lighting distributors and electrical contractors, FSG, to their vendor list, with their entrance into the Indoor Agriculture space. FSG has grown from a small lighting distributor in San Antonio Texas to one of the nation’s largest lighting distributors and electrical contractors. The lighting giant has expanded its solution nationwide and is now scaling into the billion dollar indoor ag industry by offering lighting and control solutions to indoor growers of all types.
Read full article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of FSG
March 3, 2022
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have become a focus for investment, consumer and tech firms alike. They already inform the allocation of capital and we expect this trend to accelerate. In this briefing paper, we outline indoor agriculture’s ESG credentials and examine its shortcomings.
Download here.
What is the future of the Metaverse for indoor agriculture?
March 3, 2022
The Metaverse, a network of 3D virtual worlds centered around social connection, holds serious potential to penetrate just about every industry that we know, and Indoor Agriculture is no exception. Education, learning, and transporting an environment to anywhere anytime are extremely attractive opportunities of evolution for sectors.
Read full article here.
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2021 Indoor agriculture funding review
January 18, 2022
Contain Inc. rang in the new year with a comprehensive briefing paper reviewing the landscape of funding within the indoor ag industry in 2021 and exploring what can be expected for the future. The briefing paper highlights private controlled environment ag funding, indoor ag merger & acquisition (M&A) trends and deals, public market listings/performance, and 2022 forecasts.
Read full article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of Contain
Contain Inc Announces Finance Arrangement with GeoGreens LLC for ShoreGrow LLC Equipment
November 2, 2021
Contain Inc is pleased to announce a financing agreement arranged between GeoGreens LLC and ShoreGrow LLC. GeoGreens is a locally owned New Jersey-based indoor farm owned and operated by Desmond Hayes. This arrangement will fund the 1,800 square foot expansion of the farm and help Hayes fulfill his mission of providing healthier and more nutritious food to the masses, particularly in food-insecure areas and minority communities.
Read full article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of Desmond Hayes
Strawberries are Opening Doors for Vertical Agriculture
September 6, 2021
A major criticism of indoor agriculture is poor economics, which many experts attribute to the variable value of its common crops and the high cost of growing equipment. "But with technology costs dropping and vegetable prices affecting both traditional and indoor farming, we could argue that something greater is holding back vertical farming’s profitability," says Isa Herman, author at Contain Inc.
The bigger picture is that indoor agriculture cannot expand, advance, and have an optimal impact without paving the way for additional indoor-friendly crops. With more high-value crops, indoor agriculture can transcend the threat of external drivers and achieve more efficient and stable economics.
Read the full article here.
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Featured Image Courtesy of Pinduoduo
Pinduoduo Unveils 10 Billion Agriculture Initiative to Support Agricultural Modernization
August 24, 2021
Pinduoduo Inc., China’s largest agriculture platform, announced that it would launch a dedicated “10 Billion Agriculture Initiative” to face and address critical needs in the agricultural sector and rural areas.
Profits from the second quarter and any potential profits in future quarters would be allocated to the Initiative. The Initiative would not be driven by profit or commercial goals, but strive to facilitate the advancement of agritech, promote digital inclusion, and provide agritech talents and workers with greater motivation and a sense of achievement.
Read the full article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of CNET
Hedging Against Global Supply Chain Shortages
July 23, 2021
COVID-19 has had an enduring, adverse impact on global supply chains. What started as a hand sanitizer and toilet paper shortage has evolved into a multifaceted supply chain breakdown affecting numerous manufacturing pipelines. At the heart of these disruptions is something small and unsuspected by those unaccustomed to tech design: semiconductor chips.
Semiconductor memory chips store data on computers and storage devices. They play a pivotal role in various technologies; everything from smartphones to cars to, you guessed it, container farms need semiconductors to function. A shortage of something this essential can upend the market as we know it and slow the pace of indoor agriculture’s growth.
Read the full article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of FarmBox Foods
Contain Inc Announces Finance Arrangement with Edible Beats for FarmBox Foods Container Farm
July 7, 2021
Contain Inc is pleased to announce a financing agreement arranged between Edible Beats Restaurant Group and a prominent lender for a controlled-environment container farm, FarmBox Foods. Edible Beats is a locally owned Denver-based restaurant group known for its diverse menus and healthy, plant-based dishes that highlight local and seasonal ingredients. Edible Beats will be able to grow herbs, leafy greens, salad greens, and various produce organically and year-round with the container farm that will be attached to their Vital Root location.
Read the whole article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of Intermediate Capital Group (ICG)
ESG Investing is Reshaping Financial Markets and Supporting Indoor Ag.
June 28, 2021
Indoor agriculture is an emerging industry high on investor radars due to its low resource use, climate resilience, and decentralized nature. It has long seen support from traditional venture capital and private equity investors but is now attracting attention from a newer category of investors, referred to as environmental, social, and governance or ESG investing.
What is ESG Investing?
ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance. It differs from traditional investing in that it focuses on more than economic returns. Investors evaluate companies using criteria within the ESG categories to identify and fund businesses whose actions best reflect the principles of the investing strategy.
Read the whole article here.
Featured Image Courtesy of FarmBox Foods
Industry Outsiders Enter the Indoor Agriculture Space
May 12, 2021
As the indoor agriculture industry continues to grow, we’re beginning to see more and more well-known industry outsiders enter the market. But why are these companies venturing into this unknown terrain?
In addition to rapid growth potential, the CEA industry offers companies an opportunity to apply their expertise in support of a climate-resilient and financially sustainable food system. To better understand the motives of these companies, Contain has spoken with its vendor Schneider Electric about their entrance into the space and the factors that led them to do so.
Read the whole article here.
New Platform For Pre-Owned Indoor Farming Equipment
May 4, 2021
Contain Inc announced the launch of their latest project, the used equipment trading platform, Equipped. Equipped is the first marketplace of its kind for buying and selling used indoor farming equipment. "No more late-night parking lot meetings or promises of funds that never transfer. Equipped is how trading used indoor farm equipment should be, low drama."
“At Contain, we focus on helping the indoor agriculture industry thrive, and providing a platform where anyone can trade brand name indoor farm equipment is the next step in that journey,” comments Nicola Kerslake, founder of Contain, Inc.
Read the whole interview here.
iFarm Partners With Contain Inc., Increases Accessibility of Vertical Farms
April 16, 2021
iFarm officially became a partner with and an official vendor of Contain Inc., an indoor agriculture fintech platform operating in North America and Europe that connects indoor growers with the resources they need. Growers now have the opportunity to lease iFarm vertical farms through Contain Inc.
Dedicated to securing lease financing for indoor growers, Contain Inc. works with private lenders to facilitate leases and create custom insurance solutions. The company organizes financing for all indoor farming needs, including LED, greenhouse equipment, and entire plant growth systems like vertical farms.
Read the whole article here.
Cultivatd Is Now a Vendor With Contain.ag
March 22, 2021
Today, Cultivatd is announcing our collaboration with Contain Inc. which grants our clients access to indoor agriculture financing and leasing options.
Building and operating a substantial indoor agriculture operation requires key financial resources. Given that indoor farmers – those growing in warehouses, greenhouses and container farms – generally lack the financing options that are available to their outdoor farming counterparts, this has presented a challenge in the past.
Read the whole article here.
Aiding Indoor Farmers In Finding Funding For Indoor Projects
March 9, 2021
In this podcast, Nicola Kerslake with Contain is interviewed by Joe Swartz and Nick Greens in their Polygreens Podcast. Nicola tells all about her fintech platform which she found to aid indoor farmers in finding funding for their indoor projects.
Nicola Kerslake founded Contain Inc which aids indoor farmers in finding lease funding for their projects. They're backed by Techstars' Farm to Fork program, funded by Cargill and Ecolab.
"We are unashamedly data geeks and believe that the data-driven insights that we have captured in more than 7 years of working in indoor agriculture can be leveraged to accelerate the industry’s growth by lowering the cost of capital for all indoor growers. Our team has grown to include finance, leasing, insurance, data and technology experts, all passionate about the promise of indoor agriculture."
Listen to the podcast here.
Interview With Eric Levesque of Cultivatd
February 20, 2021
In early 2021, the Contain team welcomed Cultivatd as a new vendor. Cultivatd is a team of vertical farming brokers that can manage and design an indoor farming project from start to finish–completely free of cost to the farmer. Cultivatd works with a wide range of industry-proven technology partners to provide the best fit for a project’s needs. In addition to facilitating technology partnerships, Cultivatd offers farming guidance, design consulting, and lending and leasing services supported by Contain.
We interviewed Cultivatd Co-founder and VP of Business Development and Sales, Eric Levesque.
Read the whole interview here.
Featured Image Courtesy of CubicFarms
Bringing Food Production Closer to Home
February 14, 2021
Dave Dinesen, CEO of CubicFarms, believes that we are experiencing a global crisis in food security and that technology is necessary to feed the growing global population. CubicFarm Systems Corp. is a local chain agtech company headquartered in British Columbia, Canada. The company specializes in the development of fully automated indoor growing technologies for commercial-scale operations.
Local chain agtech will provide more food independence than long supply chains, which have seen more disruption during the ongoing global pandemic. Technology allows growers to eliminate human error, provide more consistency and bring food production closer to the consumers...
Read more at Vertical Farm Daily
Welcome Our Newest Rooted Team Member
February 10, 2021
Meet Nadia, our production ninja and newest Rooted team member. She is based in Singapore and is hard at work on our next Rooted stories.
Rooted is a microlearning platform dedicated to urban farming. We help corporate employees everywhere bring a little joy to their lives by becoming cultivators.
Read more about Rooted
Who is an Indoor Farmer?
February 8, 2021
Any business conversation with pro vertical farmers inevitably turns to labor; how to build and train the best team is a universal challenge. It’s especially pressing in an industry where 80% of indoor farmers are new to the practice.
“Academics and corporates alike, such as our Contain vendors at CropKing and AmHydro, have developed online educational courses for aspiring pro growers,” says Isa Herman. During last year’s lockdown, Contain started thinking a little earlier. “We know from the indoor farmers we interact with every day that most fell in love with farming by growing at home first. So, we collaborated with Singapore family office ID Capital to create Rooted. It encourages the curious to become cultivators,” Isa affirms...
Read more at Vertical Farm Daily
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Greenhosue Company AppHarvest Soars 44% in SPAC Debut
February 1, 2021
Shares of AppHarvest Inc., the first greenhouse company to go public via reverse IPO, soared 44% in trading Monday.
The company APPH, -4.28%, whose goal is to operate a dozen greenhouses by 2025, is focused on producing tomatoes, berries, leafy greens, and cucumbers.
“We want to build a better food company, one that is leveraging mother nature,” AppHarvest President David Lee told MarketWatch shortly after the company started trading on Nasdaq. Lee recently left Impossible Foods Inc. as chief financial officer to join AppHarvest...
Read more at MarketWatch
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Indoor Farming Services Provider Agrify Increases Deal Size by 80% ahead of $45 million IPO
January 28, 2021
Agrify, which provides turnkey indoor farming solutions, raised the proposed deal size for its upcoming IPO on Tuesday.
The Burlington, MA-based company now plans to raise $45 million by offering 5 million shares at a price range of $8 to $10. The company had previously filed to offer 2.8 million shares at the same range. At the midpoint, Agrify will raise 80% more in proceeds than previously anticipated.
The company claims to differentiate itself with a bundled solution of equipment, software, and services that is turnkey, end-to-end, fully integrated and optimized for precision growing...
Read more at Renaissance Capital
Organic Produce Sales, Led by Bagged Salads, up 14.2% in 2020
January 23, 2021
Organic produce sales finished with a 14.2% increase in 2020 over the previous year, outpacing conventionally grown produce in both sales and volume gains, according to the 2020 Organic Produce Performance Report released Jan. 20 exclusively by the Organic Produce Network and Category Partners.
Organic fresh produce sales in 2020 were $8,542,355,756, an increase of over $1 billion from 2019, and represented 12% of all fresh produce sales, according to data from Nielsen. Conventional produce sales rose 10.7% for the year.
Overall organic volume in 2020 increased 16% from the previous year, while conventional volume rose by 9% during the same period. Organic bananas continue to be the biggest volume mover, with movement up 16% from 2019...
Read more at Produce Processing
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Ag Lending Update: Fewer New Loans to Farmers
January 14, 2021
Fewer new loans to farmers continued to drive a pullback in agricultural lending activity. A historically low number of new loans contributed to an increase in average loan size and drove a slight decrease in the overall volume of non-real estate loans at commercial banks in the fourth quarter. Stronger prices for agricultural commodities, alongside continued support from government payments, may have reduced financing needs for some farmers and contributed to the slower pace of lending...
Featured Image Courtesy of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Gro Intelligence Raises $85 Million in Series B Funding
January 13, 2021
Gro Intelligence announced today that it has raised $85 million in Series B funding. The round was co-led by Intel Capital, Africa Internet Ventures (a strategic partnership between TPG Growth and EchoVC), and the family offices of Ronald Lauder and Eric Zinterhofer. They were joined by previous investors DCVC and GGV Capital. Participating new investors include Schusterman Family Investments, Dick Parsons, Rethink Food and various strategic family offices.
Gro Intelligence is an AI-powered insights company providing decision-making tools, solutions and analytics to the food, agriculture, and climate economies and their participants...
Read more at Gro Intelligence
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There is Abundant Liquidity but a Lack of Solid Business Cases
January 9, 2021
“I come across many vertical farming concepts. There are some very interesting developments going on in the market. Especially for investors, because vertical farming is future-focused,” says Jobbe Jorna, Founder and Managing Partner at Upstream Capital. The Amsterdam-based organization advisory boutique is specialized in helping companies realize their full potential with performance improvement and corporate finance.
“Multiple investors are looking into (inter)national vertical farming projects. There’s abundant liquidity but a lack of solid business cases.” According to Jobbe, as a result of the pandemic investors are becoming increasingly critical, also in the Netherlands. They take more time for a thorough analysis, walking through the entire process teaming up closely with stakeholders. In the end, this is only beneficial for farmers because it contributes to the design, build, finance, maintain and operate a solid foundation to build a successful farm upon...
Read more at Vertical Farm Daily
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Indoor Ag. Fintech Startup Contain Inc. Raises Investment Round, Adds Industry Veteran to Team
January 4, 2021
Contain Inc, a fintech platform dedicated to indoor agriculture, today announced that it has closed a round of funding from investors in the US and Europe. They represent investments from indoor agriculture, food and beverage, entertainment and financial industries. The funds will enable further technology development as well as new initiatives that support indoor agriculture. The industry has become ever more relevant in the time of COVID as consumers and produce buyers alike recognize the benefits of local secure produce supply...
Read more about Contain
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Featured Image Courtesy of Vertical Farm Daily
Bowery Farming Adds New Farm in Bethlehem, PA
December 31, 2020
“The addition of our new farm to the network is a critical next chapter in our growth,” said Irving Fain, founder and CEO of Bowery Farming. “It will expand our reach and ability to be a reliable source of local produce for more communities. We’re leading the next frontier of farming, and this investment further accelerates our momentum.”
Bowery Farming is building its newest commercial farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Joining its network of farms in Kearny, New Jersey, and Nottingham, Maryland, Bowery’s new Bethlehem farm will be its largest, most technologically-advanced commercial farm yet...
Read more at Vertical Farm Daily
Vertical Farms are Not Going To Create Venture Level Returns
December 30, 2020
“There is a theory that we have enough food and produce enough food on the planet to feed 10 billion people. The problem is that people don’t know where to put it at what time. I think that the technology that we can bring to bear is all about growing food that people will eat, including pallet profiling with ai,” says Sonia Lo, CEO of Sensei Ag.
During the webinar ‘Can technology help feed the world sustainably?’, many different aspects of how technology is playing a big role in the food systems these days. Benedict Macon-Cooney, the conversation leader, was joined by Sonia Lo and Sara Menker.
Read more at Vertical Farm Daily
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Robert Brooks Joins Netled as Investor Relations and Communications Manager
December 23, 2020
Robert Brooks joins Netled as Investor Relations and Communications Manager effective from 15th December 2020. Robert will report to CEO, Niko Kivioja, and is responsible for English-language investor communications and will work extensively on digital marketing and communications.
“Netled and its Vera technology are a game-changer in the vertical farming space,“ says Robert...
Read more at Netled
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Insect Farming Startup Raises $9.3M, Builds North America's Largest Mealworm Facility East of Seattle
December 22, 2020
Beta Hatch is planning to grow more than insects east of Seattle in Cashmere, Wash. The 5-year-old startup is growing its entire operation and in the process has raised $9.3 million in new funding, the company announced Friday.
Founder and CEO Virginia Emery, a PhD entomologist and her team of “insect entrepreneurs,” have been working on a plan to revolutionize the animal feed business out of a facility in SeaTac, Wash., south of Seattle...
Read more at GeekWire
CubicFarms Announces $15,000,000 Equity Financing to Support Global Growth
December 16, 2020
Dave Dinesen, CubicFarms’ CEO comments, “We believe that food security is in a global crisis, and COVID-19 has certainly accelerated this crisis. CubicFarms ag-tech solutions can help break this cycle of long global food supply chains, which would allow local chain agriculture to take place nearby where food is consumed. CubicFarms’ technology has been used effectively by our local growers to grow more fresh food using less land, energy, and water – an outcome with global relevance.”
CubicFarms is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Raymond James Ltd. as lead underwriter and sole book-runner, on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters pursuant to which the Underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a “bought deal” basis, 11,111,111 common shares in the capital of the Company at a price of C$0.90 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $10,000,000...
Read more at Cubic Farms
New York-based Indoor Ag. Company Gotham Greens Raises $87 Million
December 15, 2020
“Gotham Greens’ latest round takes the company to a whopping total of $130 million in funding since its launch. Investors in the round included Manna Tree and The Silverman Group.” - Tech Crunch
Read more at Tech Crunch
Featured Image Courtesy of Gotham Greens
Agriculture Tech Startup iUNU Raises $7M for Greenhouse Computer Vision System
December 10, 2020
“Seattle startup iUNU raised another $7 million to help grow its AI and computer vision tech used in greenhouses.” - GeekWire
Read more at GeekWire
Featured Image Courtesy of IUNU
Ag Banks Trim Farm Lending
December 7, 2020
“Farm loans outstanding at commercial banks declined in the third quarter and non-performing loans edged slightly higher.” - Kansas City Fed
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Food Waste To Indoor Farming Input: Re-Nuble Raises $1.1M Seed Funding
December 4, 2020
“Re-Nuble recently closed a $1.1 million seed round led by Global Sustainable Future. She1K, SOSV, SVG Ventures, WOCstar, and others participated in the round as well.” - AgFunder News
Read more at AgFunder News
Featured Image Courtesy of Re-Nuble
Global CEA Census Report Shows Continued Positivity Despite COVID-19
December 2, 2020
“Data captured over an 8-week period show 95% of growers have an optimistic outlook for the next 12 months with all types of operations including greenhouses, shipping containers, tunnel and vertical farms showing profitability.” - Global CEA Census
Read the Full Report
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Featured Image Courtesy of Unsplash / Contain Inc.
What COVID Means for Indoor Ag. Lending
December 1, 2020
“This year has been strange for everyone, and lenders are no different. They live in a world of rules, and stats and data. And there’s almost no way to account for a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic in that world view” - Vertical Farm Daily
Read more at Vertical Farm Daily
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They Built Their Own Greenhouses. Did They Reap What They Sowed?
November 27, 2020
“When the pandemic forced everyone into isolation and threatened food supplies, some people decided to build their own greenhouses. Six months later, the project remains a pleasure and a challenge.”-New York Times
Read more at New York Times
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Thanksgiving 2020 Will be a New Experience for a Traditional Holiday
November 19, 2020
“Lettuce markets have been volatile all season with disruptions in demand due to COVID and several heat spikes that pushed crops ahead of schedule.” - Wells Fargo
Read more at Wells Fargo
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Folium 2.0 Hits the Market Ahead of Schedule
November 19, 2020
“Autogrow has launched the second generation of its Folium Smart Sensor Network, ahead of schedule to meet customer demand for greater access to data in the cloud.” - Autogrow
Read more at Autogrow
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Cannabis Supply Distributor Hydrofarm Files for $100M NASDAQ IPO
November 18, 2020
“California-based cannabis supply distributor Hydrofarm has filed a preliminary prospectus for up to a $100 million IPO. The company intends to list on the NASDAQ with the trading symbol HYFM.”-New Cannabis Ventures
Read more at New Cannabis Ventures
Marshall Offering New Undergraduate Major in Specialty Agriculture
November 17, 2020
“The major focuses on the agricultural aspects of greenhouse production, hydroponics, precision farming, urban agriculture, community gardens and specialty crop production.” -Herald Dispatch
Read more at Herald Dispatch
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Grab a Rosemary or Basil Plant From a Vending Machine as if it Were a Can of Coke
November 11, 2020
“Customers see the plant growing under their very eyes. This provides transparency and inspires confidence” -HortiDaily
Read more at HortiDaily
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An Interview with Dave Dinsen, CEO of CubicFarms, on the Future of Food
November 4, 2020
“The pandemic has really underscored the importance of food security, because all of sudden, when you don’t have airplanes landing at every airport every 30 seconds, you realize we need to be able to grow and supply food locally.” -City Age
Read more at City Age
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80 Acres Farms Raises Funding Round Led by Barclays
November 3, 2020
“80 Acres Farms added Barclays as a strategic investor in the business, joining Virgo Investments, Orange Wings Capital, QuietStar Capital, and other family office investors.” - HortiDaily
Read more at HortiDaily
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Investment Group Takes Stake in Greenhouse Suppliers Prins Group and Stolze
November 3, 2020
“HAL Investments is working on a new portfolio of companies in the horticultural supply chain that can support each other on an individual project basis for large, complex and international projects that are increasingly initiated by investors” - HortiDaily
Read more at HortiDaily
Featured Image Courtesy of Prins Group
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The Future of Food: Meatless?
November 2, 2020
“Plant-based “meat” is all the rage. But is it just a fad? In this edition, The Next Normal peers into the future of meat and protein consumption.”-McKinsey Institute
Read more at McKinsey Institute
Sustainable Food Supply Chain Begins With Startups On The Farm
October 28, 2020
In the past five years, startups have increasingly turned their attention to the farm, and investors are following their lead. So far in 2020, investors have sunk $4.1 billion of venture-backed dollars into 413 agriculture technology deals.” -Crunchbase
Read more at Crunchbase
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Barclays Launch Eagle Lab Farm to Boost Future of UK Agriculture
October 27, 2020
“The resources on offer at the Eagle Lab Farm include a dedicated robotics lab, a demonstration packhouse and a model refrigerated supermarket aisle available for the entrepreneurs and researchers. The Riseholme campus also features traditional test and growing areas, including soft fruit and crop growing facilities” - HortiDaily
Read more at HortiDaily
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French Start-Up Ynsect Raises $224M to Build World's Biggest Bug Farm
October 27, 2020
“Ÿnsect, the startup building the world’s most high-tech bug colony, has added $224 million in equity and debt to an already impressive $148 million cash haul as it looks to commercialize its business.”-TechCrunch
Read more at TechCrunch
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Grow a Hydroponic Garden
October 24, 2020
“Like urban chicken coops and backyard beekeeping, interest in hydroponics has surged during the pandemic. For Aerogarden, another company selling hydroponic gardens, sales jumped 384 percent in the two weeks of March, a time period that followed most state lockdowns.” -New York Times
Read more at New York Times
October 21, 2020
“BrightFarms has raised a $100 million Series E round of funding for its indoor farms, Food Navigator reported yesterday. The round was led by Cox Enterprises, with participation from Catalyst Investors, and brings the total amount raised by BrightFarms to nearly $213 million.” - The Spoon
Read more at The Spoon
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Two Growtainers Head to Alabama with Contain Funding
October 16, 2020
Contain vendor Growtainers recently celebrated shipping two of its container farms to a customer in Alabama!
Read the original announcement
Vertical Farming Startup Plenty Raises $140M in Round Led by SoftBank
October 15, 2020
“On Wednesday, the vertical farming startup announced that it raised $140 million in a Series D financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 1 to help further its plans to help cultivate a more sustainable future.” -The Spoon
Read more at The Spoon
Featured Image Courtesy of Plenty Ag
Revol Greens Raises $68M to Build an 80-acre Lettuce Greenhouse
September 28, 2020
“Minnesota-based greenhouse grower Revol Greens raised $68 million in a funding round led by Equilibrium Capital, according to a press release. This capital infusion brings the company’s total funding to $215 million” -FoodDive
Read more at FoodDive
Featured Image Courtesy of Revol Greens
Danone, Dole, & Major Tech Pilot New Global Urban Farming Micro-Learning Platform
September 23, 2020
Contain, Inc and ID Capital today announced the public launch of Rooted, a global urban farming micro-learning platform, to equip home growers with the tools and community they need to grow at home. Created by two agtech entrepreneurs, Rooted combines the founders’ extensive network of urban farming gurus with endless research into the best way to learn, to build a new tech-enabled way to get farming.
Rooted tells stories with a goal; creating your first lettuce, the perfect mushroom, ingredients for your next cocktail. It takes input from farming experts, such as Cornell University and SananBio, and reimagines it in non-technical language, creating stories that cultivators can navigate at their own pace. As co-founder Nicola Kerslake of Contain Inc describes it: “we realized people were weary of endless webinars and Zoom meetings, we wanted to create something bite sized and interactive.”
Read more about Rooted
Investors Perception: "Cute millenials with a container farm"
September 21, 2020
“Most investors live in a rule-based world so they have to fulfill a series of criteria in order to sign a lease. A lot of indoor farmers don’t look like what they’ve seen before.” -Nicola Kerslake, Contain Founder, HortiDaily
Read more at HortiDaily
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Infarm raises $170M in Equity and Debt to Build Vertical Farming Network
September 16, 2020
“Infarm, the vertical farming company that has built a network of urban farms to grow fresh food closer to consumers, has raised $170 million in new investment in a “first close” of a Series C.” -TechCrunch
Read More at TechCrunch
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Funding the Indoor AgTech Space
September 4, 2020
“Lenders don’t work like equity investors or like private investors. They have checklists and black boxes that they use and you are not going to be able to charm them, or impress them with your vision, into committing earlier.” -Nicola Kerslake, Countain Founder, Vertical Farm Podcast
Hear more at Veritcal Farm Podcast
Featured Image Courtesy of Saga Robotics
Saga Robotics Raises $11M to Develop Robo-Strawberry Pickers
September 2, 2020
“Saga’s robots improve sustainability in farming by reducing soil compression, CO2 emissions, and production losses due to mildew.” -AgFunder News
Read more at AgFunder News
SananBio Talks Radix Grow System
September 1, 2020
One of our vendors, SananBio, has developed a vertical farm grow system that is simple to assemble, and includes built-in LED lighting. It’s targeted at commercial scale grows and accommodates multiple crops as the distance between grow trays can be adjusted.
Find videos at their Youtube Channel!
Note: our lawyers want you to know that this post does not constitute an endorsement nor warranty of SananBio’s equipment. You should do your own research to understand which system is the best fit for you and your farm.
How To Fund Your Indoor Farm
September 1, 2020
“This presentation ‘How to Fund Your Indoor Farm’ was given by Nicola Kerslake (Contain Inc.) during our 19th cafe forum on May 26th, 2020.” -Indoor Ag Science Cafe
See the presentation at Indoor Ag Science Cafe
Featured Image Courtesy of Unsplash